Water in bottom of refrigerator

[JiminMN]

I am getting standing water in the bottom of my fridge, I notice it is defrosting a lot more than ever before. Once I came home and water had actually leaked out of the bottom and onto the floor.

Now it seems I need to mop up the water on the bottom (under the crispers) every other day otherwise it accumulates too much. I do not see a drain pan or drain line anywhere that could be clogged.

My fridge is a model Whirlpool Top Mount, model # ET8CHMXKQ0. It is the type that defrosts down the back of the fridge.

Any help is appreciated.

Jim

[BonesandFeathers]

Sounds lke the defrost drain is blocked.
There are three common places where blockage occurs.At the drain, in the freezer. Iced over due to an obstruction. In the transition between the freezer/fridge/drain iced over from an obstruction. Ath the bottom back of the fridge where the defrost drain hose meets the defrost pan hose. The def/pan hose is undulated lke apiece of under sink plumbing (for most the same reasons). This is where the obstruction is most like to iccur.
Seperate the hoses and run a coat hanger or other appropriate flexible wire throught he pan hose and look for icky junk coming out (blowing through it is optional depending on your personal sanitary necessity level). Yo will know if this is the cause bout immeadiately.
The other places are a bit more difficult to observe and mat take more disassembly.
The drain begins under the evaporator, in the freezer, so you've usually got take the floor and back panel out of the freezer to see the drain. OTOH when I worked for Sears this drain cleaning would cost around $100. Depends on what your comfort level is as far as disemboweling you frifdge goes. Remember neve use anything sharp to defrost your freezer, hot water or a hair dryer are better choices.
Questions?
Paul

[Hawk]

You might have a look here as well: http://www.partselect.com/AdvancedMo...Num=&fkMfgID=3 Some great diagrams that might help pinpoint the problem.

[JiminMN]

Thanks for the replies. I am not quite sure what the first poster is talking about in regard to a drain hose or pan hose. I see one very narrow piece of tubing that goes from the top-left corner of the back of the fridge down to the bottom. Is this what you are talking about? The other piece of tubing is copper, and I know this is the water line for the ice maker in the freezer. I really don't want to pay $100 to get this fixed if I can do it myself. Thanks.



Jim

[JiminMN]

Just an update for anyone else who may have this problem - I finally gave in and called a repairman, as I did not have the tools or confidence to try and fix this problem myself. The problem was an iced-up/clogged drain. The repair person put a heat sensor down into the drain area, he said this would prevent the problem from occurring again. The drain cleaning and installation of heat sensor ran me about 135 bucks!

Makes me wonder, if the heat sensor prevents the problem, why don't they automatically include it as a part in the fridge? The fridge is only a couple years old.

[taync]

I did it myself

Thanks to all who spent money or shared their experience to have somebody do this repair, and I really mean it.
I have a Whirlpool TopLoad Fridge (not a side by side).
Things you'll need
30 minutes
Small socket for cardboard panel on lower back and panel inside freezer
Bicycle Pump
4 Towels
Hair Dryer

1. Take everything out of freezer
2. Turn dials off in fridge for both compartments
3. Pull fridge out so you can get behind it and unplug it
4. Be vigilant of ice maker line if installed
5. Pull cardboard panel off on back
On the left side you should see the back of the skinny drip pan and a small line. That line goes from the freezer and is most likely clogged.
6. Blow dry the back of the freezer enough so the ice is thawed at the bottom of the back panel.
7. Remove the two screws on the back panel. You may just be able to pull it toward you enough to get behind it. You'll see the coils and fan, and underneath these you may see some ice sheets and there should be a hole. That is the drain line that is clogged. I heated up some water and poured it over the drain to thaw the line. You may want to remove the crisper drawers and put some towels down there to catch the overflow. Once the ice is thawed enough at the drain. Go to the back of the fridge and place the end of the bicycle pump at the bottom of the drain hose. Apply pressure to get a good seal but keep pumping. You may have to go back and forth between pumping and thawing, but you'll know it is clear when you hear air going into the freezer and then the wonderful moment when water drips into the drip pan as advertised!

Keep those fridges less full so that the door stays sealed and keep the seal clean and also keep your doors from having too much stuff so the weight of the door doesn't pull away.

Okay, put it back together, turn everything on and be careful of your cord and lines when pushing the fridge back. Thank the Lord ours has wheels and man,was it cruddy underneath. Vacuum those coils underneath the fridge too for proper air circulation.

