[NA] Refrigerator Leak

Keep us posted!

Man is it a pilot trait or what to fix our own appliances? I always at least try to fix my own, and it sounds like many others here have, yet most people I know wouldn’t troubleshoot it at all- appliance broke equals new one…. Probably just part of our troubleshooting mentality and calculations of how many gallons of avgas a new appliance costs :)
 
Um.... Ok just checked. There sure is a build up f ice on the floor of the freezer.
What do you now my man?
We bought a Samsung refrigerator about 15 years ago. It has the freezer as a pull-out drawer at the bottom. When we bought it, I noticed some sort of sensor sticking out a hole in the top of the freezer compartment.

About three years after buying it, we noticed that water on the floor below the unit. Investigating inside, I found that the sensor was gone...the food had apparently piled up high enough, caught it, and ripped it from the freezer when the drawer was opened. Ice was forming at the bottom of the freezer, impeding the drawer's ability to close completely. The ice would get up to an inch thick.

We got a service call...and was told the refrigerator was unrepairable. The sensor had brought out a length of wire with it, and with the other end of the wire buried in the insulation, there was no way to hook up to it again. Refrigerator was out of warranty.

My wife then started manually defrosting the freezer...open the drawer, pull out the siding tray, pull out the main food tray, and pick at the ice. Did this every three months or so.

About the time I retired, we remodeled the kitchen, put in a new refrigerator, and put the old one in the garage to hold beer and pop. Moving from the kitchen to the garage, it came into my domain.

Eventually, I discovered the trick: Percussive defrosting. The liner of the freezer is (slightly) flexible. Ice is NOT flexible, and, in fact, is brittle and doesn't handle localized impacts. So pull out the food trays, reach into the bottom of the freezer compartment with a tack hammer, and whack the ice in the very center of the bottom of the compartment. The ice shatters, and the broken pieces don't stick to the compartment liner. Once the first break is made, it comes out pretty easy. Shove the bergy bits out of the compartment onto the garage floor, then use a broom to shoo it outside.

Only takes about 15 minutes, now.

Ron "Why, yes, I *am* cheap" Wanttaja
 
We bought a Samsung refrigerator about 15 years ago. It has the freezer as a pull-out drawer at the bottom. When we bought it, I noticed some sort of sensor sticking out a hole in the top of the freezer compartment.

About three years after buying it, we noticed that water on the floor below the unit. Investigating inside, I found that the sensor was gone...the food had apparently piled up high enough, caught it, and ripped it from the freezer when the drawer was opened. Ice was forming at the bottom of the freezer, impeding the drawer's ability to close completely. The ice would get up to an inch thick.

We got a service call...and was told the refrigerator was unrepairable. The sensor had brought out a length of wire with it, and with the other end of the wire buried in the insulation, there was no way to hook up to it again. Refrigerator was out of warranty.

My wife then started manually defrosting the freezer...open the drawer, pull out the siding tray, pull out the main food tray, and pick at the ice. Did this every three months or so.

About the time I retired, we remodeled the kitchen, put in a new refrigerator, and put the old one in the garage to hold beer and pop. Moving from the kitchen to the garage, it came into my domain.

Eventually, I discovered the trick: Percussive defrosting. The liner of the freezer is (slightly) flexible. Ice is NOT flexible, and, in fact, is brittle and doesn't handle localized impacts. So pull out the food trays, reach into the bottom of the freezer compartment with a tack hammer, and whack the ice in the very center of the bottom of the compartment. The ice shatters, and the broken pieces don't stick to the compartment liner. Once the first break is made, it comes out pretty easy. Shove the bergy bits out of the compartment onto the garage floor, then use a broom to shoo it outside.

Only takes about 15 minutes, now.

Ron "Why, yes, I *am* cheap" Wanttaja

I’d doubt you were a legit ticket holder if you weren’t cheap! Seems to be a common thread amongst us!
 
I'm both cheap and lazy. Too cheap to call for a repairman because I'm sure I can fix the auto defrost myself and too lazy to actually do it. So, when the coils ice over behind the panel I just move all the food to the spare fridge in the garage for the night, turn off the kitchen fridge and leave the doors open 'till morning. One of these days I'll fix it right, but I'm gonna give it a real good chance to heal itself first. Hey, my lawnmower fixed its own governor, so why not the fridge?
 
