Fix A Clogged Fridge Defrost Drain WITHOUT Opening Panels - How To
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- Опубликовано: 28 сен 2024
- How To Unclog a Defrost Drain in a Freezer without opening any back panels, today on Lex’s Lounge. In this case we did this on a Frigidaire Gallery fridge, because on those particular fridges , even if you open the panel, reaching the drain is sometimes horrible. How hard it is varies by model.
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Holy cow, 350K views?! Top video on whole channel?! ...You guys REALLY need help with your fridges! Lol ...anyway, if you're new here Plz sub and look around...I actually have many far MORE useful videos than this simple fridge tip.
This is a lot more views now
YES...BECAUSE SAMSUNG DENIES THAT THEIR REFRIGERATOR HAS 2 HUGE DEFECTIVE ISSUES...
This will now be my first stop
So I did all this. Didn’t work. Do you have a video on how to remove the back panel and unclog it? We have that same fridge in white. And is the coil suppose to be glowing hot? Ours isn’t.
Subbed!
I never comment on youtube videos but i just wanted to say this helped me so much, I didnt have to remove any panels. I pumped hot water from the sink through a turkey baster, adjusted the piece over the hole so it wasnt covering it at all, and it fixed the issue. my fridge has been leaking/forming ice for over a year and I never figured it out. THANK YOU
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!! I've been chipping ice out of the bottom of my side by side for 9 months or more. I bought me a turkey baster and followed your instructions. Well, mostly!!!! My turkey baster had an attachable injection syringe which I used to squirt the hot water down into the hole after I melted the ice in the tray above it. It took a little time to get 9 months worth of ice melted but...I kept at it and EUREKA!!! no more peeing fridge! Thanks so much. All of the other videos showed taking apart the whole freezer. This was the only one that didn't. I really wasn't up for tearing apart the fridge. So, Thank you Lex for posting this video.
I had to come back and say thank you! I did this on April 6th. I'm still amazed this was such an easy fix for what I thought was possibly something major. Plus, I thought I would have to take all of my food out but instead I watched your video, I looked up about my drain pan(I had no idea where it was or if I had one) but I do and I could kinda see it underneath so then I proceeded to remove food from the bottom only yay and saw I had a ziploc bag stuck to ice covering the drain hole! I poured the hot water repeatedly, then I could hear like a gulp of air and the water running to the drain pan! yay Thank you so much! I liked and subscribed too.
thank you lex for the video! we had a lot of ice blocking the drain hole so we used A LOT of hot salt water to melt the ice over the drain hole. my future father in law is very happy man!
By a lot...how much and how long?
That almost worked. We had to put baking soda and viniger to break the the clog free. More then you demonstrated but it got us pointed in the right direction. Thank you very much
For those with a Maytag french drawer freezer it may be worth the extra effort to pull panels off so you can check for excessive ice buildup in addition to the drain problem. I had a huge chunk of ice in the upper right hand corner I had to thaw out and I put in some extra effort to do some cleanup maintenance while I had things pulled apart.
Thanks Lex! You solved an issue on my friend's freezer with a simple solution! Keeps the fixes coming!
THANK YOU!!! 🙏 Single mom here...money is tight and worried what I would do... THIS WORKED!!
Thank you. My drain hole was frozen to to on/ off power outages. Used boiling water and thawed it out. It’s draining now. 👍🏻
i wish I would've found this video before replacing my icemaker and fill valve and it still not working. I then did your trick, but with hot isopropyl alcohol, and it worked flawlessly. Had I seen your video ahead of time, it wouldve saved me $75 for a new icemaker and valve!
Thanks Turkey Baster man, did the job for me in one go , fab job, eternally grateful to you !!!!
Thanks, I have the exact same refrigerator, same problem.
FYI, as with just about any fix, it depends on the make/model. I have a 2021 Whirlpool (Model: WRT518SZFM00) and using the baster only sent water into the refrigerator. I had to take off the inside back (defroster) panel of the freezer in order to get the water to go down the drain/defrost tube. It was a PITA but the only way to get the hot water to go down the tube. So my suggestion is; try this baster method BUT watch the inside of the refrigerator to see if that's where the water is going.
so awesome- everybody else wants you to take the fridge apart and fool with the drain tube... works great!
