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Roper Refrigerator - Condensation drain keeps freezing over

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Posted: Mon Feb 9th, 2009 03:12 am

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TMR777
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Oh wise and merciless Sensei, glasshopper cannot attain balrance unless drain hole not to fleeze over ever again. Glasshopper begs for guidance...

Roper Refrigerator - Model RT21LMXKQ/Top mount freezer/No blower/Cheapest thing they had/Only 3 years old

I completely defrosted the entire fridge a couple weeks ago and unfroze the drain hole. I don't think the drain line is clogged because I was able to pour water down it, lots of water, and it came rushing out of the bottom of the tube into the drain pan under the fridge. The drain is now frozen over again.

I keep getting water dripping onto the shelves of the fridge in the lower non-freezer unit. I think there may some kind of heating element actually up in the freezer unit right over the condensation tray that supposed to keep the water from freezing so that it will drain down the hole. Not sure about that. If this is the case, is there any way to replace that heating element?

Freezer Compartment:

Is the black bar a heating element? Is there a fuse for that heating element that may be blown?

Last edited on Mon Feb 9th, 2009 03:20 am by TMR777

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Posted: Mon Feb 9th, 2009 03:50 am

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grey shrek

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Your heating element(black bar) is working or you wouldn't be getting the water. If you could get a piece of copper wire(solid) about the dia. of a pencil lead and wrap it around the heater 3 or 4 times and let it hang in the defrost water hole , it may keep it from freezing . Also , how cold do you have the freezer at? Should be 0F to +5F , no colder.

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Posted: Mon Feb 9th, 2009 03:53 am

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certified tech group 51
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The evaporator is clear, that means the heater is operating O.K...... You do not have a drain heater....... The compressor is starting before all of the water is drained 100%. ( average defrost cycle is 30 minutes ) After a few defrost cycles, it is completely blocked and the water overflows to the return ducts......(water into the fresh food section)...... You can make a drain heater by getting enough 12ga solid copper wire and inserting one end into the drain about 2 to 3 inches, the other end you want enough to wrap around the defrost heater about three turns..... just be careful wrapping the wire around the heater, the evaporator has sharp edges..... If the defrost system was not operating correctly, the evap coils would be completely blocked after 5 to 10 days.... the slow drain rate could be a partially blocked drain tube.................

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Posted: Mon Feb 9th, 2009 03:53 am

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RegUS_PatOff
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Is that Condensation Tray bent down, and too far from the Defrost Heater Element ?

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Posted: Mon Feb 9th, 2009 05:21 am

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TMR777
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Thanks for the info people. Much appreciated. This thing is driving me crazy.

So I was right about the black bar being a heater. Good to know. I'm gonna get some wire and wrap it around the heater band and stick it down in the hole. Before I do that though, I will get a snake from my dad (dad is an electrician) and push it down the tube to see if there is anything blocking it.

And so I now know the copper coils are the evaporator. Also good to know.

>RegUS_PatOff - Yes, the metal tray is formed to the contours of the molded plastic it sits in. I think it was made like that. If I bent that tray upwards towards the heater, wouldn't the water just go down the hole onto the plastic below, up underneath the tray, and freeze up there too?

Glad to have the wire wrap solution. Hope it works. Thanks guys! (Glasshopper is indebted to you)

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Posted: Mon Feb 9th, 2009 03:38 pm

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certified tech group 51
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Evaporator is made of aluminum, The weak link in the sealed system..............The heater is to defrost the evap. ( heat rises ) I do not know of any defrost heaters that keep the drain tube clear......... keep us posted....

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Posted: Tue Feb 10th, 2009 12:58 am

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TMR777
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>certified tech group 51 - OK, will do.

I didn't have any problems with up until a couple of months ago. Sounds to be a partially clogged tube like ya'll suggested. (Maybe the carcass of some dead spider is up in there.) But I swear I could pour water down from the top after I defrosted it and it seemed to come rushing out the bottom with no problem.

