Kenmore Elite Ice on Bottom of Fridge Repair
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- Опубліковано 5 жов 2024
- How to clean and repair a refrigerator drain line. Ice was accumulating on the bottom of this fridge. (Kenmore Elite Trio) Eventually water would leak from the fridge to the bottom of my kitchen floor. The culprit was a clogged drain line. This is how I repaired and cleared the drain line.
I've taken out the bottom tray twice inthe last 3 weeks. Cleaned out ice from floor and put back. Now that I've watched your video I know what to try to fix instead of bandaid. By the way, I'm 73 yr old woman and had no problem pulling out frig. Unlocking wheels helps. Holding two handles makes it easy. Tnx for your video. If my back was better I'd do it now. Be safe.
Great! May I ask you how you unlocked the wheels? I couldn't find out after checking my fridge. Thank you.
Mociatto there are stoppers underneath the fridge that prevents the unit from sliding, you have two options, one is to get underneath and use a wrench and spin it counterclockwise to loosing it or remove the freezer door and you should see two slots on top where you can stick a screw driver in to loosing up top.
Thank you!
You are my hero
Very helpful video. We had leaking from the bottom of our Kenmore Elite Freezer and ice buildup in the bottom of the freezer. This walked me step by step through everything I needed to do to fix it without having to call a repair person. Thank you!
Glad it helped!
Nice instructions. If you have the luxury of a spare fridge/freezer, you can just keep the keep the unit unplugged for a day or two and all the ice will melt on its own so you don't have to pry off the cover from the inside.
Your video is obviously longer than the others but man do I like when a person doesn't skip a step! Excellent job sir. For the life of me I couldn't figure this out, Eureka! after watching this.
Glad it was helpful!
This was a very good post but don't do a short cut and just clean the drain tube, watch the whole video and be sure to defrost and clean out the drain pan under the condensor. Just don't ask me how I know this !!!!!!! The video was spot on and saved me alot of money Thanks for good info.
Thanks for the super helpful video! My drain tube in back was really plugged. The inside panel in the freezer had no screws, and I was reluctant to pry it off, so I just used a hair dryer on the exterior and eventually a significant amount of water ran out. Hopefully all is good! EDIT: That did not work, the puddle came back. I did the hairdryer again and left it unplugged for a half day, but the puddle came back. I bought the auto panel removal tools from Harbor Freight. On my fridge there is a small door on the back panel holding the temp sensor, I removed the little door and that gave me a place to put the tool in and tug. Don’t be afraid to pull on the door; it won’t break! Two plugs on the top left had to be unplugged, so I could tilt the panel to access the trough. Big iceberg in the trough. Used a dryer and hot water, and eventually it started draining. Hope this helps.
Did it last? I keep doing all this and it keeps returning. I will not buy a new one.
@@girohead Thanks for the question- it prompted me to take a look since I haven’t thought about it for a long time. It’s still dry on the bottom, but who knows what is going on behind the panel. Good luck!
@@stevehall6834 How's the bottom of the freezer look? I think that is the culprit, I still got a layer of frozen water there, I think unplugging that tube is ONE remedy, but since I cleared that and it returns, something else must be draining into the freezer. I've tried the defrosting trick with heat gun as well, which works temporarily.
@@girohead the bottom of the freezer is clear.
Ya, that was the first thing cleared, it was plugged so I hoped, but it returned. Then I did I defrosted and it returned, then I heated the coil from the back and it eventually returned. I'm still getting ice build up on bottom and suspect that's it but it's coming from something else beside those two common areas, next I'll disassemble the inside panel to heat/look around. But it can't be frozen as I defrosted twice including with out CA power outage Sunday.
THANK YOU! We were just chiseling the ice out every time it built up so much it leaked. We watched your video and now I feel like all is well.
Wow. This is the best. Very clear, no nonsense, and provides other mechanical and fridge tips along the way.
I don’t subscribe to UA-camrs, but I’ll make an exception for this guy.
