Fridge Compartment Ice

If you have water build-up on the floor of the food compartment, or ice buildup on the floor of the freezer compartment, you are probably suffering from either a frost problem or from a clogged defrost drain.

Remove everything from your freezer, including all food and any shelves. Do not remove the icemaker (if installed.)
Look at and feel the panel covering the bottom or back of the freezer compartment. Is it thick with frost?
On top freezer models, are the holes in the top of the food compartment that lead to the evaporator choked with ice?
Is there ice forming on, or lots of water on the ceiling of the food compartment?
If the answer is yes to any of these questions, there's probably a defrost problem.
If you suspect a defrost problem, first remove any icemaker that may be installed. You will see a removable panel covering the entire back or bottom of your freezer compartment. There may be 6 to 10 or more screws holding it on. In some units there is a light socket attached to the panel; you'll see this arrangement most often in side-by-sides.

If you start to get an unusual buildup of ice in one particular spot in your freezer, especially beneath the icemaker, check for water leaks.
Water leaking onto the kitchen floor not traceable to one of the problems in Chapters 4 or 6 may be from a leak in the icemaker or door dispenser water system. Icemakers have a water solenoid valve mounted on the back of the fridge, usually behind the back bottom panel, and a water tube that leads straight up the back of the fridge to the icemaker. Door dispensers have a similar water solenoid valve with a water tube that leads beneath the fridge and into the door through a hollow hinge. If your fridge has both features, it's usually a dual water solenoid valve. It can be simple or not-so-simple to fix, but basically it's just a plumbing job.

Hello
When this happens suspect a defrost problem.To much ice on evaporator does not allow cold air circulation to fridge compartment . Make sure you can hear fan running. If good, then first suspect defrost timer.Usually located near temp knobs in fridge compartment.You can manually advance timer. (Find scewdriver slot)Turn till fridge shuts off ,then listen for teltale hissig or crackling from freezer section.That tells you the heaters work and you culprit is likely the timer.

One or both of the defrost heaters could be bad causing the condition you descibe.If you suspect
defrost heaters, the back wall of freezer compartment comes out easily and you can see everything.
Most likely an ice block.

Another culprit could be extemely dirty condenser coil (under fridge) .Easy fix; brush and vacuum.
Lastly ,check the obvious door leaks.This can overload evaporator with moisture causing excess ice to defrost which it can never catch up to.
Good luck

A few things could be wrong,The first thing to check is the damper in the fridge section and make sure it is opening and closing properly. It is located to left isde of the fridge compartment turn the unit off completly and you should here it close you may need to remove the cover and check for ice build up that would restrict the movement.

Then you need to look inside the freezer compartment on the lower portion and look for any ice build up.if you see ice build up you can use a blow dryer to defrost the back wall so you can remove the lower portion and defrost the evaporator coils.

You will need to check the defrost heating element and make sure it is in good shape if you have a ohm meter make sure it has continuity if it does not then it needs to be replaced.

Then you will also need to make sure the evaporator fan is working properly.
the last thing that would be a problem is the defrost circuit not cycling properly or a bad thermostat control.

Is this a NEW refrigerator? If so then you have a valid warranty service request.

If it is not, there are 2 things that cause ice build up:

1. The ice maker water valve leaking by when the water valve is supposed to be closed.
You can prove this by doing the following:
a. Ice maker OFF
b. Remove the plastic line on the back of your unit at the rubber water fill tube connection. Place it in a bucket over night or for a day. If there is ANY water in the bucket the water valve is allowing water to leak by when it is supposed to be closed.
The olny remedy is to change the water valve.
2. Te freezer compartment evaporator drain is frozen or clogged. This requires opening up the rear access cover of the freezer to clear a clog. If you just suspect ice build up you can empty the freezer compartment and place a fan blowing into the freezer compartment for over 2 hours to melt the ice in the evaporator drain.
If you need assistance with parts or anything else just respond here and I will gladly help you. I do ask that you include your model number in any future post so that I can pass you links and data applicable to your exact unit.

Thanks for choosing FixYa,

Kelly

the evaporator coil inside the freezer compartment is iced over and can't transfer cold air in thes condition,remove panel inside freezer on back side of freezer compartment and thaw it out with a hair dryer,then check the defrost heating element for continuity,if its open replace it,if its good, ,check the defrost control that powers the defrost heater

the stop leak works if its a very small leak only. partial charge is just topping off the freon. would give the stop leak a shot first. about $70 bucks a can.

Check the ice maker. sometimes they get cracked a will leak water into the freezer compartment. Also check the ice maker fill tube for leaks or someone could have spilled something. Although this is tipical of a clogged drain. What happens is when the fridge go into derfost, it will melt all the frost that is on the evaporator, turning it into water. The water drains down to a trough under the evaporator and down a drain hole in the trough ( this trough is behind the evaporator cover ) Removing the melted frost from the freezer. If that drain is clogged, the water cannot leave the freezer. Then when the fridge starts back up ,it will freez the water that was not drained. After repeated defrosting the water will fill this trough and run off into the bottom of the freezer to be frozzen when the fridge starts to cool again.

The drain is plugged. This fridge will defrost every 8 hrs or so. When it does , it will melt the frost that has built up on the evaporator. This melted frost will run down a drain under the evaporator to a drain in the bottom directly under the evaporator. When the drain gets plugged the water cannot drain out of the freezer compartment. After several defrost cycles the melted frost will overflow onto the freezer floor. When the fridge starts back up it will freez this water is the bottom of the fridge. sometimes this water that is now ice will melt on the next defrost cycle and actually run out into the floor. You will have to unplug the fridge or turn it off, then remove the cover to the evaporator. Get a hair dryer and melt the ice aruond the evaporator and drain. Once the ice is removed, check the drain and try to clear it. Once clear, replace everything but the shelves. Plug the fridge back in or turn it back on. Observe and listen for the evaporator fan. It should be running now. When working on the ice on the evaporator always be carefull. The defrost heater can be damaged if up push or pull on it too much.

If the frozen side is colder than normal and some extra frost is forming where the fan blows,and there is ice in the bottom of freezer compartment, and the cool side is not cool enough, their is a good possability the defrosting unit is not removing all the frost and ice . the defrosting unit has a timer (usually near thermostat) that turns off the cooling fan and compressor and turns on a small heater around the evaporator ( about 20 minutes every 2 days) (evaporaror is cold heat exchanger coil inside the back wall behind a cover near the recirculating fan0, the fan circulates air to both compartments through two small openings, if these openeing are closed by ice buildup cool air can not circulate to the cool side. cure 1. remove all food and leave fridge off for 24 hours with doors open (take precautions to ensure children can't get locked in side and suffocate, if you get a qt of water in bottom of unit (may leak on floor) ice buildup that the defrost heater can not remove melted and was your problem . turn frig on replace food on unit. cure 2. turn frig off, remove food from both sides, remove shelves that block access to evaporator, remove cover over evaporator if you see the evaporator coils free of ice look at openings (2) to other side, one may be blocked with ice the other with frost, carefully melt ice with hair dryer.
If the evaporator coil is solid ice heater or timer or fan has failed. good luck

a defrost problem, is gonna cause excessive ice build up in hte frezzer lower compartment. for somereaon the hdefrost heater was not energized. most common reason is a bad defrost thermostat, clipped on one of hte evaporator coils has gone bad,