Originally Posted by
Jeffc
After defrosting the whole thing several times, I became convinced that the reason the drain line from the refrigerator defrost pan (under the coils and behind the plastic cover at the back of the fridge) gets "clogged" or, more accurately, frozen, is because the drain line runs INSIDE the insulation at the back of the fridge and very close to the freezer. So, it freezes! My solution was to carefully cut open the metal on the back of the unit, cut the drain line, and install a new drain line that runs on the OUTSIDE of the insulation and drains into the drain pan at the bottom of the fridge. I cut out enough of the insulation so the bottom of the drain pan is exposed to warm air. Since I did this, I have not had any problems. My fridge is at the end of my cabinets, so I can look behind the fridge without moving it and I actually put a plastic bottle behind the fridge and I can put the new drain line into it and I get maybe a pint of water in the bottle every month or so, so I know that the thing is draining correctly. This sounds complicated but it was really very easy and it beat having to replace the whole fridge just because of bad design. You can cut the metal back with a utility knife and the insulation is soft, dig it out with a spoon (really). This may not be a fix for every fridge with this problem but it's worth a shot before you replace etc whole unit.