Thank you for this video. This was exactly our issue, clogged drain tube. I'm glad we did the second step because the tray behind the interior panel was solid ice. Hair dryer did the trick!
I can't thank you enough for your video! We were having trouble with ice on bottom of our Kenmore, and I first cleaned the drain pipe, but noticed the next day we still had ice forming. So I looked back at your video and it showed me how to clean out/defrost the tray/coils that lead to the drain tube. The tray was filled with solid ice, so even though the drain tube was clear, nothing could get to it to drain! Thanks again for a fabulous video!! P. S. I am NOT a plumber, I'm a preschool teacher!!!
Glad it helped!
Thank you for this video! So helpful and we got it done. Only thing I suggest is mentiining that the two screws removed from the freezer upper left need to be connected to the fan that's in that part of the molding.
Wow!! This is fantastic! My frig layout in the back is different. But the tube was right there along with the tie straps. The tube was clogged. It was a Very straight forward job. Just like the video.
The interior of my fridge is totally different from yours. There is no drain plug and no panel to take off just some kind of exterior clothes dryer looking vent. I decided not to blast it with a hairdryer to see how it drains now.
The worst thing of the whole endeavor is taking the dang sliding trays out and putting them back in.
Hint. Opening the doors is much better bc it allows the trays to clear the frig above.
You’re a life saver! I already cleared out all the ice per instructions from a different video but no one else showed the actual drain line. Mine was caked with 3 inches of gunk! I’m really hopeful that this is the final fix I needed, thanks man!
Same! Whether it fixes my issue or not, this is one of the most helpful videos covering this issue that I've seen. Thanks for the share!
Did it fix it 100%?
@@randolphcountyrockstar1108 yes
Mine is freezing again after doing this like two days ago
@@kelm1123 mine still has not froze up since I cleared the drain line. Sorry to hear you didn’t have better luck!
Thank you for showing the root cause of the problem that was causing the ice buildup in my freezer compartment. I followed your advice yesterday and found that my drain tube also had about a 1/2-inch of gunk buildup at the bottom. I cleared out the tube, cleaned the collection tray, and removed the 1/2-inch slab of ice on the bottom of my freezer. I also found that a bag of food had dropped down below the bottom tray and was stuck to the frozen ice slab :-). Hopefully this fix will last for a few years.
I removed the glacier from my freezer last week and I thought that would fix it. It didn't. I found your video, and have to do what you just did. Looks pretty straight forward. (Note) for those of you with newer refrigerators, removing that cover to the coils voids your warranty so put it back carefully. Nice video!
I just did that thing. My tube kind of threaded off and on, had two zip ties from the factory, and about half inch of gunk at stuck in the exit (no pun). Buttoned up the rear hatch and moved to the front.
Draws came out the same. Had to take off the stainless front. Did that by two screws (one on either rail towards the front). My wet wall had no screws to dismount the plastic back. I didn't even need to take it off. I used a heat gun (wife's blow dryer) and blew it into the vents. The heat rose, defrosted the [coils?], moped it all up, put front back on, drawers back in, plugged it in, and poured a scotch. Nice vid dude, lets see if that fixed leak.
@@michaeldodd3563 Did it fix the leak?
@@socialillz No. I had to take it back apart, and use a turkey baster full of boiling hot water to melt the ice in the drip channel. The problem was the hole was full of ice. Works like a charm.
Thank you for making this video. Although I have the manual & it mentions the drain pan, no where does it show WHERE the pan is nor how to clean it. I had called Sears but all they will do is to connect you to a service tech starting at $40. Thanks for saving me $$!
Thank you for the very helpful video! Everything shown on the video was the same in real life! Lol. One bit of advice...the freezer door will remove just by pulling all the way out and lifting up, tilting towards the refrigerator. This gives a lot more room for large folks like me to do the work!
