Drain keep freezing up at entry point to the drain tube causing water to freeze from the drain top down to the bottom of the freezer. ( frozen waterfall!) Could the defrost heater be malfunctioning? i.e. heats up enought to melt the ice on the coils but not enought to prevent the water from refreezing at the drain opening? I have cleaned the drain line once already only to have the drain freeze again. Worst yet, the water entered the bottom of the door and the doors fiberglass insulation wicked up the water whcih then froze in a sheet, This required the door to be dismanteled to remove the ice and to add new insulation. Appreciate your suggestions and / or advice on how to eliminate the problem. Duane

Since there is no description of what type of freezer, I will talk generic. Most freezers have some sort of drain heater. Commercial walk-ins use them. 2 types: an insertion type that go inside the drain and another type that is wrapped around the outside of the drain and then wrapped with a foam type insulation call armaflex. hope this helps some.

Try removing the strap holding the drain hose underneath that drains into the pan. Otherwise it acts like a p-trap and holds water that then insulates the upper part of the tube. Condensate water eventually freezes high up in the tube and backs up everything pushing the condensate water into the bottom of the freezer where it freezes into sheets. Leaving the drain hose down keeps air in the tube all the way back up into the freezer area. This seems to keep the condensate water flowing freely into the bottom pan. The air in the open condensate tube does not seem to have an ill affects. Also, you can add some stranded bare copper wire around the heating element just above the drain tube inlet and then push the tail off the copper wire down into the drain tube hole. This helps keep any water in liquid form flowing down the drain pipe.

the drain tube is most likely clogged. if the lower vent is freezing up there is no way to confirm because it is covered with ice. the reason water leaks onto the floor is, the refrigerator goes into defrost, frost melts and runs down the ice to the door. use a hair dryer to remove all ice, then use hot water to check drain. drain tube may be up to a foot long and may have a trap. you may have to go in through the back to gain access to the drain

The freezer drain is cloged.Drain is in the bottom of the freezer floor in the back you may have to remove back panel. Run wire or somthing down drain tube to clear clog.

Hello, get a short piece of electrical wire and strip the insulation off. put a bend in one end and then hang it over the heater directly above the drain making sure the wire runs into the drain about an inch. the heat from the heater will make sure the drain stays clear. Hope this helps. Mike

the drain needs to be check for any kind of blockage. if the drain is blocked or frozen over this needs to be cleared

Causes:

High humidity in the immediate area causing condensation to freeze at the door opening

A frozen defrost drain line not allowing water to drain off when the unit is in defrost

A bad door gasket causing an air leak

Some freezers have a heated perimeter to reduce condensation. If the stop working, moisture can accumulate arounf the door perimeter and freeze.

Leaving the door open too long or something obstructing the door

sounds like you have a clogged defrost drain tube. removing back panel of freezer will give you acess to drain trough, melt away the ice with a hair dryer, youll find a drain hole under there somwhere,pouring boiling water down the drain will clear it pretty quickly( i use a steam machine purchased from the infomercials works awesome, after you clear it and all water drain down tube wrap a piece of solid copper wirearound the heater( black calrod heater right above the drain trough) and stick it in the whole maybe an inch or so. now everythime the heater comes on to defrost it will prevent the hole from freezing over

Sometimes what causes this is a obstruction in the drain line. It may be draining, but not fast enough. the water could still be backed up enough to freeze after the defrost cycle. I would clean the line out with compressed air, or flushing water down it. If there is no progress with this, then you can get a drain line defrost heater. they come in all sizes, voltage, and Watts. You should be able to wire it directly into the defrost circuit

thius suggests the defrost system not working and the defrost drain blocked. take off the back panel inside the freezer, melt off excessive ice and free the drain at the bottom with hot water and patience