Finding ice in the base of a freezer is a common fault. I’ve recently had to repair my own freezer with this problem and this article documents what I did to fix the fault. This issue can affect stand alone freezers, or the freezer section of a fridge-freezer.
Sometimes a build up of ice may also (or exclusively) be hidden behind the back wall of the freezer. This can cause the freezer to not cool down to the correct temperature due to restricted airflow, and/or cause a high pitched searing noise if the circulating fan catches on the encroaching ice. Eventually the ice can jam the fan completely causing a major loss of cooling.
A build up of ice in the base can be caused by a blockage in a channel designed to direct water into an evaporation tray. This causes water to spill over the channel and into the base of the freezer where it of course freezes. The fact that this water freezes tends to indicate that the freezer is otherwise functioning OK. The build up of ice can prevent the bottom drawer from opening properly causing it to get broken when frustratingly rammed shut or forced open.
Clear ice from the base
Defrosting the freezer is the easiest way to deal with this. However, this often only proves to be a temporary fix because most people don’t defrost it thoroughly enough. Defrosting until all the visible ice in the base has gone isn’t enough. The blockage is usually caused by solid ice in the drain hole behind the back wall, or there is ice packed behind the back wall. Because this wall is insulated a normal defrost will usually leave ice still in place. New water will continue to run into the base and freeze up again.
To properly defrost a freezer with this suspected fault you need to unplug it and leave the door open for 24 hours, or remove the back wall and let it defrost (optionally carefully assisting with a hair dryer).
Ice must be removed from behind the back panel
To make sure the ice was completely gone and the hole in the drain channel was clear I unplugged the freezer and then took off the plastic cover at the back of the freezer inside. In my case there were only 4 screws to remove. The cover came off easily revealing the fan and channel with all the excess ice (see pic).
If the plastic wall is frozen up and won’t come cleanly off after the screws are removed – don’t force and break it. Allow it to defrost a while, or use a hair dryer to gently warm it up around the edges.
The photo at the top of this page shows the ice in the base of our freezer. The photo to the left shows the ice that was behind the back cover. It’s in the bottom right corner under the metal section. You can also see the sloping channel where defrosted water should run down to the right and out through the drain hole in the corner. The hole was blocked solid with ice. You can even see the trickle line where water has run from the channel into the base.
Taking care not to get too close to any plastic or sensors I assisted the defrosting by carefully blowing warm air with a hair dryer. I also used a little warm water which I carefully poured into the hole to melt through the ice that was blocking it up. I then pushed a small bit of plastic through the hole to make sure it was clear. It was then just a matter of re-fitting the plastic back wall and plugging the freezer back in. I put it on the fast freeze option to assist getting it back down to temperature as quickly as possible.
Before and after photos
The photos below show the ice blockage before and then the clear drain channel and hole after proper defrosting.
What causes the blockage?
Clearly ice should not build up at the back and block the drain hole. There could be a fault in the PCB or a sensor causing it to over-freeze. Or even (if fitted) a failure in the auto defrosting system. Excessive frosting which looks more like hard snow than clear ice can be caused by moist warm air getting drawn into the appliance as described in this article Icing up in fridge or freezer. If the fault quickly re-occurs you need to call an engineer.
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This photo show the main compressor at the back of the freezer. Above it is a black plastic tray. This is where water from the channel inside runs. The heat generated from the compressor slowly evaporates the water. If the channel inside the appliance is blocked as described in this article water will instead run into the base of the appliance.
Affected by temperature of room?
How are fridges and freezers affected by room temperature? | Can you run a fridge or freezer in a garage?
Sometimes water may appear in the bottom of the fridge. This is usually caused when water created by automatic defrosting cannot run away through the hole in the channel at the back and it runs into the base of the fridge instead.
This water then runs out to the back of the fridge and is directed into a small evaporation tray sitting on top of the main compressor. Heat from the compressor evaporates it away. See the photo to the right which shows a large plastic tray on top of the main compressor. This is where the water should run into ready to be slowly evaporated away.
Fridges like this should come with a small plastic tool for clearing the hole. Sometimes the tool might be supplied as an accessory or it might come already fitted inside the hole. If the plastic tool is already in the hole it’s clearly been designed to be there. Lift it out occasionally, push it up and down inside the hole and remove and clean it. If the tool was supplied in a separate bag keep it somewhere handy and use it occasionally to ensure the hole is nice and clear.
As described above it should be right at the back, and bottom of the fridge inside. If you can’t see a drain hole, check that it isn’t hidden – as it is on my own (Neff) fridge. Mine is hidden underneath a plastic shelf that covers the salad compartment. Sliding forward this cover reveals two sloping channels plus an extra channel leading to the drain hole.
Many modern fridges, fridge freezers and freezers are noisy compared with older appliances. Strange gurgling sounds and the sound of moving liquid can be heard as the gases are pumped around the system. Some of the noises come from fans (which switch on and off) to blow cold air around. You should get used to the sounds that your appliance makes quite quickly although it is possible for some sounds to change as temperatures get hotter or colder in the room. So for example a different noise could start up in winter, or in summer as it works harder to keep things cool. Generally speaking though you should usually pay attention to new sounds in case they are an indication of a fault.
One cause of excessive frost and snow-like ice in a fridge or freezer can be a poorly fitting or damaged door seal. If the door seal becomes distorted or worn then the seal will start to allow warm moist air into the freezer or fridge. This can cause snowy ice to deposit around the shelves in a freezer or on the back wall of a fridge.
Help and advice by an engineer, on how refrigeration appliances can be adversely affected by the environment that they are placed in. If the temperature surrounding the appliance moves outside its climate rating specified by the manufacturer (
If your fridge-freezer has developed a fault where the freezer has defrosted, or is not getting cold enough and it’s in a garage, and the temperature is very cold, it could just be that it isn’t suitable for putting in a garage. A surprising number of fridge-freezers in the UK end up in a garage or in an outbuilding. However, did you know that many are not capable of running properly if the temperature surrounding the appliance drops too low?
It’s combined fridge-freezers. If a combined fridge freezer has only one thermostat (or sensor), which is sited inside the fridge section, it is likely to be affected by this problem. If the ambient temperature of the room it’s placed in gets to around freezing, then the fridge thermostat is likely to shut off. When this happens on appliances with only one thermostat the freezer also shuts off. If the temperature remains cold for several hours then the fridge thermostat will not come back on.
Manufacturers would say they design them to be installed in a kitchen. However, to me it does seem less than ideal to rely on only one sensor or stat to control two different parts of the appliance (just to save money). Many fridge freezers do have separate stats. As saving money is the only possible advantage I can think of it’s therefore presumably more likely to affect the cheaper range of fridge freezers.
The short answer is probably not, at least not with the manufacturer, you have placed it in an environment it is not designed for. If it was me I might be annoyed though that the person I bought it from did not enquire as to whether I intended to place it in a garage or not. I would argue this problem is in no way common public knowledge, but most retailers are well aware of it because they get called out to them all the time.
This question has been asked a few times and I am presuming yes, there could be a problem if you have a fridge-freezer with only one thermostat controlling both the fridge and freezer and you go away on holiday when its cold. I’m not sure how most people do it, but normally when we go away we leave the heating off but we’ve never gone away in winter. If you went away and didn’t leave the heating on low (say around 14 – 15 degrees) then potentially during prolonged cold periods if the ambient temperature in the kitchen drops low enough (around 0 – 4 degrees C or colder) the fridge thermostat or sensor is likely to shut off as the temperature in the fridge becomes cool enough.
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