Dude, thanks so much for the pro tip. The hot water baster along with a small gauge pipe cleaning wire did the trick!
This was SUCH a helpful video! We did NOT want to open the back of our fridge. Thanks to Lex, our drain is unclogged!! Pro tip: we also squirted some white vinegar in the drain as well, just to finish cleaning out the yecky stuff. Worked like a charm! Thank you again!!
I'd think twice before pouring vinegar solution down of any drain. It damages rubber and seals. You may want to boil some baking soda in water (or mix washing soda with hot water), and use that instead. It's an old way of unclogging all kinds of drains and it's very effective when used hot. I'd cool it before pouring into the toilet though, to avoid the thermal shock.
Thank you very much for the hot water solution. Best advice ever for this problem.
Thank you for the helpful vid! Will definitely try this out before anything else because my island is in front of my fridge so I’m very limited when it comes to space for moving and dismantling.
I like your idea, best one yet. I use hot water from the coffee maker
Using boiled water worked perfectly. Thank you so much:) Blessing to you!
On the Jenn-Air, the drain tube goes down makes a hard right go slightly uphill, then straight down to the pan. the problem is that when the horizontal tube pitches up to the second elbowit, it develops a swamp and buildup starts clogging the tube. This is is a manufacturing screw-uphorizontal line should be sloped downward. you need to shim that Elbow on the second turn before it goes into the pan, to prevent swamping and buildup of debris that clogs the horizontal short of turning down to the pan. .
THANK YOU!!!! I was pre-paired to take the whole damn back apart, I tried your method and it worked! 😁😁😁😁
couldn't figure out what was screwing up in my fridge, replaced the bi-something thing on the freezer coils, ripped everything open a few times, and then a few days ago I heard the same thing you did lol and I saw the light. trying to run hot water down it now :)
This was fine little video I needed I hope to fix customers freezer drain
I had the same issue with mine and the dealer told me to basically do the same thing but add a small amount of bleach to it because most of what is clogging it up is algae. After I done that it worked awesome.
I had to adapt this a little. I used a lighter and piece of metal suspended with a pair of vice grips. I used a lighter to heat suspended metal and melt the ice clogging my drain.
Great fix! It only took me about 20 minutes! Thanks so much! 👍
Thanks! This method worked like a charm with some modifications
I love the maintenance termonology "well, you're screwed" much better than " we're screwed "
This worked great. Thank you so much! Saved me a bunch of money for repairs.
This works great!!!! Didn't have to tear anything apart either!!
You can also use room temp rubbing alcohol as an option. It will not refreeze
Worked awesome thank you! Some little chunks of ice got down there and clogged it up.
Thanks for the info, this helped solve our problem today.
Going to try this on my fridgidaire gallery. Did not know they had a drain pan, what happens to the water if it works normally? Does it evaporate?
Had this happen to my freezer, did this, worked perfectly! Was having to remove ice daily! Thank you very much!
Thank you so much for your fridge fix.
This was really helpful, worked like a charm
Worked like a charm! Thank you!
Thank you its happening right now to me
just cleaned a ge cafe french door style , had to physically clean drain tube , clogged with god knows what but that is the problem hose clogs water backs up into freezer and freezes drain closed
Thanks i will try this
It worked for me. Thx a bunch!
Thanks, It worked like a charm.
Thank you! You are amazing!
If u have somewhere to put your food u can also unplug your fridge 24-48 hrs & allow it to melt.
Hi! Great video! I placed boiling water inside just as you did, but it just stays there and doesnt drain at all. I used a thick straw and inserted tons of times, then boiling water and nothing. Any advice? Thank you!
Did you ever figure it out
I use it it works! Thank you smart idea!
Thank you. It worked perfectly!
Thanks!! Followed this video and it worked!! Yay!!
Yes. And do it again in a few weeks.
Could you just turn off your freezer for a couple days assuming you have a place to put your frozen food
It worked! Thank you
Thank You Very Very Very Much , Great video
Thanks, it really worked!
Thank you I appreciate the videos.
Good One ,Lexs
Cuteness! I mean, thanks so much for the tip ;)
I can see my drain hole just like you said, and it's clogged. But this hot water trick did not work for me unfortunately. What next?
take the back panel off that is on the inside of the freezer, for me it was 4 screws, 7 mm socket. My coils behind the panel (above the drain) were even froze. Melted the ice with hair dryer then took compressed air shot down the drain hole.
