Residential Refrigerator

[Outbumn]

Water has been pooling in the freezer compartment of our Maytag refrigerator and has been freezing up for the past few weeks. The water collects in the freezer and freezes the drawer closed.

Can anyone tell me if there is a drain for the defroster and where it might be? Since this just started with the last month, I figure the drain must be clogged.

 

[Bug512]

I googled your issue that you are having and most of the responses come back with some kind of drain issue. More then likely you probably have some food particles blocking the drain.

My search on google was "maytag refrigerator water in freezer bottom"

Best of luck and let us know what you find.

 

[Outbumn]

I looked at those same posts.

Just got to figure out where the drain is and where the drain line goes. The unit doesn't have a pan under it, so it must drain to the outside.

 

[Bug512]

Usually the pan is underneath the refrigerator by the condenser. The water collects in the pan and the heat from the condenser along with air movement evaporates the condensate.

Have you removed everything from the freezer and looked where the lowest point is ?

 

[dsbike-WO]

I have a GE profile 3 door frig in my S&B, freezer on the bottom with ice & water in the door. Last winter I found water in the bottom of my frig. I took the panel out of the inside of the frig, some were snapped into place & some were screwed. Just look carefully & you will find the screws or snapped parts. I know we have different brands but I suspect they are similar in design.
Here is what I found, there is a small tray below the coils that has a drain in it. The drain & tray had ice formed clogging the drain. I poured hot water on the tray several times , sponging out the water until it finally thawed out the ice. I would guess it took about 20 minutes to do this. Once the water started to flow down the drain, I blew it out with air from my compressor. I then found there was aluminum tape in the tray that covered the drain with a very small hole in it, much smaller than the drain. I cut the tape to expose the drain & haven't had a problem since.
Good luck with yours.

 

[grtharris]

If you can manually defrost the bottom of freeze with a hair dryer. Like the above post the drain pan could have ice in it that is not melting during a normal defrost. Looks like there is a normal drain pan and Winnebago add a drain to the outside to that drain pan.

 

[jerichorick]

I had the exact same problem. Defrost the refrigerator and remove the freezer drawer. There is a release on each slide rail. You will see a grate in the back. Remove the screws holding it and remove it. Blow about 10 or 15 # of air pressure into any holes you see. This will clear any critters blocking the two drains that are inaccessible in the back of the refrigerator and behind a grate.

If you have access to a steamer with a small tool attachment you can melt all of the ice with it and blast the area behind the above mentioned panel.

This advice to you cost me $100 on a service call. I got off cheap. They were going to charge me more. It's free to you. The problem is common.

Happy trails,

Rick

 

[Outbumn]

Thanks all,

Removed the door and drawers. Got the back panel off. Got the ice all melted, and was able to pour hot water down the drain. Have to remember to blow the drain out if it happens again.

 

[jerichorick]

Good job! Well done! One other thing to check, Ron. Make certain your drawer slides are fully engaged and closing all the way. The gasket will not fully seat as an indicator.

It is always gratifying to share firsthand experience successfully.

Happy trails,

Rick

 

[RBK394]

Once again this forum delivers. Had the problem described. After first looking in the trouble shooting section of the fridge manual, my next stop was good ole irv2. Took the back panel off the bottom freezer and sure enough, standing water (I had turned the fridge off the other day) in the tray under the defrost coil. Started to clean out the drain and found it was stopped up with what appeared to the styrofoam. Seemed to be more bits of it on the left end of the tray than the right. Found what I think is the source. The vents on both sides used for air circulation between the freezer and the upper refrigerator is lined with styrofoam. The air passage on the right side was clean and smooth. The styrofoam channel on the left was rough and pieces were flaking off. Cleaned it up the best I could considering the limited access to it. Finally blasted the area with a pretty good dose of compressed air and it remained clean. Will have to keep an eye on this.

Thanks to the OP and all who responded.

 

[FlatwaterMG]

Thanks to this thread I was more prepared for the results I obtained when I removed the back panel of our MAYTAG in our 2012 JOURNEY. Sadly I was not able to remove the blockage in the single drain. Repair Tech was called, he melted and removed the ice and the blockage. Solution was; attach a small diameter steel wire wrapped around a section of the heater coil and extend the wire down into the drain hole there by during the defrost cycle the heater will warm the wire and assist in melting any ice that may form. Thanks all who have contributed to this topic.

 

[Grandpatime]

Residental Refrigerator

We have been having the drain / freeze problem also . Maytag/ Whirlpool has a fix ...a P Trap drain tube that replaces the open tube and duckbill grommet.(The grommet is where our blockage occurs) The refrigerator rear must be accessable to install the new tube. Our 2012 Itasca Meridian 36M has a trap door outside which enabled the fix.Maytag did the fix for no cost.The Tube Drain part number is W10619951.

 

[RBK394]

As to my previous post, I am not fixed. I have had the situation two more times. I am now considering the fix using the part W10619951. Sounds good in theory, and see no issue in a home refridgerator. But, has anyone actually performed it in their rv? Since the new drain is a p-trap, is there an issue with the water in the trap freezing? I know it is a small amount of water, but I can think of no easy way to get rid of the water for winter storage.