This was a super helpful video. Thank you for posting! We just finished unclogging the drain tube. Aside from dust and hair at the exit of the plastic drain tube where the rubber flap is, we actually found a rusted screw inside the dust/hairball. I wonder if the person that put the refrigerator together at the factory had accidentally dropped a screw into the drain. Hopefully there isn't another clog above the plastic drain tube. We will open the panel inside the freezer and check if unclogging the drain alone wasn't enough.
Forgot to update... upon opening the panel inside the freezer compartment, we discovered that there was also some black, melted insulating material that ended up on the upper part of the drain tube. There is a metal gutter/channel that spans below those iced up coils / fins that HelpingHand was de-icing with the hairdryer in the video and it's supposed to channel/direct water from the melting ice to the drain and down the drain tube and to the drain pan. When the water would not drain out the other end of the drain pipe, I figured out that the top of the drain (part of the gutter/channel) had the melted insulating material clogging it. There hasn't been any ice buildup in the bottom of our freezer since unclogging the drain.
Thank you so much for the video! I had been living with the problem for months and with the help of this video I was able to unclog the drain and fix the problem in 15 minutes. Oddly enough, I also had a screw mixed in with the dust that was clogging the drain.
Glad it worked out.
About 5 years ago, I had a same problem with same type of Kenmore. I started to hear scraping sonund when I was opening and closing bottom freezer. Noticed that ice had built-up. I called Sears and the technician did exactly what you have done.
Great video, but I had a different, very weird problem. My drain pan had a crack in it allowing water to drain onto the floor. I have a Kenmore Elite model 596.73503201 which is 19 years old. The drain pan is plastic and on the left side, that pan had a crack down one side to the bottom, then inward into the pan bottom. Total length of crack was about 1-1/2 inches. I also noticed that part of the pan wiggles a little, not really secured, so I think over the years, the vibration caused the crack. Anyway I was able to fix it with 5 min dry expoxy glue on both sides of the crack. First, I cleaned up the area thoroughly and used a hair dryer to dry out that part of the pan. Then, I used a toothpick to paste on the glue. I also added a glob of glue to the underside of the pan to prevent future vibration which was shaking the pan. This fix actually worked, suprisingly!
good info, my leak returned so I gotta go back; I saw this pan was loose but didn't inspect, you might be on to something.
Thank you for the video, Just got to the back of the fridge, it was very difficult as the Fridge was facing and island. The drain pipe was clogged, i had unclogged it. Removed the ice at he bottom of the freezer. Used the big Air Blower used by home restoration teams. There was a lot of water that came out. Hope fully this would solve the issue. If not over the weekend i have to open the plastic panel and use the Blower again.
AHH so helpful! I've been trying to figure this puzzle out for months. In the midst of the pandemic the freezer is full and I've been putting off emptying it out for this repair. But your video was easy to follow and I did my best! My Kenmore had an ice maker attached on the upper left side of the freezer so I couldn't remove the white panel in the back to easily access the cooling coils to use my hair dryer on them. I pried it up as much as I could and just aimed the hair dryer into the gaps. The ice was melting, so I know it was at least partially working. Here's hoping to this issue being fixed for good!
Any issues since?
@@socialillz Regrettably, even though I did all this, I'm still having the leak. My friend, a home inspector, first suggested I change the seal gaskets on the freezer. Then he saw the upper half (French door style) and told me that on my particular model, that style of gasket was no longer used because it was known to be inefficient. He suspected that even though I did my best to defrost the system, the amount of humid air getting in there was just overwhelming the defroster system, causing the water to drip out the front rather than out the back line as it should. He said I could replace all the seals and remove the ice maker to fully get at all the apparatus in the back... but at that point I might as well just get a new one.
Thank you! I've watched quite a few videos on how to do this, and yours does the best job of showing and explaining what needs to be done.
Great to hear!
THANKS so much for this video - it was spot on. There was ice 1/2" thick at the base of the freezer compartment so this must have been going on for a while. Well done!