On my fridge model I can't see where the drain opening is on my freezer. (Kenmore with freezer on top) I have 4 different vent panels and the vents are too small to see any drain openings. I don't want to just squirt water randomly. :(
How to clean out tube I have a bottom freezer can’t find the tube I think it’s clogged with dirt
I fixed mine by throwing baking soda in there, followed by white vinegar after 15 minutes.
Thanks man
Great.tip thank u.
Mine repeatedly gets clogged. It's a whirlpool wrt351sfyf. We had a repair guy come up and he just thawed it. But it immediately happened again. Anyone have any suggestions for a long-term solution?
Maybe if I try this and it is successful, I won't have to keep buckets on the top shelf of my refrigerator?
How about a Whirlpool with a top freezer?
Yeah. Been there done that. Keeps refreezing. How about a permanent fix??
not sure why it keeps refreezing in your case, sorry.... for me, this worked permanently. At least for several months until i moved from that place
In the 70's the repairman used a hairdryer on it to thaw out the ice.
Hv heard people saying
It shouldnt be done...
Pl.be careful...else one may hv to buy new fridge
Samsung French door leaking water
It doesn't work
Is he Canadian?
insanely canadian.
If that doesn't get things moving, Ex-Lax won't!!!
Great tip, but clean up your fridge underneath guy
WAFDA
"And if that doesn't work, well then, you're screwed." LOL!
Not really unplug frig 48 hrs it’ll fix 👍🏽👍🏽
@@simono.1970yeah and lose all your food . 😃👍
I have a Frigidaire. I firstly use this method, but it did not work, and continue to leak. Then, I open the panel a little bit, and found out that there is a layer of ice of half inch thick. I used a metal skewer to dig out inside the panel until I can see the drain hole. I pull hot water in, but it seems like the drain hole is still blocked. I used the same metal skewer to dig inside the drain hole, and get some ice out. After some iterations of digging and pulling hot water, it finally works. Thank you for the tips. My recommendation is to clear the start the process of pulling hot water at least you can see the drain hole (without being block by inches of ice), otherwise, the hot water won't be able to melt such big piece of ice.
Hey same issue! Thick layer of ice, you broke that first ?
I called Sears and I was charged $200 just for the repair man to do that. 😡
Might be a good idea to add some baking soda to the water You're boiling (it will convert it to sodium carbonate aka soda ash solution), since it softens the water and comes highly recommended for removing clogs from all kinds of drain pipes (shower, sink, etc.; for the toilet I let the solution to cool), it's safe for seals and rubber too. Thawing of the fridge beforehand might be helpful, if not crucial, for some fridges I guess. Never tried that myself though, just an advice I've heard.
Anyway I'm having the same issue as You do with my old European style of a fridge, made by LG, where freezer is in the bottom compartment and the refrigerator is in the top. The only drain hole I can find is at the bottom of an upper (fridge) compartment, covered with a white plastic grill, similar to yours. I need to find a way of removing this grill in order to be sure my water-soda solution goes where it should.
Thank you. I was about to call repair service AND to shop for a new frig when I found your video. I figured I had nothing to lose except a few minutes, so I boiled some water, got out the turkey baster and a knife, and after removing bottom ice and scraping ice away from bottom of the vent slots (this was iced over), I sent the boiling water down as directed. Much to my utter surprise and great delight, it worked! No ice collecting at bottom now, and it's over a week. Whirlpool says it needs a 'permanent fix’ of a new drain pipe, but for now, I'm happy and will deal with the permanent issue later if Needed. Thank you again.
This is great! Is this the same process for the refrigerator side? I'm having water pool at the bottom under the veggie bins.
Okay, this worked perfectly to fix a problem I have been having for probably over a year now. This video helped me find the drain hole, and the pan under the fridge (which I was always wondering where it was). Turns out... The drain hole was completely covered with a layer of ice, and then was also plugged with ice too. I didn't have a turkey baster but I had a condiment squeeze bottle with a pointy tip that I was able to use instead and it worked great. Thanks for the video! I was so sick and tired of having to chip out ice from the bottom of my freezer!
I don't have a turkey baster either, so I'm going to try a haircolor bottle!
@@amitylayne5585 that will work as well, i used a meat injector syringe.
