I was defrosting my fridge and punctured the tube

Freezer /fridge water/ice in fridge and or freezer

Usually due to CONDENSATION due to bad door seals or a plugged evaporator drain line? Can use a soft flexable tubing and very hot water to clean it out. Bad door seals usually need replacement, but u can use a blow dryer and something to pry it closer to the door wall while blowing hot air on to it. To create a seal, to test for bad door seals place a dollar bill in between the door and wall of fridge where it closes. Then slide out the dollar bill with door closed. It should offer some resistance and not be easy to pull out.
Most all fridges have a drain. Look inside your fridge for a "V" shaped channel with a small hole. This hole leads to a tube and a small pan which sits on top of your refrigerator's compressor. The defrost cycle causes water to run into the channel, down the tube, and then it generally evaporates with the heat of the hot condenser/compressor.
However, if that tube is clogged with food crumbs, particles , debris etc, you will have to clear it to get back to a normal mode of operation. A toothpick, pipecleaner, straw or a cotton bud can often do the trick.
Even a frost free freezer will still ice up at times in the areas away from the heated defrost area and the drain line can freeze. This icing causes the pipe work to the compressor to ice over or sweat and cause a puddle. Or if the drainage has frozen over, it will need to be de-iced. ( usually the line is under the freezer bottom plate covering. Towards the back of the unit) And there is another inside the fridge area also.
Give the freezer a good overnight defrost until it's totally clear of ice in addition to making sure the drain is clear to the pan at the back and then restart the freezer.

No, you will need to buy a new unit. That one is scrap metal. Sorry.

The drain is in the FREEZER. Frost and ice melts off the evaporator coil during the defrost cycle and collects in a tray directly under the coil. The tray is pitched to the drain tube that runs inside the fridge wall to a pan under the fridge - where the water is evaporated by the heat created by the compressor and the fan that cools the condenser coil.

To see these parts, unplug the fridge. You'll need to remove the inside rear wall of the freezer. That means the freezer needs to emptied, ice maker removed, etc. Chances are that the drain is clogged - most likely with ice. Manually defrost with a hair dryer and use a turkey baster filled with hot water to direct a stream into the drain tube. Resist using tools to chip ice - the components are made with soft metal and if punctured will allow freon gas to escape. You can suffer instant frostbite to exposed skin or blindness if it gets into your eyes. Once water is flowing, consider hanging a piece of copper or aluminum wire from the defrost heater down into the drain tube. Make sure the wire hangs down as far as the ice build up did (2 or 3 inches at most). This will help conduct the heat into the drain tube and prevent it from icing over in the future.

I hope this was helpful. If it was, please rate it "4 thumbs up". Thanks!

This is what is happening. All "frost free" refrigerators are not truly frost free. The cooling comparment elements frost up with moisture from the air. Every 6 or 8 hours or so the fridge shuts down. then . small electric heaters fitted into these cooling elements melt the frost away. The water goes down a tube into what is called a drip pan mounted underneath the fridge. If the drain tube clogs with a piece of paper, or food or algae. The water from the frost melting stays in the pan because the drain is clogged. So each time the fridge defrosts, it builds up ICE not frost and eventually it completely clogs with a block of ice.
The other thing that can happen, is that the timer that controls this cycle fails and the heating elements never turn on. The the fridge then clogs with frost. The fridge will clog with frost if any of the following parts fail. The defrost thermostat which opens up the heater circuit when the coils reach
around 40-50 degrees, the defrost heaters mounted in the cooling coils, or the defrost timer fails.
If your fridge works normally after this, then the drain hole was clogged and you unclogged it. If it gets colder and colder again. Then the timer, defrost thermostat, or the defrost heaters have failed.
Hope this helps. You are welcome to write back to me and tell me what is happening with your fridge. I hope this helps, Best Regards, Mark

No, the fridge will not get cold any more. The coolant goes to the coils in the freezer. The fridge takes a small amount of cold air from the freezer to lower its temperature.

I am sorry to say that unless you can find a way to repair the puncture and refill the system with freon, you are going to have to buy another refrigerator.

This sounds like a problem with the defrost circuit. It is likely that the evaporator coil is clogged with ice due to the defrost heater / circuitry not functioning. This can be caused by a failure of any one or more of the following components:

1) Defrost timer. Defrost timer may be "stuck" - failing to advance from a cooling cycle to a defrost cycle. May be found in the toe space of many fridges, but not all.