I learned something else about this situation on another freezer. While the clogged drain hose IS THE ROOT CAUSE, the remediation may also require getting rid of a solid ice buildup upstream of the hose. In other words, if the hose has been blocked for a while, there may be a solid block of ice in a drain tray leading to the hose. YOU MUST GET RID OF THIS by manually removing it OR by leaving the unit off for hours til it melts.
@@petewilleford128 thank you so much for posting this- I was wondering about that! Thanks again!
That was so helpful.. you explained it so well we also had Icing on the bottom of the fridge and I vacuumed the coils that were full of dust. Its such a simple fix.. and I thank you for explaining how to remove the drawers in the freezer.
Glad it helped!
I had the same situation (different model fridge) and solved my icing and leak. Thanks!!
Thanks for the video, I found the ball of goo at bottom of plugged drain tube.
FYI my fridge is JAMMED in between wall and counter cabinet. So to get it loose I screwed the front feet up and put a strap from a woodworking clamp around each front foot and formed a big loop that I put behind my back and I then sat on the floor and pushed with my feet on either side and pulled the fridge loose and out with just a little effort.
This wasn't my problem yet. But what it did help me do was to figure out how to take the top freezer rails out and put them back in. The rails became frozen when it wasn't shut all the way. I used rubbing alcohol to defrost them!
This was such a helpful, straight-to-the-point, easy to follow & understand video!! Thank you so much, I actually feel confident enough to try this out! 🙏
I'm so glad!
Thank you! You just saved me some money! My wife was demanding a new fridge. Easy fix.
Glad I could help!
This was incredibly helpful, the only resource I needed besides a bit of common sense. The only difference with our fridge was the icemaker on top left, which has to be removed to remove panel. It had two screws for the icemaker air duct and 2 for the icemaker itself into the top.
if only they could put a drain pan defroster, but I have a feeling it would melt the plastic underneath.
Thanks, that was a very helpful video. Took me 10 minutes to fix my Kenmore fridge. I almost bought a new one!
Glad it helped!
3 years, how long did that fix last?
Excellent Video..Proabably the best one of seen. Great Job
Same problem: clog and fairly thick layer of ice build up in the bottom of the freezer. Same fridge only in stainless. Same fix. Clogged cleared. Fingers crossed the issue is fix.
Thanks for your video, following your instructions i took care of my frig problem
Thanks! That's almost the same model I have, so your video is all I could have hoped for. Piece of cake. "It's easy when you know how."
I’m over excited to know this beforehand, when this happens my husband will think I’m brilliant when I act like I was born knowing this and him feeling stupid 😂 thank you, this will be an awesome moment.
Did it work for you?
Good video, however you don't have to remove the three screws, just pry the panel away but be prepared to disconnect electrical connectors (Red on bottom). Oh, these tasks much easier removing the front door. Remove the two little screws, lift and pull. During installation ensure rear hook engaged and then reinstall the screws. A dirty drain wasn't my problem, my drain was frozen up. Removed ice in channel and using a syringe and hot water cleared the drain, verified by pouring an additional cup of hot water through the drain into a pan.
Thank you for this video. It perfectly helped my husband and I solve our problem!
Thanks very much. I knew I had the problem, but didn't know what caused it.
A paint can opener works great for removing the panel. Thanks for the how-to!
Thank you so much for providing this video. We are in the middle of the corona virus pandemic and I really don't want anyone in my house right now!
Excellent. More of my water build up is actually on the floor of the fridge. Not so much the floor of the freezer. Likely to be the same thing you think? Thanks!
Excellent, so exciting to find my exact item, it took me some time to find where this item was after others just hinted at it, you showed the exact location and fix. I hope that's it (not done yet, "measure twice, cut once") but very good vid!
The leak returned because I only cleaned the drain (which was plugged), opting to do the heating of the coil if it returned - it did return but I saw another vid where the guy did the same as you, but then said he could have done it by just heating from the back, so I did that and it lasted longer, but now just leaked again (do to that frozen ice on bottom), I guess I'll try your method of removing the inside to heat. It'd didn't 'freeze over like this for like 15-20 years, something isn't cycling.