Credit where credit is due. This worked for me. No leaking and no ice build up on the bottom of the freezer. This is so easy that I don’t even mind if becomes a periodic fix. Thanks!
I tried the hot water but it was still clogged. I got a metal shears and cut an opening at the drain area. I jiggled a long piece of plastic tubing back and forth thru the drain line and it started draining. Thanks for your good help.
Great tip if it's ice blocking the line, but if it's some other schmeg in the line, you gotta get in there somehow to clean it out
That’s exactly what he said.
Well the way my freezer is designed it's almost impossible for any schmeg to get into the drain. Good thing because the bottom was covered in food particles and melted icee pops.
So how do you get rid of the shmeg?
@@joannafugardi9625 schmeg remover.
I just want to call out that I have fixed my refrigerator two times in the last 3-4 years using this method. I remember the first time I had this issue, I paid someone over $200 to fix it and now it takes me 30 minutes and I don't need to take anything apart. Thank you!
Mine was particularly stubborn.. in the back to a top freezer unit. The hot water didn't work so i ended up using salt. I poured the salt in the drainage tray followed by water.
did you hear sounds after draining water?
Great fix. Thanks. I didn’t have to empty the entire freezer to
get at back panel. ..... I gave the drain a shot of Clorox too.
I kinda figured it out myself and wanted to see if anyone else used a handheld steamer. That is an easier method.
Worked for me! I have a french door GE with freezer at bottom. Been getting ice under bottom tray for a while. Defrosted vents, but could’nt get bolts off to take panels off. Saw your video, got a bulb syringe and some hot water, and gave it a go. After the 3rd or 4th time, heard a loud suction sound and that was it. Put a few more cups of hot water and some baking soda down there. Took some of the water out of drip pan to make sure it did’nt overflow, and fingers crossed that problem is solved!
Yup, that was it.
Of course my turkey baster couldn't get enough water through the vent. I had to take off a panel inside the freezer to get to the drip tray that had a huge block of ice in it. There was also some ice above the fan that came loose. Every situation is a little different I guess.
Thank you much!
OMG! I don't know how you figured out this technique, but it worked like a charm on my top freezer! THANK YOU!
Dude, you just saved me a pile of grief - thank you!
Lifesaver! Simple, common sense solution that worked!
I could see through that grill that i had 2-3" high ice, so i took the four screws off that hold that panel on, then slid it up about a foot* (it flexes)
Then i used lots of hot water and used the baster directly on the drain hole for the hose till it flowed through. :)
But YOUR video showed me the problem and how to fix it. Thumbs up!
If hot water does not do the trick, try using an air compressor connected to the bottom drip tube to see if you can get air flowing up through the drain in the freezer. We just did it this morning after having issues for several months. Ours is a top freezer. After a few short moments running the air compressor, the freezer drain started to bubble and some water and ice shot out. Then the air started flowed freely up through the drain hole. We kept the air going a few minutes and immediately tried flushing water down the freezer drain and whoosh, the water went right down. And I flushed a LOT down to be sure. We used a bucket and noticed that several tiny pieces of styrofoam came out with the water. That had to be what was clogging the drip tube!
Yes this worked for me, hot water alone didn't do it. Hairdryer thru the vent & comressed air up the defrost tray drip tube:
On a Kenmore bottom freezer style:
Remove only the lower back panel, identify the drip pan (not at 1st obvious) is it wet? That's the best clue. Identify the downtube or angled trough, look for a rubber nipple above the trough, clean it, and the tube coming to it. If necessary compressed air to blow the ice up. Melt with the hairdryer and Vòila, water runs into the tray below.
I had to use air compressor as well.
1 month later, still clear of ice buildup & water on the floor. 👍🏻Wish I'd found this uTube video a year ago! I almost bought a new fridge! 🤦
thank you so much i really did not have money to buy a new fridge right now
Thanks I get that puddle and ice patch under the bottom freezer bin on my Fridgeaire Gallery side by side. I'm gonna play Appliance repair tech this week but first I have to buy the Turkey baster..
Seems to have worked , hope the defrost motor did not burn out first. Too bad all the food in my freezer seems to have defrosted before I found your page. Cooking up all the steaks, etc.. and frozen foods before they go bad from refreezing.
did you hear sounds after draining?