Build up of ice in bottom of freezer compartment

not defrosting ... bad thermostat

bad heating element

Hi and welcome to FixYa, I am Kelly.
First off if you have an ice maker this sheeting of ice is most often caused by the ice maker inlet water valve bypassing water when it supposed to be shut off. You can check for ice in the rubber tube that fills the ice maker. If it is frozen hard with ice most likely you have an inlet water valve failure. The valve is not repairable. The only remedy is to replace it.

Second reason for ice build up on the bottom of the freezer is a clogged evaporator drain. If you see ice for sure under the evaporator coils then the drain is clogged. You clear the drain by unplugging the unit.. removing the freezer contents and directing an external fan into the freezer compartment for just over 2 hours. While this is happening... open the back of the unit by removing the fiberboard cover and cleaning out both the drip pan and the END of the compartment drain tube. I use a wet or dry Vacuum for this task. When the 2 hours of manual defrosting is completed.. use the exhaust of the vacuum on the very end of the compartment drain tube. This will float out any debris that was in the evaporator drain funnel and make sure that the compartment drain tube is clear. Make sure to clean the condenser coils and fan in the bottom of the unit while your cleaning the drip pan.

After all of the above reassemble the rear fiberboard cover, wipe up any water mess in the freezer compartment and return the unit to normal use.

Since you did not include a model number I am unable to provide you with an exact reference source for the inlet water valve. You can however use the following sites and enter your model number for parts information:

http://www.searspartsdirect.com

http://www.appliancepartspros.com

http://www.repairclinic.com

Thanks for choosing FixYa,
Kelly

You may have an issue with the temperature control assembly. Check the temperature settings (ideally at "one-half way" for both fresh food and freezer compartments).

Contact an appliance service company.

A common problem is a blocked drain tube. Using compressed air, blow through the tube to clear it. Also, make sure that th refrigerator is level in both directions to allow proper pitch for draining.

There should be a command on the front to increase ice making or in the ice maker compartment

too defrost just open the doors for a day with the unit unplugged. as far as why it is frosting up check door seals make sure they are all good and seal it up well and that should take care of it.

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.

remove back panel inside freezer. you will see drain tray at bottom with a drain hole in the middle - this is blocked usually with ice. melt off with a hairdryer and follow up with hot water till water flows away freely

Had the same problem. I noticed that the fan in the freezer never shut off so I suspected the thermostat. I ordered and installed a new thermostat (about $30 and 15 minutes to install), the fan now cycles correctly and the ice build up is gone.

First of all, is it ice or frost? If it is ice, I would say you have a leaky water valve to icemaker, running down evap. coils. Replace water valve. If you have frost-find out why it is not defrosting(defrost heater, defrost thermostat, or defrost timer.