Inside fridge over on back wall is a drip tray, I

jills3, Mar 31, 12:53am
notice my one is now completely asolid block of ice, does this mean I need to completely defrost fridge/freezer and clear this drip tray,thanks alot.

jills3, Mar 31, 1:45am
Thank you fleur,will start defrosting fridge right now.

kiwifi, Mar 31, 3:08am
We've had this problem with our older f&p fridge - we've had it 15ish years. Ices up quickly. It has become a real pain with water puddling in the bottom under the vege drawers. Apparently is a known prob with this type/age of fridge/freezer and, according to the 'fix-it' man I was talking too, unfixable. Defrosting helps for a while but a new fridge is now on our agenda!

tmenz, Mar 31, 3:21am
After clearing the ice, you need to completely unblock the hole at the bottom of the drip tray and clear the tube that runs down the back of the fridge to the water catch tray.

piquant, Mar 31, 3:23am
That's very interesting, kiwifi, just having the same problem myself. I thought I had fixed it the other day as the pipe that drains down off that wee shelf under the freezer element had a frozen core and that is why the water was going down the back (inside) of the fridge and pooling under the vege bins. So, I defrosted it, checked the pipe was clear and also lifted the element off the ledge and up under the plate. Seemed to work a treat for about 4 days - today, there is suddenly ice back under the bins and a frozen mass on the shelf under the element. Looks like we will all have to start saving for a new one. Why don't they make them like they used to!

ngacooky, Mar 31, 4:30am
get some old curtain wire and push down the drain to unblock it

elliehen, Mar 31, 5:58am
-1
I kept my geriatric fridge going for a few more years by putting hot water into the drain and then putting a rubber straw to the drainage hole and blowing through it to force the hot water through.The repairman suggested it and it gave it a couple more years.

What joy to get a new frostless one though, with no dusty cooling coils down the back and no dribbly defrosting.

koru67, Mar 31, 1:05pm
I have the same problem, tried defrosting the drip tray collection thingy, now I have a oven rack at the bottom of the fridge with our vege bins on it, as before they were iced stuck to the bottom of the fridge and very difficult to get out. A temporary fix until we can get a new fridge. Ours is a F&P probably close to 20years old.

ntalke, Mar 31, 1:44pm
Had this happen

Take everything out of fridge and line the bottom of fridge with old towels or similar,get some warm not hot water in a jug and a thin piece of wire
Pour water around the iced up drain hole,eventually the ice will just push through ,dry the inside and through the wet towels in washing machine

Job done

piquant, Mar 31, 4:34pm
Yes, this is what I did - put warm water down the hole (had the fridge pulled out so I could see the water was getting through into the drip tray OK) - but still it only lasted the 4 days. Seems to be a major fault with the F&P fridges then. Had a look at some new ones the other day and they do seem to be even flimsier and crappy plastic - more so than ever. Progress - pfft!

tmenz, Mar 31, 5:01pm
I have found that the hole on the bottom of the drip tray and the plastic tube itself have to be completely clean and clear - even the slightest dirt particle or rough edge on the plastic is enough to 'grow' ice crystals.
If you are having continuing problems with ice formation it pays to check that the thermostat tube is properly clipped to the bottom of the evaporator plate at the back (behind the plastic trim plate) - it can and does fall off, in which case it overcools and ices up much more readily.

madzwhippet, Apr 1, 1:36am
Would it be feasible to use a little bleach with the warm water to unclog the hole ,am thinking it might stop bacterial growth .any ideas ,anyone !

mark_g, Apr 1, 3:43am
Bleach - yes. F&P call centre told me to use warm water and a little bleach - as they said sometimes things grow inside the drain tube and bleach helps stop the growth re-establish.

Didn't fix my problem though. My problem was the #$$^%%^$# F&P piece of sh^t was no good from day one. Had it replaced under warranty, and the replacement developed the "puddle on the floor" issue just out of warranty.

Got told by a non F&P repair/recondition centre which specialised in F&P repair that it was fixable but not economic to do so. The problem was huge air pockets in the insulation between the inner and outer linings. They said go get a kamakuza. That fridge was the last F&P purchase I ever made. I still have an F&P freezer - no problems so far, and an F&P smart drive - what a nightmare! Motor is excellent and very good for other projects (wind turbine), but not much help when your smart drive is disintegrating around it.

F&P at the time (2 years ago) were #$#! hopeless and downright unhelpful. They did hint at the possibility of coming to some arrangement about the fridge, but my temper got the better of me and I told them to shove it up their a#*e.

mark_g, Apr 1, 3:49am
You know. I thought I was over that.
Very therapeutic posting here for a rant sometimes.

elliehen, May 5, 4:42pm
I now have a Mitsubishi fridge freezer with a fridge door on top, humidity drawer for vegetables in the middle and a freezer drawer at the bottom.I love it!