The tube has a bend in it starting about a couple of inches from the top of the hole. It does not go straight down for some reason. It's got 2 inches straight down, then 2 inches horizontal straight over at a right angle, then straight down from there.

I will post back in a couple of weeks with the results of the wire wrap plan for the benefit of any other grlasshoppers in need. :cheers:

Last edited on Tue Feb 10th, 2009 01:01 am by TMR777

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Posted: Sat May 23rd, 2009 07:37 pm

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TMR777
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Ok, it's been a couple of months (or 3) instead of a couple of weeks like I said. Procrastination is the bane of any glasshopper. After about a quart of water dripped down into my sons birthday cake and ruined his cake the day BEFORE his birthday, that was the last straw. Glasshopper overcame the urges of procrastination at that point.

At any rate, here's some pics of the rigged up drain heater. I filed the ends of the wires to take off the sharp edges so that they would slide on down the drain hole. I made the length like around 10 inches and put two wires down at opposite sides. I also made some wire coils for the collection tray so that water wouldn't freeze in the collection tray.

It's been around two weeks and so far so good. No water in the fresh food section yet.

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Posted: Sat May 23rd, 2009 08:11 pm

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Love those heaters........I'm going to keep the design of the pan heater in my mind ( but recalling the design is a differant story ) for a later service call.......................................P.S. How did you salvage the cake????

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Posted: Sun May 24th, 2009 01:39 am

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Samurai Appliance Repair Man
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Nice work! You are an artist with copper. Domo for posting the pics of your fine handiwork. :dude:

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Posted: Sun May 24th, 2009 07:13 am

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TMR777
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>Samurai Appliance Repair Man - This is grand praise indeed Sensei. Glasshopper is humbled by your recognition! :coolblast:

Ya'll like those fancy drip pan heaters huh? Ha Ha! Thanks! After going through the hassle of defrosting the entire fridge 2 separate times to solve the problem, I was determined to give this last try my best shot.

>Certified Tech Group 51 - Uhhh, Yeahh... the cake.. . That's a painful memory. We had to dispatch it to Davey Jones' locker.

If this rig doesn't fix the problem, then to heck with the Roper. If I start getting water in bottom sections again, it'll be time to fork out some money for a new fridge.. a non-Roper fridge.

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Posted: Sun May 24th, 2009 03:15 pm

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ReliableApp

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The copper artwork is indeed impressive. I was on a service call just yesterday for a Whirlpool fridge with the exact same freezer configuration and exact problem (the condensation was forming on the back wall) Anyway, I wish I would have seen this before my call. I saw the "after" picture I laughed out loud. Great Job. I am new to the appliance repair business and find the information on this site invaluable!

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Posted: Tue May 26th, 2009 02:27 am

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drt1200

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Assumming that one has determined that a clogged or partially clogged defrost drain line is not the problem.

I will throw this out for anyone to consume. I have had this problem many times. I have to give this guy a A for artistic. It a thing of beauty I must say. But another method is to purchase a small drain heater either a braided rope type or a plug type. A low wattage heater is a must , 4-8 watts so your not heating up the freezer. Install the heater into the drain hole and wire the heater in parallel with the fan motor. Thats way the heater is only on when the refer is running. Obviously this will ony work with fan motors than run on 120v. Some of the newer refers run the motors on DC and this would not work. But most of these problems crop up on older units where the styrofoam line under the drip pan becomes waterlogged and is no longer insulating the drain. Or there has been shrinkage of the liner allowing air to infiltrate into the wrong places. I purchased a steam cleaner which works fantastically for clearing the drain line and defrosting a frosted up evaporator

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Posted: Tue Nov 24th, 2009 05:40 pm

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TMR777
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It's been 6 months since my last post and I can attest, and/or affirm, that the rig works perfectly. Not one drop of water in the fresh food section since I hooked up the copper wire rig. I could take the cover off and take a final pic to show, but what's the point, it works.

This is a good inexpensive low-tech way to fix the problem for do-it-yourselfer's who feel uncomfortable trying to wire in a drain heater.

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