GE Combination Defrost Drain Solution

[rp2813]

I've rigged up a drain for the defrost water on my '57 GE Combination.  It will do the job at least on a temporary basis.  It's not perfect, but it made the process of defrosting a cinch today.  The freezer was easily emptied and contents transferred to the big Monkey Wards freezer in the basement.  I plugged in the "Red-E-Defrost" and placed it in the middle of the freezer.  It was very effective and the entire job was completed in less than an hour.   All I did was wipe the interior of the freezer dry, re-stock it and turn the fridge back on.

 

As you can see, some of the defrost water is leaking out where the plastic tubing enters the copper.  I placed a small Gladware tub below to catch that slow drip and the rest of the water went into the rear trough and ultimately into the drip pan at the bottom behind the front grille.  Very little fuss or muss with this process.  I will probably do it more often.  The fresh food section barely even cooled down from normal and recovery should be quick.

 

I think plastic irrigation tubing and related fitting(s) will comprise the ultimate drain assembly.  I could even paint it grey or pink!

 

 

 

[rp2813]

The Red-E-Defrost taking on a few years' worth of build-up in the Monkey Wards several months ago.

 

 

 

[mattl]

Glad you solved your problem!  Dumb question, why didn't use just use a bit of  1/2"  copper instead of the plastic?

 

[rp2813]

I couldn't locate the 1/2" copper that I'm pretty sure is around here somewhere, but the freezer was needing a defrost so I took a chance that the plastic tubing would fit and it did well enough. 

 

This is a good prototype.  I can use it to measure out a length of copper if that's the route I go.  I want to get a plastic elbow that would work with irrigation tubing and see how it fits into the freezer drain opening.  It's possible that drip off the copper section is due to a not-quite-tight-enough fit into the freezer drain.

 

I'm still amazed at what a quick and easy defrosting operation this was.

 

[rp2813]

Here's a picture of what the drain tube is supposed to look like.  This is on a '54 Combination.   Unfortunately this shot doesn't show how the end of the tubing is positioned.  I think that ideally it may not call for a 90 degree elbow but 45 degrees would likely  aim the tube lower than the trough.  That's why I feel plastic will be the better way to go, since it can be used with a 90 elbow and curved slightly to aim directly into the trough and eliminate the dribble factor that gets some of the fridge contents wet.

 

Or I suppose I could check with Larry at Modern Parts and possibly make things easy for myself.

 

 

 

[mattl]

You could switch to a copper 45 from the 90 and that would angle it down much quicker, but use up a bit more space.  I'd stick wiht the copper of some sort and just run a bead of clear silicone caulk around the assembled and soldered copper when you put it in the freezer fitting.  Give you a good seal, but removable if needed in the future.