Freezer evaporator (pan) bucket overflowing.

[petek]

A few months ago we bought a new Frigidaire frost free upright freezer. It works fine except that the evaporator pan which is actually more like a plastic bucket attached to the side of the motor fills up over the course of a month or so and then overflows its sides. The water isn't evaporating at a fast enough rate I guess.. There is no heater in the bucket or anything.. it just hangs on the side of the motor where I suppose that heat off the motor is supposed to evaporate it.. The bucket holds about 3 or 4 cups of water I'd guess.

Any ideas anyone?

 

[rp2813]

It seems strange that the pan/bucket would be full.  A typical defrost cycle barely produces a small puddle in a regular pan.  Perhaps the bucket is a design flaw, being too deep to allow the moving air from the condenser fan (presuming your rig has one) from flowing over the surface of the water to promote evaporation before the next defrost cycle commences.

 

If you have an open coil on the back, then there's no condenser fan.  I remember a '65 Frignature my mom had did something similar, and it had open coils with a large pan underneath that tended to retain water rather than dissipate it.  It doesn't seem right that with a modern frost-free machine you'd have to go all Alice Kramden on it and empty the pan below every so often.

 

[petek]

There's no fans or anything down there under the bottom of the freezer. Just the bowling ball shaped compressor in the corner with the plastic bucket clipped to it and a drain pipe for the condensate to go into the bucket.. Other than that it's 95% empty space. You're right though, there is very little surface area on the small bucket.
The door seal seems fine,just wonder how it's producing so much water.

 

[DADoES]

 
My grandmother had a self-defrost vertical freezer with the same design -- "bed-springs" condensor on back, defrost condensate pan beneath next to the compressor (or was it on top of the compressor?).  Never had a problem with the pan overflowing.  Did have a problem with the defrost drain inside below the evaporator freezing over and condensate running over inside ... until I tied a copper wire around the heater and into the drain.

I've seen a Kenmore/Frigidaire-sourced refrigerator with the same arrangement, plastic condensate pan mounted atop the compressor.  Makes a mess when the unit must be moved.

 

[tomturbomatic]

I guess a service call under the warranty is needed. If you are having trouble, others must be, too. Perhaps there is a work-around. I remember refrigeration products that had a metal pan mounted on top of the compressor so that the waste heat evaporated the water, at least until the pan rusted through someplace.

 

[epixstar128]

Check your door seals any refrigeration system
Will dehumitfy any air that comes into the fridge or freezer

 

[tomturbomatic]

I an very sorry for your misfortune and hope you can work out a solution.

 

[petek]

I'll call them tomorrow... You would think an aluminum bucket would have been better since it would transfer a little more heat than thick plastic.

 

[tomturbomatic]

indeed