Pull the fridge out from the top doors. It's really easy that way.
Thanks for your video. Not exactly my problem but gave me additional info for fixing my problem
I had to boil the kettle to clear the ice blockage. As hot tap water wasn’t doing it. Thanks!
Great job!
Fantastic video helped ole grannie save a repair call
Hi. We cleaned out the drain tube a few months ago but are still getting ice in the bottom. When you removed the panel inside the freezer does that allow the water that is defrosted from the coils to get to the drain tube? Did you see specifically where the area is that the water gets to the tube? Thanks!
Great video! Probably should have mentioned that replacing the panel at the end is a little finicky. Other than that it was spot on!
GREAT video. I have the same problem (ice on bottom of freezer) but the drain tube WAS NOT obstructed. ANY OTHER ideas?
It's plugged at the top of the hose...at the collection pan under the evaporator...
Thank you, solved the problem. Ugh it was GROSS how much gunk was in there.
For me, my drain line is clear, nothing in it at all, but I'm still getting ice build up in the bottom of the freezer and it leaks onto the floor... any ideas?
Mine too let me know if you hear back from anyone
Did you actually check the drain pipe to see if it is clear? Just observing water dripping out of the pipe into the tray below the fridge is not an indication of an unclogged pipe. Even a partially clogged pipe can cause the problem if you build up a lot of frost between defrost cycles. The melted frost is barely above freezing temperature when it drips off the evaporator coils and if it sits there for a while due to a partially clogged drain pile, can easily refreeze in the collector tray, becoming another blockage that clogs the opening to the drain pipe, especially if the thermostat for the freezer section is set very low.
Great bit of information! Thank you for being so thorough.
Learned more from you. Thanks for posting.
Thankyou had a clogged drain pipe into the bottom pan and the drain below the coils was frozen solid with ice
Excellent..really appreciate this video and your instruction..
Thanks so much! Our fridge is almost identical to yours and this helped a lot!!
Glad I could help!
1) very good video. 2) I cannot get the back inside panel off to access where I need to use the hair dryer 😮. 3) I think I can fix ANYTHING due to UA-cam… I already owned auto trim tools. I’m a 59 year old retired high school math teacher. 😂. So I’m up for anything. I think I’m not strong enough to pull off the last piece…y’all pray for me! Oh yes: drain tube in back was full of gunk.
Great video and play by play. Only one I needed to watch.
Thanks for the visit
BIG THANKS!! GREAT VIDEO!
Breaker reset worked! Thanks!!!
So helpful. Thank you!
Taking out that wall on the inside was a pain in the culo! All of the steps were super helpful. Thank you, sir!
Solution delivered! Thank you.
Thank you for sharing this video. My ice build up is actually happening inside the refrigerator, not freezer. Would this be the same solution? Thank you
You might want to edit your description to mention that the water is on the bottom of the freezer, not the fridge.
Thanks
, it’s a very helpful video
Thanks!!! Just hit this problem today :)
Inspired to try tomorrow. My ice is very slow dropping. But now I hav ei=knowledge to take care of my Sh%$!
I had mine fixed twice in two years but never saw the line removed and cleaned like you did. HHUUMMMM?
Mine was done 2 years ago. It needed it again this year but teck had a total different take. Symptoms are the same as 2 years ago but he now says I have a leak in the internal cooling system that is causing the ice build up. Also as compressor felt hot it is going bad. He did a check on line but did not remove it like we see here. In 2 weeks we are iced up again. I am looking at new ones and if you can find one they look like crap on the inside. Fear I am about to buy a new one and may still have a clogged drain. Should I tell second opinion guy, this is a second opinion call or keep quiet?
Nailed it! Appreciate your help!
No problem!
It appears that you had easy access inside the freezer. Did you remove the door?
I’ve been having this issue. I unplugged the fridge for a few days and the drain pan was full of water, and drain tube was unobstructed. Issue returned about a week later. I’m guessing there is a blockage further up so I need to pull off the panel inside freezer to check.
