Dumb questions about a refrigerator
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OP
OP
The little bit of boiling water via a turkey baster did the trick!
I hope it's resolved now, so we'll see!
Sorry but you don't travel far in my area without passing the Walmarts. Your fix should last for a while but you'll prolly have to defrost again in a couple of months. A hair dryer is an easy fix or you can go with the baster.
For the beer!
For the beer!
Well...?
OP
OP
Oh, I forgot to update this!
It worked perfectly- and the freezer is full of hops again (luckily it was working before my current hops harvest was dried and ready to freeze, as I added about three or four more pounds!).
I think a manual defrost every so often would be a good idea, unless the defrost heater works better. I suspect it was the abnormally high temperatures here in the Northwoods that caused the issues. The fridge is on the first floor in our office room, and it is pretty warm in here at times. We refuse to use air conditioning, ever.
PlexVector
Mellow Goose Brewing
I was wondering too, but kept forgetting. Glad all is well!
dcrog
Well-Known Member
Trust me. It wasn't pretty. It's nice to know that I'm still not too fat to fit into a refrigerator, though.
How often have your tried in the past?
OP
OP
dcrog
Well-Known Member
Just curious is all.
Maybe it should have been in the funny things I've heard about beer thread.
Maybe it should have been in the funny things I've heard about beer thread.
PlexVector
Mellow Goose Brewing
OP
OP
Tag team, I'm it! I just got back here (been doing some actual work
I doubt there's anything wrong with the heater. Unless that fridge has been unplugged for a while, that metal grid would be a giant cake of ice without the defrost heater working.
Probably the only problem is that the drain hole got clogged. In addition to the ice, it might have a fly in there, or hop pellet, or who knows what. If the door wasn't sealing well and you have a LOT of moisture, it might have built up ice around the hole. (please further explain the bungee cord
As I suggested somewhere above, you can extend the heater wire with some copper wire. Just wrap around the bare copper wire around the heater and then extend down around the hole (I wouldn't put it right in the hole though). Then when the defrost heater kicks on, it will also melt any ice around the drain hole.
Ok, it happened again.
I'm now trying to figure out how to make the defrost "thingie" work better.
This time, someone (um, me) bumped the fridge temperature adjustment when putting kegs in and out, and the fridge got to like 29 degrees before I noticed. So I fixed that- but apparently the drain hole is frozen again.
I took all the hops out of the freezer, and unplugged the fridge, and am waiting for the thawing. The freezer has no build up of ice at all, so that part is working, it's just that the drain hole is frozen up again.
I read over the replies above, trying to figure out how to permanently fix it by using copper wire down the hole- but I need a little guidance I guess!
@GilaMinumBeer @passedpawn @PlexVector - can you help me once again figure out where/how to put that copper wire?
PlexVector
Mellow Goose Brewing
Bummer! I was just reading the last several threads and it looks like you had the best luck with the turkey baster and near-boiling water. Have you tried that yet?
Edit: opps, you're asking about the wire fix thingy, so I guess it's defrosted already. Let me think a min...
OP
OP
It's not quite defrosted, yet, but nearly. I just don't want to do this every four months if I don't have to!
One of the concerns is that we leave in about 3 weeks for the rest of the winter, and I'd like to keep the kegerator on. My hops are stored in that freezer, and it's sure nice to have good beer on tap when we get home. I don't have to leave it plugged in, because I may be able to find a place to store the hops, but that freezer really is totally full of hops.
PlexVector
Mellow Goose Brewing
@yooper Has the frig been okay until you bumped the control?
PlexVector
Mellow Goose Brewing
@yooper If it's been working okay and it's not going to be opened in high humidity since its the winter and the fridge is in an area that will not go below freezing, then I'd be afraid to anything freaky with it since you only have 3 weeks to verify that you didn't break something while trying to fix it.
OP
OP
As far as I know. I just noticed some water in the bottom about a week ago.
Thanks for the vote of confidence!
I'm not sure that it froze again because of the temperature control issue- it could be, but it also could be that it just happened. My concern is that it could happen while we're gone, and we could have water seeping through our hard wood floor.
PlexVector
Mellow Goose Brewing
As far as I know. I just noticed some water in the bottom about a week ago.
Thanks for the vote of confidence!
I'm not sure that it froze again because of the temperature control issue- it could be, but it also could be that it just happened. My concern is that it could happen while we're gone, and we could have water seeping through our hard wood floor.
I was thinking @passedpawn would jump in soon, since the copper wire thingy was his idea. I'm just not familiar with that style of frig.
regardless you may want to get a plastic pan that is normally used to place under washing machines. like below:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Camco-30...ne-Drain-Pan-with-PVC-Fitting-20752/204220159
Not sure of the fit, and you would need to borrow some muscle to get it in it.
Sorry, not being much help today it seems. Everything I can think of has side effects.
PlexVector
Mellow Goose Brewing
@yooper Been thinking...I know, dangerous, but I have to once in a while...It still sounds like you may have a condensate drain partially clogged. I found a you tube video to help you out:
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9alqRw0ZA04[/ame]
Once you bring this up look at some of the others and you may find one similar to yours or you may be able to connect some dots after awhile. This guy used a turkey baster to force water into the drain to clear it. I think we talked about this last time, but I'm not sure if you found it. Principle being, when the defrost mode comes on and the melted water is draining slow it could overflow into the opening that cold air moves from the freezer to the fridge and drip onto things in the fridge (sounds familiar). Once the defrost cycle is over, any water still there will begin to freeze and eventually clog the hole to the fridge (again sounds familiar).
EDIT: another one
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=540996&page=14
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9alqRw0ZA04[/ame]
Once you bring this up look at some of the others and you may find one similar to yours or you may be able to connect some dots after awhile. This guy used a turkey baster to force water into the drain to clear it. I think we talked about this last time, but I'm not sure if you found it. Principle being, when the defrost mode comes on and the melted water is draining slow it could overflow into the opening that cold air moves from the freezer to the fridge and drip onto things in the fridge (sounds familiar). Once the defrost cycle is over, any water still there will begin to freeze and eventually clog the hole to the fridge (again sounds familiar).
EDIT: another one
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=540996&page=14
My Kenmore fridge has been doing the same thing for the last couple of years. When water begins to show in the bottom of the fridge, I know it's time to clear the ice from the freezer drain hole. Depending on the humidity, that lasts from 2 to 6 months (longer in winter, shorter in summer).
I still have not found the real answer to the cause and repair of this but I haven't researched real hard.
I think that as long as the freezer and refrigerator are not opened, humidity will not enter the freezer and ice will not build up.
I still have not found the real answer to the cause and repair of this but I haven't researched real hard.
I think that as long as the freezer and refrigerator are not opened, humidity will not enter the freezer and ice will not build up.
OP
OP
I think you're right! Because that little "tray" did have ice in it, even though there wasn't a speck of ice in the freezer itself.
I ended up being satisfied for now that it'll be ok until I get home in late March, and then I will have to deal with it.
Been off the grid all day.
You should be able to locate the heater that is meant to defrost the freezer. I forget what it looks like, but I think it's just a metal tube that snakes around back there. The simple fix is to get some large gauge copper wire from the depot wrap it around that heater then run it straight down into the drain hole. I'd use some metal duct tape to get a good connection between the wire and the heater.
You should be able to locate the heater that is meant to defrost the freezer. I forget what it looks like, but I think it's just a metal tube that snakes around back there. The simple fix is to get some large gauge copper wire from the depot wrap it around that heater then run it straight down into the drain hole. I'd use some metal duct tape to get a good connection between the wire and the heater.
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