2) Defrost terminator. This is a thermal sensor that is secured (usually with a clip) to the refrigerant line close to the evaporator coil in / behind the freezer compartment. If this component fails to detect a rising temperature, it never allows the fridge to return to the cooling mode again.

3) Defroster Heating coil. This is a simple, relatively low wattage heater secured to or near the evaporator coil. It is powered through the defrost timer and shut off by the defrost terminator. If the coil is burned out or otherwise "open", it will not heat to melt ice buildup on the evaporator coil.

4) Fan. The fan is located near the evaporator coil. If the fan is unable move air from the freezer to the fridge, the compressor runs endlessly because cold air is not directed into the fridge compartment - where the thermostat is located.

5) Condenser coil. If the condenser has a "furry jacket" it's long overdue for a cleaning. Gently vacuum lint / dust / dirt collected on the coil to increase efficiency. This is probably not the problem - but it probably needs to be done anyway.

Most of these steps will require hand tools, schematics (specific to your model), electrical test equipment, etc. Be careful to not use sharp instruments that may puncture refrigerant lines or electrical insulation. Allow the ice to defrost with the fridge powered off with the freezer door opened, or place a pot of hot water inside, hair dryer directed at the coil, etc. Access to the evaporator coil is usually from the freezer compartment (back wall) and will require removal of any ice maker installed.

I hope this helps!

This sounds like a problem with the defrost circuit. It is likely that the evaporator coil is clogged with ice due to the defrost heater not functioning. This can be caused by a failure of any one or more of the following components:

1) Defrost timer. Defrost timer may be "stuck" - failing to advance from a cooling cycle to a defrost cycle. May be found in the toe space of many fridges, but not all.

2) Defrost terminator. This is a thermal sensor that is secured to the refrigerant line close to the evaporator coil in / behind the freezer compartment. If this component fails to detect a rising temperature, it never allows the fridge to return to the cooling mode again.

3) Defroster Heating coil. This is a simple, relatively low wattage heater secured to or near the evaporator coil. It is powered through the defrost timer and shut off by the defrost terminator. If the coil is burned out or otherwise "open", it will not heat to melt ice buildup on the evaporator coil.

4) Fan. The fan is located near the evaporator coil. if the fan is unable move air from the freezer to the fridge, the compressor runs endlessly because cold air is not blown into the fridge compartment - where the thermostat is detecting a high temperature.

5) Condenser coil. If the condenser has a "furry jacket" it's long overdue for a cleaning. Gently vacuum lint / dust / dirt collected on the coil to increase efficiency. This is probably not the problem - but it probably needs to be done anyway.

Most of these steps will require hand tools, schematics (specific to your model), electrical test equipment, etc. Be careful to not use sharp instruments that may puncture refrigerant lines or electrical insulation. Allow the ice to defrost with the fridge powered off with the freezer door opened, and a pot of hot water inside, hair dryer directed at the coil, etc. Access to the evaporator coil is usually from the freezer compartment (back wall) and will require removal of any ice maker installed.

Take the back cover inside the freezer off and you can see the iced up coils. Use a hairdryer to melt the ice. Don't chip it off, you might puncture the coil.
If the evaporator coils behind the back panel of the freezer are icing up because of auto defrost failure
check defrost timer, defrost heater, defrost thermostat. In most newer models the timer has been replaced by an electronic control board. If the heater and thermostat are ok it’ll be the control.

Hi: When this happens it means that there is frost built up in the back of the refrigerator. You are having an issue with the defrost heater or the defrost timer. There is an off chance the refrigerator's freezer is over packed with food and there is no circulation. If you're handy empty the fridge and take a hair dryer to the back wall to melt away the frost from behind. Look at the heater; It will be at the bottom of the freezer on the back wall. A glass tube with a wire coil running through it. If the coil is broken, replace it. If not you will be looking at a defrost timer. Usually on a circuit board and expensive. Good Luck, Jeff

Most of the dorm sized refrigerators is see that run but dont cool have a sealed system problem which is either a leak or compressor problem. Look in the small freezer section. many times, people are too impatiant to defrost them properly and use a tool to chip the ice away and inadvertantly puncture a hole in the tubing causing a leak. Seen that happen quite a few times.