Frozen drain line from top freezer to drip pan

Hello John;

My name is Peter. I am a retired field service refrigeration technician.

A frozen or blocked drain may not be the problem, or it may.

You have one of two problems. Regardless of which problem it is you need to remove the back wall panel in your freezer. This is not a easy task. You must remove the freezer door, the ice maker, the side guide rails. There are two clips on the back wall air distribution center section using a screw driver to depress and then some. You need to install a hot wire from the bottom of the defrost heater to the drain. Do not attempt this, you may damage some of the components if you do not have the experience.

Ok, lets check out the frozen drain the easy way. Your unit goes through a defrost cycle every 8-10 hours. This is where everything shuts down for 20-30 minutes with the exception of your lights. Your defrost heater turns on during this time.

1.) Check the Drain:

a.) Pull your unit out from the wall to where you can get behind it. You may have to raise up the leveling jack screws in the front to do this. Remove the bottom toe plate. There are two Philips head screws holding it on. Turn the jack screws counter clockwise to raise.


b.) Having pulled the unit out from the wall, unplug the unit. Remove the bottom back cover. There are several hex head screws holding the cover on.
Pull the drain tube out. It just Pops in and out. If there is a black rubber grommet at the discharge end, remove it and throw it away. The initial intent was to keep warm air from getting into the freezer. However, over time they dry up and prevents the condensate from draining.


c.) Insert a wire up into the drain hole, such as a coat hanger, to check for blockage. If it is blocked with ice, you must unplug your unit for 24 hours to completely clear the ice.

2.) Obstruction or Refrigerant Leak:

Recently, I believed my friend had a frozen drain in the same unit that you have. Upon pulling the back cover I discovered a block of ice build-up at the refrigerant and capillary tube connection. The capillary tube is about 1/16" in diameter with a small needle size hole running through it. This tube can easily become plugged, which is common. This block of ice will continuously drip. A repair of this nature is about $450.00 - $550.00. The rule of thumb is: "If the cost of repair is 1/3 or more of the original cost of the unit, then replace the unit. You can get some good deals at a Sears Outlet (Scratch & Dent) Store.

this sounds like your freezer is operating properly, except that the drainage of the water when going through the defrosting mode is not draining properly, pooling on the bottom of the freezer and then freezing. Check the drainage hose for the defrost in the lower pan. I would remove everything, place in ice chest, let the unit completely thaw out and then inspect. I hope this is beneficial.

The hose that goes into the drip pan to defrost the refer is plugged with stuff.
take the back off and see the hose connection.A coat hanger works well.Usually a 1/4" hose.
Also see where the bottom of the freezer drains into the drip pan.That may be plugged,also.
The temp may be set too low and the condenser is frozen up,leaking water into the floor.Just ice stuck to the condenser.
Possible that the condenser FAN stopped turning. That will ice up and melt at random:
see/hear that the fan is working.
If stuff gets into the fan,it will ice up,melt and make a mess on the floor.

sounds like a clogged drain pan drain. Could be the drain line heater is not working so when it goes into defrost, the water can not drain as the drain line is frozen up and acts as a restriction/ clog. could also be some good old fashion junk/ dust.
Check it out.

This sounds like clogged drain / hose in the freezer compartment, here's why:

When the defrost circuit turns on, the compressor turns off. The defrost coil melts frost that collects on the freezer coil and drips in to a small pan located below the coil. The pan is formed so that the water that drips in it can flow to a hose connected under it. When the defrost cycle completes. the compressor runs again, bringing the temperature in the freezer to about 0 again. Any water remaining anywhere in the freezer will turn to ice very quickly.

If the hose should become clogged with ice, or slowed by mold, bacteria, etc. - water flow will be slowed, and / or eventually stopped. Ice will become thicker and thicker on the floor of the freezer as there is no place for the water to go.

A service manual for the appliance would be a good idea, but may not be required. You'll need to unplug the freezer and empty the contents. Defrost manually with a hair dryer or other heat source. If you decide to chip away ice, do so carefully.

The defrost and drain area of most refrigerator / freezers are located behind the rear panel of the freezer compartment. This is where the manual would indicate where the parts are located. Remove any ice maker installed if needed to remove the back panel.

Defrost any ice previously hidden by the panel. Chipping ice here should be a last resort, as sharp edges can damage cooling coils, tubing and the drip pan itself. Use a turkey baster filled with hot water to direct a stream at the area of the pan filled with ice. Hot water will likely have to be directed down the opening on the pan to melt ice in the hose as well.

Once the ice is cleared, mix about a 10% to 20% solution of bleach and water (1/2 ounce bleach to 3 ounces water) and direct down the drain hose. This will kill and inhibit further growth of mold and bacteria in the hose, which should help it drain water quickly.

Re-assemble and plug into power.

I hope you found this Very Helpful. If you need more help, ask again - but include the freezer manufacturer's name and model number. Good luck!

Your problem could be caused by a clogged drainage tube. even though you may have removed the ice it may still have a clog. my suggestion would be to take all of the contents out of your fridge and let it sit unplugged for atleast 24-48 hours with the doors open this will eliminate any left over ice that may be clogging your drain tube. if this dosent help then you may have a defrost heater problem, or possibly a defrost termination switch problem. as for the smell i know that vinegar works well for getting rid of odor. ther eis also a product you can purchase called fridge aid, it is a charcoal based air purifier and should work well.

Your evaporator coils frost up in normal use and every eight hours or so the entire unit shuts down and the defrost heater comes on to melt the frost. This cycle last about 20 minutes. The melted frost drips into a drain pan and through a drain tube to the drain tray under the freezer/refrigerator where it's evaporated by the condenser fan.


Your drain tube may be stopped up with ice at the upper end because it drains too slow because it's stopped up at the lower end in the evaporator pan under the unit at the floor. It can get dust and mold in it. Once you get the ice out at the top a little pressure with a turkey baster will usually clear it out. Flushing it out with hot water and clorox may help.
Make sure it drains quick enough to prevent refreezing. . The drain should be located below the evaporator coils on the lower back of the freezer.

you can take a ook into the freezer sect its possible that the line has frozen, nad no longer is defrost water going into the drain but rather falling on to the floor of freezer and evnetually out the door

I deal with MasterBilt which is a private lable made by TurboAir.
I have several units but only one does this icing up thing. Look for a bad seal on the door gasket. These really ice up if that does not seal almost perfectly. Look for premature termination of the defrost cycle. Check that the heater is pulling amps. The wiring diagram at "turboairinc.com" is very poor but it shows 2 heaters for the refrigerator. They list a diagram for the freezer but it's not there. I know for sure that there is a heater for the evap but don't know about the drain. I've seen some have it and some don't. there tech support line has much to be desired but it's worth a shot. Also, the bottom hinge on the door fails fairly regularly. This allows the door to drop just enought to disengage the switch at the top of the door and stop the evap fan from running, thus causing a freeze up.
Good Luck . You got your hands full with this one.

The outsides should will be warm.  This is normal because the condensor lines run thru the cabinet from about half way up the sides and over the top.  Which is why the you shouldn't have anything stacked on top of the freezer and enough room on the sides of it for air flow.  As far as the water leak, tell me exactly where you see the water and does the bottom of the freezer (inside) have a sheet of ice on it.  If there is ice there then the drain behind the bottom panel in the freezer is frozen over and will have to be thawed out.  Let me know what you find.  If you have further questions I may need the entire model # on the sticker inside the freezer.