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glatt · 11-01-2011, 10:52 AM

Last night I think I fixed the refrigerator.

There had been mysterious puddles of water under the refrigerator off and on for a few weeks, which I traced to an area under the crisper drawers. A couple of water drops on the back wall showed the water was coming down from up near the freezer. This machine does not have an ice maker or water filter, so it had to be a condensation issue.

So I pulled everything out of the freezer, which is on top, and started looking up there. I figured there was a drain that was blocked or frozen shut or something, forcing the water to find another path. It took a while to figure out how to remove the rear panel of the freezer to get to the condenser, and it was so cold working in there that I had to go find some winter gloves to wear. There was a rack to remove, and an ice cube shelf, and an unused ice maker hookup to snap off, and a frozen brittle plastic vent grate to snap off without breaking, and one screw to remove. And once I did all that. I could pull the back panel off. I saw the drain hole under the condenser, but didn't see anything blocking it. No water or ice was visible up there under the condenser either, but there was a little water in the drain hole.

So then I pulled the refrigerator out into the middle of the kitchen and saw that there was a drain hose on the back of the thing that leads from just below the freezer down to an evaporation pan at the base of the fridge. I got my wet-dry vac turned on, and then popped this hose off. Sucking all the spilling water up as I did so. Then I put the nozzle of the shop-vac right up to the hose. It made a perfect seal. And the shop vac whined like crazy for a bit while making a slurping sound. The hose was sucked clear. I tried blowing into the hose, and there were no obstructions.

Then I put it all back together and put the food back in.

I could have just pulled the stupid thing out into the kitchen and pulled the hose out of the back and sucked it out in the first place. It would have taken a minute or two. But now I have an intricate understanding of this refrigerator. And I found some year old food in the freezer that I got to throw away.

And since this is kind of a boring post, I'll throw in a picture of the condenser, because most people will never see what theirs looks like.

11-01-2011, 10:52 AM	#129
glatt ™ Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Arlington, VA Posts: 27,717	Last night I think I fixed the refrigerator. There had been mysterious puddles of water under the refrigerator off and on for a few weeks, which I traced to an area under the crisper drawers. A couple of water drops on the back wall showed the water was coming down from up near the freezer. This machine does not have an ice maker or water filter, so it had to be a condensation issue. So I pulled everything out of the freezer, which is on top, and started looking up there. I figured there was a drain that was blocked or frozen shut or something, forcing the water to find another path. It took a while to figure out how to remove the rear panel of the freezer to get to the condenser, and it was so cold working in there that I had to go find some winter gloves to wear. There was a rack to remove, and an ice cube shelf, and an unused ice maker hookup to snap off, and a frozen brittle plastic vent grate to snap off without breaking, and one screw to remove. And once I did all that. I could pull the back panel off. I saw the drain hole under the condenser, but didn't see anything blocking it. No water or ice was visible up there under the condenser either, but there was a little water in the drain hole. So then I pulled the refrigerator out into the middle of the kitchen and saw that there was a drain hose on the back of the thing that leads from just below the freezer down to an evaporation pan at the base of the fridge. I got my wet-dry vac turned on, and then popped this hose off. Sucking all the spilling water up as I did so. Then I put the nozzle of the shop-vac right up to the hose. It made a perfect seal. And the shop vac whined like crazy for a bit while making a slurping sound. The hose was sucked clear. I tried blowing into the hose, and there were no obstructions. Then I put it all back together and put the food back in. I could have just pulled the stupid thing out into the kitchen and pulled the hose out of the back and sucked it out in the first place. It would have taken a minute or two. But now I have an intricate understanding of this refrigerator. And I found some year old food in the freezer that I got to throw away. And since this is kind of a boring post, I'll throw in a picture of the condenser, because most people will never see what theirs looks like. Attached Images