We bought a Samsung refrigerator about 15 years ago. It has the freezer as a pull-out drawer at the bottom. When we bought it, I noticed some sort of sensor sticking out a hole in the top of the freezer compartment.

About three years after buying it, we noticed that water on the floor below the unit. Investigating inside, I found that the sensor was gone...the food had apparently piled up high enough, caught it, and ripped it from the freezer when the drawer was opened. Ice was forming at the bottom of the freezer, impeding the drawer's ability to close completely. The ice would get up to an inch thick.

We got a service call...and was told the refrigerator was unrepairable. The sensor had brought out a length of wire with it, and with the other end of the wire buried in the insulation, there was no way to hook up to it again. Refrigerator was out of warranty.

My wife then started manually defrosting the freezer...open the drawer, pull out the siding tray, pull out the main food tray, and pick at the ice. Did this every three months or so.

About the time I retired, we remodeled the kitchen, put in a new refrigerator, and put the old one in the garage to hold beer and pop. Moving from the kitchen to the garage, it came into my domain.

Eventually, I discovered the trick: Percussive defrosting. The liner of the freezer is (slightly) flexible. Ice is NOT flexible, and, in fact, is brittle and doesn't handle localized impacts. So pull out the food trays, reach into the bottom of the freezer compartment with a tack hammer, and whack the ice in the very center of the bottom of the compartment. The ice shatters, and the broken pieces don't stick to the compartment liner. Once the first break is made, it comes out pretty easy. Shove the bergy bits out of the compartment onto the garage floor, then use a broom to shoo it outside.

Only takes about 15 minutes, now.

Ron "Why, yes, I *am* cheap" Wanttaja

Very bad design. I wish we could still buy a well made refrigerator that lasts 30 years. And stoves for that matter. My mom’s 1970s era GE range is still going strong. The only repair ever done was replacing one of the oven coils a couple years ago.
 
So I pulled the back panel off near the bottom and I didn't see any evidence of leaking now I'm inside the freezer and it's leaking from here I've circled in white where the leak seems to be coming from and it's draining down where the white line is but that whole lateral panel there is caked with ice.

So I'm guessing I need to remove the entire internal back panel on the freezer to find the leak?

20210916_120500.jpg
 
gotta look for where it's supposed to be draining out thru. either clogged or frozen over. you should see a drain tube in the back panel on the bottom, like in all the youtube videso you just watched on how to fix it. you DID watch the youtube videos while you were eating all the ice cream so it doesn't melt, right????
 
Yeah I watched YouTube videos and they all had this little drain with a rubber piece on the end I'm not seeing anything like that.
 
I haven't yet removed that panel because I could tell from the lack of airflow in the vent at the top of the refrigerator compartment (side x side model) that the coils were iced up. Manually defrosted it and it works well for a month or two with acceptable airflow. Maybe you have the same problem? In which case, how about posting a DIY video on fixing the problem?
 
The hose was clogged with something. I couldn't get to the screws to pull it out so I just stuck the vacuum cleaner in there and there was a thuwaump noise and now it's raining freely
It'd be nice to open up the vacuum bag/canister and see what it was.
 
If not for bad luck I'd have no luck at all. I got the refrigerator fixed about 2 hours later I start smelling something burning in the house really bad. Got the dogs outside called 911 and the firefighters came in and found out that one of my HVAC units in the Attic was eating itself and there's melted wires inside it.

It was just blowing that burning wire stench all throughout the house. I'm going to let the professionals work on the air conditioning unit I max out at shoddy refrigerator repair.

20210916_140254.jpg
 
one of my HVAC units in the Attic was eating itself and there's melted wires inside it.
Oof. Good thing you saved money on the fridge repair to pay for the HVAC.

BTW, looks like the dog's been chewing the rug. And are those IFR instrument flash cards in the picture frame hanging on the wall above the backpack?
 
Oof. Good thing you saved money on the fridge repair to pay for the HVAC.

BTW, looks like the dog's been chewing the rug. And are those IFR instrument flash cards in the picture frame hanging on the wall above the backpack?

And the other picture frame is the # of subscribers!
 
That sucks, typical home ownership though. Hopefully your HAVC guy will repair versus replace if it makes sense, some just want to sell new to make more money.
 
I just had my heater serviced for the upcoming winter. I told the guy I hope my heater gets as hot as that check.....
 
The good thing, your insurance will cover the AC repair since it nearly caused a fire.
 
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