Neverending ice cystals buildup in freezer

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.

If the ice buildup was by the pipe just going into the evaporator in the freezer compartment and the suction line going into the compressor is warm to the touch and not cold and/or sweating you are low on freon.

If the entire evaporator was buried in ice, the ice covering is also serving as an insulator and preventing internal temps from going down any further. There is a problem with the self defrosting mechanism which is designed to prevent the ice buildup. Could be either the defrost timer, defrost thermostat or the defrost heating element. Hope that it is just the heater element. If you have an electronic module for the rest you are in for unpleasant surprise to replace the unit. Proprietary parts mucho expensive plus labor.

Until you fix it, just let the unit manually defrost (U can use a hair dryer to speed it up) and turn it back on again. It will work fine till the ice builds back up. Keep opening and closing of freezer compartment to minimum to minimize moisture laden air that enters compartment.

if it starts working ok after the defrost then you might find it will build up ice again.
There might be a fault with a small device called a thermister that senses the ice build up for the defrost controller.

What most likely is happening is the ice build up freezes the fan that blows the cold air to the fridge compartment.and around the freezer.

It depends how long this has taken to happen. It might be a buildup over years of which a complete system defrost might put it back on the righ path. If its happened over months then it could well be the defrost timer or defrost heater. Either way, a complete system defrost is probably in order (clearing the drainage hole and any standing water in the frrezer) and then you can monitor it regularly to see if the ice buildup happens again.

Hi,

Check out these tips...they can help you figure out whats going wrong with yourrefrigerator and why it is not cooling

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heatman101
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Very possible the door seal is not properly sealed. Warm inflowing air onto a cold coil will cause ice build up at the lid.

This can be caused by the drain hole below freezer coil being blocked by ice. You MUST remove all ice in drain under freezer coil. Use turkey baster to squirt hot water into hole and use hairdryer to defrost. Possible defrost thermostat is defective. Unit never goes into defrost, ice forms on coil and in floor of freezer. After defrosting may work OK for a week or two but gradually gets warmer because ice is blocking ports where cool air gets to refrig. May also have water in refrig box. Can also be caused by defective defrost timer.

Sounds like the defrosting system has a faulty timer/board, faulty heating element or bad electrical connections to these components.

More info, let me know...

Charlie

Sounds like the cold air regulator needs adjusting or is blocked. There should be a lever somewhere near the inside top of the refrigerator whcih slides back and forth -- it should be labeled which direction to move it to make the non-frozen compartment colder or warmer.

Also check for frost buildup in the freezer -- if there is buildup, totally defrost -- there may be ice on the regulator which opens and closes based on temperature.

Di a total defrost and remove the back wall cover from the freezer. Look for ice buildup in the cooling fins. If the air channel is blocked, you won't get proper freezing.