Blessings to you!
tay

[adalton13]

Thanks, i have the same fridge with same problem.3 1/2 years old.

[GadgetBoy1971]

water in the bottom of the fridge

I have had the same problem with water appearing in the bottom of my fridge under the salad crisper.
I read the article from someome saying about a blocked drain hole. Sure enough at the back of my fridge, just above the salad crisper there is a trough with a drain hole in it and a little piece of food blocking it. I have now removed this and solved the problem.

If you want to know the reason why there is a drain hole and why your kitchen floor isn't wet, it's because the drain hole leads onto a metal tray at the back of the fridge that's connected to the heat exchange elements, this makes the tray get warm and hence any water that drips onto it is evaporated..... (you may have noticed the back of your fridge is generally very warm) .... there you go, science lesson over.

GadgetMan1971

[ToPleasureYou]

I just wanted to say Thanks to Post #6 the info was spot on and saved me having to call AmericanHomeShield to fix it. Didnt really want to spend a ton on it since it is our garage fridge for the beer and meat . Pouring hot water from the top with a Coat Hanger did the trick after melting all of the ice. We didnt have much luck blowing air through the tube but we only had a air bed pump to blow air.
I also used the diagrams on the link posted above to make sure how it all comes apart and goes back together. I am disabled so I just supervised my sister and stepson doing the manual labor but still from start to finish and everything back in freezer was 45 minutes.

[williamsmith]

its sounds good to me

[vikram1248]

Water in bottom of refrigerator

The drain hole is usually in the back and it is clogged. Take your hair dryer and defrost the hole, take about 2 tablespoons of bleach and put it down the hole at least once a year so that it doesn't reoccur.

-

[chefdan]

Thanks for the help

I checked out the info you all suggested, and with your input I solved the problem. Disconnected the line from the middle back, just poped off, blew it out, not very nasty at all, out came a chuck of something?, and back in buisness. Took off the back to check inside, all is well. Again, thanks for the insight and advice, you made it do able.

[gvhparkridge]

Water in bottom of refrigerator

You guys solved the problem..took everything out of the freezer..uplugged the refrigerator...in the back of the refrig at the bottom a plastic tube that drips into a pan that sits on the motor was dry. No tubes could be seen in the freezer. I unscrewed two screws that fasten the base inside the freezer to the back wall inside the the freezer. Toward the front are two plastic buttons that hold the base plate...just pop them out. Yep a half inch of ice was under that base. I used a hair dryer and because a microwave was close..I filled about 6 cups of boiling water on the ice ,,one at a time...mopping up after each one..until a drain hole could be seen in the back,inside of the freezer.. then a few drops of water appeared from the drip hose in back outside of refrigerator...a couple more cups of boiling water...left the refrigertor off for another half hour..put back the inside freezer base...been workin for a week...this is an old refrigerator used in our basement...Thanks, for the help...

[dkpbxman]

On my fridge, the drip line going from the pan beneath the freezer coils to the bottom pan where the water is evaporated is on the OUTSIDE of the fridge.

It is just a plastic pipe about 4' long that connects to an adapter leading from the pan beneath the coils, goes along the outside and bends back in-behind the cardboard-to the bottom pan.

On mine, that adapter was clogged.

[hobbymaker]

You guys solved the problem..took everything out of the freezer..uplugged the refrigerator...in the back of the refrig at the bottom a plastic tube that drips into a pan that sits on the motor was dry. No tubes could be seen in the freezer. I unscrewed two screws that fasten the base inside the freezer to the back wall inside the the freezer. Toward the front are two plastic buttons that hold the base plate...just pop them out. Yep a half inch of ice was under that base. I used a hair dryer and because a microwave was close..I filled about 6 cups of boiling water on the ice ,,one at a time...mopping up after each one..until a drain hole could be seen in the back,inside of the freezer.. then a few drops of water appeared from the drip hose in back outside of refrigerator...a couple more cups of boiling water...left the refrigertor off for another half hour..put back the inside freezer base...been workin for a week...this is an old refrigerator used in our basement...Thanks, for the help...

I am glad your problem is solved! when I read the topic first I thouhgt it is all about how the fridge is stored. A friend of mine had similar problems and he couldn't figure out what it was. With him it turned out that he overstored the fridge in parts so that the air circulation and thus the regualtion of temperature did not work. These things are like little watch works really sensitive. I own one of the TAG Heuer watches, and these are so intricately manufactured.