Mr. Fixit Strikes Again

 

We’ve had some fridge-stink lately that we thought was solved when I discovered and removed the at one time “fresh” mozzarella cheese that expired on a Saturday in July of 2014.  Along with the stink we’ve also had intermittent water puddling in the bottom inside of the refrigerator.

After consulting with home improvement expert Mike Berg back in January and then consulting a few Internet articles on the topic of “puddles in fridge” and “stink Käse” we undertook the project. We started by loading all of the perishables into coolers or bags and stored them in the zero degree garage. Then we turned off the fridge and freezer to allow them to defrost.

This is the bottom surface of the freezer full of ice.  The freezer is supposed to self-defrost periodically when the metal area heats up to melt the little bit of ice on it and allow it to drain down a channel to a drain pan below the fridge where the water eventually evaporates.

When there is too much ice for whatever reason, the hole gets plugged with ice and the water has to go somewhere else.  There is another hole that allows this overflow water to drain right into the fridge.  Sue helped by donning her Tanzania headlamp to better see the heating plate and ice build up.

The two holes on either side of center are the exit route for the water into the fridge.  The drain hole leading to the drain pan is on the right side of center in the shadows.  Experts (Fridgologists?) say this hole can get blocked with mold or other crud but I don’t see how other crud could get in there since the hole is shielded by the bottom surface of the freezer (which is currently in the kitchen sink in a previous photo).

So we waited for the ice to melt and in the meantime I took off the front grill on the bottom of the fridge and vacuumed up 15 years worth of cat hair and pulled out the drain pan which had no water in it giving us more proof that we were on the right track.

First of all, I don’t know why my hair looks so oily in this picture.  The next morning after a full defrost I used a piece of long metal in the shape of a gutter to pour hot water into the formerly plugged freezer drain. It was now free-flowing; we could hear water trickling into the drain pan below the fridge.

Let’s see a close up of that action, an instant replay if you will.

Here I am pulling out the drain pan.  Success.  I took this opportunity to do a thorough cleaning of the fridge and freezer compartments.  Our fridge looks, operates, and most importantly smells new!  Thanks to Mike Berg for his tube de-clogging ideas.  We really should have videoed this for The YouTube.

Here’s Mr. Tail Wheel keeping the floor next to the fireplace warm.  Happy Birthday today to Liz Berg—she must be approaching her mid to late thirties by now. . .