20 Most Recent Gladiator Freezerator Top Freezer Refrigerator Questions & Answers

defrost it

I have had water/ice down the back of a Gladiator as well. I just emptied it, disassembled the back wall of the upper portion of the unit. Just a few screws, and one has to disconnect a wire harness, and then after removing styrofoam and yet another panel, I was able to locate the drain hole. It was frozen solid. As I have hot water in the garage, I sprayed some in the drain hole area and then in the lower portion to get rid of some of the ice. After alternating several times (and removing the lower panel on the back of the unit), I was able to see a free flow of hot water from the drain tube at the lower back of the fridge. I have towel dried everything and have a fan on it now so that it is very dry before starting back up. I am guessing that the drain tube starts to freeze in the winter months (I am in Wisconsin), and then just has no way to thaw as it is sandwiched in the back wall of the unit. This winter I may try some extra insulation. Good Luck!

If the bottom freezer section of the Gladiator Freezerator is thawing out the usual cause is from the coils in the back of the top refrigerator section being iced up. The ice blockage prevents the fan from circulating cold air into the bottom freezer section. These units have a design flaw due to the defrost drain freezing up preventing water from draining out from under the coil. The long-term solution is to remove the back wall of the refrigerator section to get to the coil, thoroughly defrost the coil making sure the drain tube is clear, then wrap a couple turns of #12 or #14 copper house wire around the bottom of the defrost heater element and run it a few inches into the drain tube. Advise unplugging the unit when you do this. I've had this fix on my Gladiator for a couple years and it has been working perfectly ever since. The freezer stays a constant 0 degrees F and no more thawed out food.

Loud noises means that the Freezerator is working like it should be. The defrost heater element is on and the noise from melting ice dropping off the coil located in the back of the refrigerator section.

Check the drain line for blockage.

Sounds like low on freon. Some refrig. has a charging port. It may even say on name tag what type of freon to use. You need a guage to check if unit is low on freon.

Firstly it's probably blocked by a piece of corn or a pea or something similar, you have to totally defrost the unit by unplugging it, removing all the frozen food, then remove shelves, leave the freezer door open & leave overnight to dry out. Now tilt the unit back & wedge something under the front to hold it there, slowly poor very hot water towards the rear of the freezer compartment in the centre, it should not take long to clear the drain hole, you should be able to see it now, if you have any thin curtain wire or something similar, then gently poke it down the drain hole till cleared continue to use hot water till flowing, careful there will be a fair bit of water coming out the back, keep a few old towels handy, Good Luck.

Hi,
The drain for the water to get away when defrosting is frozen shut...
Checkout this tip to help you..

Water Running in Refrigerator from Freezer
http://www.fixya.com/support/r3780310-water_running_in_refrigerator_from

heatman101

Is this a brand new unit?