DIY repair for a frozen drain pipe from the fridge cabinet....in a fridge freezer

mojo1943

Registered User
Dec 19, 2013
722
0
North Devon
Only for a strong skilled DIY fanatic....this is for a 'frost free' fridge freezer combo...with water dripping into the cabinet from a full / blocked / frozen drain pipe

unplug and pull out - have ready say 1M of bare copper wire (easy from the earth wire in say ring main cable) allow the trapped frozen water in the pipe to melt - then thread the bare copper wire down the drain pipe towards the encased (gets warm compressor dome) wrap some round a black pipe the other end lay in the drip tray in the fridge cabinet. The purpose of this copper wire is to stop the water freezing by keeping warmer the join between the freezer and fridge cabinets...which it does

May upset your guarantee but will avoid a fridge person callout @ say (£80) to turn off wait for it to thaw and then leave with the fee...

OR ignore the above - switch off for say 3 hrs - back on and pipe unfrozen.....
NEVER switch off and then quickly back on a fridge or freezer - this can blow the fuse in the compressor = buy a new one - always allow 5 mins between off the on....

lots more tips from google - as was this one ;)

https://www.google.co.uk/webhp?sour...1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=how+to+repair+a+frozen+fr
 

nitram

Registered User
Apr 6, 2011
30,084
0
Bury
Are you having problems with the drain for auto defrost or the water feed to a chilled water dispenser as shown in the video you attached?

If the later it looks like a design fault or thermal insulation damage.

If the former the usual cause is debris in the drain pipe which produces a (partial) blockage.

Without the blockage the water flows freely through the tube during the defrost cycle and does not freeze after the cycle, with the blockage the water may still flow through but the plug of blockage remains and freezes when defrost is complete, this prevents a free flow during the next defrost cycle. The problem can gradually get worse as debris that would normally flow through gets trapped.

Try pouring copious warm water down the drain pipe and see if any gunge comes out, a wire may just spread the gunge along the inside of the tube.
 

nitram

Registered User
Apr 6, 2011
30,084
0
Bury
"I think the clue is in the"

Had to think about this post as I have emoticons disabled as default.
 

mojo1943

Registered User
Dec 19, 2013
722
0
North Devon
Hi All

sorry if the tricky tip was a bit ? a lot - obtuse but it worked for me and as a + I think Cu is anti infection - but it goes green? anything is better than trying to get and paying for a Plumber...;)