Well... um... because it's in the freezer and it freezes up? It sounds like a stupid answer, but it's the best I've got.

I've got a Maytag upright freezer in the garage. It's great. Except for the fact that every couple of months I have a small iceberg in the bottom of it. That, in turn, brings on an hour's worth of chipping away at the ice (carefully, and in violation of the manufacturer's instructions), removing the interior back panel, and then pouring near-boiling water into the drain (repeatedly) to melt the ice inside the drain tube.

This past weekend brought another edition of this no-fun event, and I again wondered why this happens. It's in the garage, so maybe... um... bugs nesting in the tube? Heck, I don't know. This past weekend I got a little smarter (maybe) and pushed a piece of plastic air line down the tube after melting the ice out. Seems there's no hard clog there -- hot water poured down the tube gurgled right on out. So I put it all back together and put my tools away.

But I know that in a month or so, there will be a mini iceberg in the bottom of the freezer again.

So what gives? Is this really supposed to happen? (I don't think so.) How do I prevent it from repeating? What in the world is going on here? It makes the lower 1/4 of my freezer pretty much unusable.

Garage fridge? So it's a backup? Move the food inside, unplug it to defrost every couple of months?

Not sure if this will help in your situation but this fixed the problem that I was having.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSYPjuJLrmI

CW

quote:

Originally posted by C L Wilkins:
Not sure if this will help in your situation but this fixed the problem that I was having.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSYPjuJLrmI

CW

Just going to suggest this.

You don't have to wrap it around the heating element - calrod - just make a decent hook and hang it.

Works every time its tried.

That's stinking awesome.
Cheap, easy, and effective.
Thank you!

I had the same problem with my freezer. Turns out the drain tube was clogged with lint. It prevented the water from draining into the tray causing the water to back up into the freezer and freeze which created a layer of ice in the bottom of the freezer.

If the freezer is full of frost or the cooling core is a block of ice it might be worth taking a look at the defrost element. If it is burned out you will continue to ice up and have to manually defrost. It was an easy fix on my fridge a few years back and it worked perfectly after.

quote:

Originally posted by C L Wilkins:
Not sure if this will help in your situation but this fixed the problem that I was having.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSYPjuJLrmI

CW

This has worked on 2 fridges in my house...

quote:

Originally posted by Bulldog7972:
I had the same problem with my freezer. Turns out the drain tube was clogged with lint. It prevented the water from draining into the tray causing the water to back up into the freezer and freeze which created a layer of ice in the bottom of the freezer.

Had the exact problem. Replaced the tube with the new part they now replace it with and no more problems. If you call customer service, they will send you the new style tube for free.

quote:

Originally posted by Bulldog7972:
I had the same problem with my freezer. Turns out the drain tube was clogged with lint. It prevented the water from draining into the tray causing the water to back up into the freezer and freeze which created a layer of ice in the bottom of the freezer.

This was my problem as well. The drain opening was not well designed either, but that's another topic

quote:

Originally posted by JohnCourage:
If the freezer is full of frost or the cooling core is a block of ice it might be worth taking a look at the defrost element. If it is burned out you will continue to ice up and have to manually defrost. It was an easy fix on my fridge a few years back and it worked perfectly after.

Sure, but that's not his problem. His defrost is working - hence the glacier forming on the bottom of the freezer section from melt water.

If your defrost isn't working, check the bimetal switch and continuity on the calrod. If that's good, check the defrost timer/circuitry.

quote:

Originally posted by jigray3:

quote:

Originally posted by Bulldog7972:
I had the same problem with my freezer. Turns out the drain tube was clogged with lint. It prevented the water from draining into the tray causing the water to back up into the freezer and freeze which created a layer of ice in the bottom of the freezer.

This was my problem as well. The drain opening was not well designed either, but that's another topic

This summer or sooner, I will have to move the fridge to replace the hard wood floor that got ruined due to the water that flowed out when the freezer filled up with ice. I tried keeping up on getting the ice out, but some weeks I would forget and the water would flow out and on to the floor.
Once I started looking at YouTube, I realized this stupid tube affected several brands and models.

My whole fridge would freeze up, freezer and cooler sections until I tried the Youtube solution. Easy fix, maybe it's not his issue but it's worth a try.