Water in Fridge

Stilernin2

There is water running down the back of the inside of my fridge and collecting beneath the salad chillers.  I understand that this is probably because the 'run off' tube at the back is clogged, although I have used the tool provided, which isn't very long, and a flexible wire to try to clear it.

On line, I've seen a syringe and tube marketed to push water in and then withdraw it back into the syringe, clearing muck from the run off tube.  Has anyone had experience of this as I've seen very mixed reviews.   Perhaps, there is another trick for sorting out my 'wet fridge'.

Thanks

Alfrescodave

The ways I've cleared the "drain" hole in my fridge are either :-
- use a long black cable tie, these are quite rigid and can be easily poked down the hole or
- use a length of plastic tube, place one end over the hole and gently blow down the other end.  

Stilernin2

Alfrescodave said:

The ways I've cleared the "drain" hole in my fridge are either :-
- use a long black cable tie, these are quite rigid and can be easily poked down the hole or
- use a length of plastic tube, place one end over the hole and gently blow down the other end.  

Thanks, a 12" cable tie was one of the 'tools' that I've tried.  Will look out for some tubing. 
    I did rather fancy the syringe though as you flush water in, but then draw it out bringing the gunk with it rather than pushing it through.  Perhaps I'll invest in one and report back   

CliveOfIndia

We've got a little brush - kind of like a miniature bottle brush that's about 1/4" diameter or so, always works well.  Or you could try a pipe cleaner if you happen to have one (often included in kid's craft sets, you don't have to be a smoker!).  Or even the corner of a dishcloth tightly twisted up.

If you're able to pull the fridge away from the wall without too much bother, that's worth doing.  Then you can poke whatever it is you're using down the drain hole and make sure it's actually going all the way through and coming out at the back (you'll probably need an assistant to watch as you do the poking, or vice versa).  Then whilst you're at it, you may as will give the evaporator tray a good clean, they often get really gunked up over the years.

Jonboy_1984

With one fridge I used to have to use a small amount of boiling water, as there was ice forming in the pipe behind it.

On the current one I use a 12" bamboo kebab stick as they are flexible but fairly rigid (and I have a large bag of them to hand!).

Go Steady as some of the pipes are seemingly only glued in place with the equivalent of a glue-gun.

chrisw

Stilernin2 said:

Alfrescodave said:

The ways I've cleared the "drain" hole in my fridge are either :-
- use a long black cable tie, these are quite rigid and can be easily poked down the hole or
- use a length of plastic tube, place one end over the hole and gently blow down the other end.  

Thanks, a 12" cable tie was one of the 'tools' that I've tried.  Will look out for some tubing. 
    I did rather fancy the syringe though as you flush water in, but then draw it out bringing the gunk with it rather than pushing it through.  Perhaps I'll invest in one and report back   

You can use any old syringe, we usually have a couple of medical ones lying around I use for all sorts. But I don't think it will work as you describe. 

It will likely blast the gunge down through the pipe, which is fine as it'll be unblocked and you can retrieve the gunge from the dish above the compressor if you so wish.

Stilernin2

Thanks again everyone.  It is a fridge freezer so the 'pipe' will be quite long I guess.   Perhaps pulling it away from the recess it sits in may be the way to go, but being an 'old bird' I was looking for an easy fix.  This is the gadget I am looking at

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fridge-Drain-Hole-Cleaning-Tool/dp/B09YQ5H44V/ref=sr_1_3?crid=GQFXNS6WGSOJ&keywords=fridge+cleaner+syringe&qid=1693329979&sprefix=,aps,338&sr=8-3

Nobbie1967

I get this as well and was wondering about unblocking the drain, but was worried about where it went. Am I right in thinking from previous posts that it goes to a unit hat allows it to evaporate off rather than just drip onto the floor?

Stilernin2

Nobbie1967 said:

I get this as well and was wondering about unblocking the drain, but was worried about where it went. Am I right in thinking from previous posts that it goes to a unit hat allows it to evaporate off rather than just drip onto the floor?

Yes , condensation runs down the back wall of the fridge into that little hole.  It should run down a pipe to a little tray at the back and evaporate.  The tube gets blocked up though and whilst you can clear the top part of the pipe, if it is a tall fridge, it's not so easy.

boots_babe

We've recently had the same issue with ours, and all attempted cleaning with the provided tool didn't help. I bought some long pipe cleaners, and these did a great job! They got around the curved part of the pipework and got lots of extra blockage out, and we've had no issues since.