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We have a Frigidaire model LFFHZ067DW2 that is not working as the red light in the front toe space is on and water frozen on the inside floor. Looks like there is solid ice at the inside back at the bottom. Unplugged the unit, opened the door and let it thaw all night. Water dripped out of the edge of the door which we left open and underneath where the condensate line exits from the back right corner as seen from the back. Took off the drain hose and found some water and a little trash like wet dust balls. Mopped up about half a gallon of water this morning wiped out and plugged in. It is now cooling and red light is off. Does this represent a defrost timer that needs to be replaced or is this the kind of maintenance that do periodically? What is the normal temp for this unit? Thanks in advance for any assistance.
Hi, Did you mean a LFFH2067DW2? If so it has an automatic defrost system. The automatic defrost cycle is controlled by the defrost timer. The defrost cycle occurs once every 8-11 hours (depends on the manufacturer. I don’t know how exactly how often for your model but it should be within this time frame). The auto defrost cycle takes about 20-25 minutes to complete. During the auto defrost cycle the compressor and the evaporator fan are both turned off and the temperature is allowed to rise to >32 deg. F to melt the ice formed on the evaporator unit at the back inside the compartment at the bottom behind a panel and to drain away to the evaporator pan under the freezer. The melting process is sped up by turning on a defrost heater which is under the evaporator unit. When the temp reaches 32+ F the defrost thermostat operates and the heater is turned off and the compressor and evaporator fan are turned on again to drive the temp back down to the set temperature . The defrost timer is also reset so that the cycle will occur again sometime between 8-11 hours later. The normal set operating temperature is approx. 0 deg.F Water/ice problems in a refrigerator or freezer are usually because of a problem with the auto defrost cycle. Due either to a blocked drain tube, a faulty defrost heater or a faulty defrost timer (or control board if the unit has one instead) If the drain tube is blocked then the ice melt water can not run away and will overflow the bottom of the freezer and also will build up as more ice when the freezer temperature drops again after the defrost cycle has finished. If the heater is faulty then the ice will continue to build up as enough ice i.e. all the ice has not melted during the defrost cycle. If the defrost timer is faulty then the auto defrost cycle will most probably never happen so the ice just keeps on building up. Usually there is no water overflow as the temp has never been allowed to rise that far to melt any ice or the heater turned on, but it may be an intermittent problem etc so it could happen The ice will just continue to build until eventually it ices over the evaporator fan and it will stop running and the freezer temperature will rise due to no cold air being blown throughout to keep it at the correct temp. So the complaint will be freezer too warm ;-) If everything was working as it should there wouldn’t be that much ice build up in 8-11 hours anyway so not much ice has to melt and drain and then evaporate under the freezer but if there is a problem it may take a few days or more before it becomes evident Apologies for the long answer but thought that if you understand the process it is easier to know what might be wrong when problems occur. Here’s a link showing all the parts for your freezer and their location which may help in the future.
Same problem, ice sheet forms at the bottom every 6 months after shutting the freezer down and letting the ice thaw at the bottom vent and drain. After 3 years of this bs, I decided enough was enough and decided to change the U curve in the drain tube and add a deli tray with a side hole for the end of the tube to provide drainage by gravity flow. It worked!