To move it easier, see if it has adjustable feet that you can adjust until it sits on the rollers.
Thank you so much!! This video was a big help
Glad it helped!
Awe man, thank god I found your video
Glad I could help
I love it thanks otherwise i would have busted up some stuff lol
Very helpful..unfortunately when I opened my Sears Kenmore model no 596.79213011, to my surprise, it had a different structure. The drain pipe is actually inside the body of the fridge, unlike how yours was removable. only a small nozzle sticks out that throws water down a slide into the drain pan. So now I need help to open the freezer from inside to access the likely clogged drain pipe. I couldn’t find any video on how to do that specific to my model. Can you help? Much appreciated. Thanks
excellent video! worked perfectly, just as described thx thx
Curious as I was able to get to the Drain and clean it out. But not so confident on the second step. If we don't get the back cleaned out with a hair dryer will it start to work itself out or will the build continue?
Thank you! Great video and helpful too!
Glad it was helpful!
I gotta call Sears. Aint no way I can do all of this 🤣🤣🤣 Thank you though!
Thanks for this... it solved my problem, too.
Glad it helped
What's the point of the 2nd step? Won't the ice just build up again after, or is supposed to have no ice at all in that part
Thanks, we have the same problem, I did 1st two now time to take inside back off. Ugh. Anyway need new filter any luck on finding them cheaper then 80?
You didn't show were there drain hole was at the back of the inside freezer compartment you just defrosted the ice! Also u didn't show how hard it was to remove the back panel! I have tried and can not do this any suggestions? Thanks!
There is a hole in the tray that collects the melted frost that drips down from the evaporator coils during the defrost cycle. That hole leads to the drain pipe.
The back plastic panel may be frozen in place by the ice build up. If you can clear out the contents of the unit, try leaving it to defrost for an extended amount of time, 3 to 4 hours may be enough to determine if it is ice or some hidden fasteners/mechanism holding the panel in place.
The ice and water on my Kenmore French door elite collects under the crisper at the bottom of the fridge, not the freezer. Is it the same drain line or another?
I also had water in my crisper and in the freezer floor. I believe the water in the top parts of the frig were a result of water leaking from that filter located on the top ceiling. I replaced that and that seemed to stop the water in top portion. The "fix" in this video is what I did for the ice build up and leaking. That drain line in the back at the bottom of frig is easy to get to so clean it out as well.
Hi did u ever get the issue resolved. I have the same problem of ice build up at the bottom of my refrigerator not freezer. My drain line was not plugged. In fact it was bone dry.
Water in the refrigerator section is not likely to be due to melted frost from the defrost operation, so the procedure shown in this video won't solve that problem.
I have kitchenaid refrigerator and it's same problem but I don't know how to take it out freezer drawer if you saws me how to take it out so I can fix the problem.
Will the contents of the fridge be ok? Ours is stuck shut, will this fix it?
I have that same model and it also freezes at the bottom and I see that the fan or fan does not work, do I have to replace it?
Gonna try it.
I have a problem with bottom door, is not closing evenly, should I replace both rails?
Damn, I want some of those Bagel Bites
Who doesn't love Bagel Bites!
Nom, nom, nom...Awesome and thank you ! :)
Thank you!
noisy fan bottom mount kenmore how to access timer?model 5967833*800
any idea old fridge had timer at the back easy to access before
Thank you! Did anyone else have issues with the two screws on the left? Mine will not tighten. Any suggestions, anyone?
Check at 6:03 for the white plastic part to the left of his hand. Align the four plastic legs (If I could call them that way) with the padded orange holes in the panel. This has to be done while the panel is still in that position. Those legs are threaded at the end. That is where you attach the screws, but only to the two that are closer to the opening with the black padding on it. You can see one of the orange holes in the panel at the bottom left side of the screen. Align that one and the one closer to it with the two white plastic legs shown to the left of the part. It is easy to figure out. Good luck!
My ice is in the fridge under the deli drawer. Is it the same drain?