 

[bobmac-WO]

I had the same problem with the Samsung RF-197 in the S&B home. The drain below the fridge coils was freezing and the moisture draining into the fridge bottom and drawers. Turned out this is a known Samsung problem and the fix is a longer piece of thin aluminum that wraps around the heater coil and extends well over an inch into the drain tube. The part number was the same as the original but the new part ($4.) is about 2" longer and does the trick. As others have pointed out, wrapping copper wire around the heat coil above the drain and extending it down the drain should also fix the problem.
While this is simple to fix, there was a molded foam part in front of the coils that was frozen to the drain - you will likely need to allow the ice to melt before removing the foam part to avoid damaging it.

 

[poppopc]

We are having the same issue in a 2013 Journey 40U!
Kitchen Aid fridge! Along with the ice maker quit.
Still under warranty, will have kitchen aid fix when in ft. Worth next week!!!!

 

[wa8yxm]

You need to call a repair man, (The Maytag Repair man)

yes, Most residential freezer/fridges do have a drain where condensate from the freezer, flows down to the fridge and from there to an evaporator pan.

On the one I have seen in pieces the heater (Self-defroster) element had failed, so the cooling coils which are in both the bottom and rear did not defrost, ice built up and you just described the rest.

Repair guy (not Maytag) put in a new heater and all was good.

 

[jerichorick]

As to my previous post, I am not fixed. I have had the situation two more times. I am now considering the fix using the part W10619951. Sounds good in theory, and see no issue in a home refridgerator. But, has anyone actually performed it in their rv? Since the new drain is a p-trap, is there an issue with the water in the trap freezing? I know it is a small amount of water, but I can think of no easy way to get rid of the water for winter storage.

When the repair guy fixed mine he told me that pulling the back off the frig was not a big deal. There are 2 rubber drain bug stoppers that get plugged from the drain side of the frig. Remove the stoppers and blow some air back through the drain. Leave the stoppers off.

To remove the frig shut of the water to it through the access door out side, remove the vent plate under the freezer drawer and remove the screws from the foot stops on either side on the floor.

I did not read your previous post. I take it that you did remove the drawer, defrost the back panel and blow some air through the drains?

I hope you don't leave your frig unused for long periods of time. I think this might invite crud like mold to grow in the drain tubs. This is only a speculation on my part.

I hope this info is helpful. Happy trails to you.

Rick Y

 

[RBK394]

Rick, I would love to do the job without removing it, but the access hole provided on the outside is to small for me to get to all the screws. So, it is coming out so I can get access to the rear. I don't have an issue with pulling it out to do the repair, I just would hate to have to pull it out every time I winterize. I was just wondering if anyone, like Grandpatime, who has replaced the drain with the new type P-trap design (W10619951) has had any issue with the water in the drain freezing for winter storage, or how they removed the water, or should I even be concerned about it. Taking the old nipple off the drain and throwing it away and not having anything there but the open drain seems that it would leave it open to air getting into the freezer and creating another problem.

BTW, I searched the part W10619951 that Grandpatime provided and if you do that, there is a very good video on it, e.g. what the problem is and how this new drain remedies the problem.

 

[jerichorick]

Rick, I would love to do the job without removing it, but the access hole provided on the outside is to small for me to get to all the screws. So, it is coming out so I can get access to the rear. I don't have an issue with pulling it out to do the repair, I just would hate to have to pull it out every time I winterize. I was just wondering if anyone, like Grandpatime, who has replaced the drain with the new type P-trap design (W10619951) has had any issue with the water in the drain freezing for winter storage, or how they removed the water, or should I even be concerned about it. Taking the old nipple off the drain and throwing it away and not having anything there but the open drain seems that it would leave it open to air getting into the freezer and creating another problem.

BTW, I searched the part W10619951 that Grandpatime provided and if you do that, there is a very good video on it, e.g. what the problem is and how this new drain remedies the problem.

I agree and see your point. The "Duck bill" is the problem and has to go in your case. Where I am full time I probably won't have this problem again for some time, if ever.

For you, pulling the frig once to do the install is all that is needed. My repair guy left me with the impression that there are two of these drains. Can any one confirm this? If you are pulling the frig to do the repair I would hate for you to have a "discovery".

Rick Y

 

[RBK394]

Ordered the new drain from repairclinic.com. Put it in last Wednesday. Rick, there was only one duckbill drain. Getting the frige out was not a problem, but if anyone does this make sure you have a helper. In my case, I was lucky my helper had smaller arms than mine. We removed the L-brackets on each side at bottom. Once you do that, you need to remove the wood trim at the top. There is a piece of angle welded on each side at the top. There is a flange at the back of this angle iron that is screwed to the wall. That is where my friend's smaller arms paid off in removing these screws.

Before we pulled the fridge out, I took a sharpie and marked on the back panel the area that I could access from the outside of the rig. When we got the fridge out, removing the back panel, removing the old duckbill and drain channel, and installing the new p-trap drain took about 10 minutes. As I said in my previous post, I was uncomfortable with standing water left in the trap for winter storage. So, I cut the back panel into three pieces along the lines I made with sharpie. As luck would have it, the section that I marked for cutting out is exactly where the trap is. I then reattached all three pieces with the addition of two or three sheet metal screws. If I do feel the need to access this drain, I just need to open the access hole on outside of rig, remove the one section and there it is.

As to the condition of the duckbill that I removed, it was shot. It was gummy and sticky. Don't know from what. Maybe heat, maybe age, or both.