Bosch f/freezer continually ices up

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Bosch freezer ices up around the coil behind the back panel inside freezing compartment. It seems that water does not travel down the drain tube, but gathers and then freezes. The drain tube is perfectly clear (as proven when I defrost every few weeks), yet over about a 4 week period this ices up and the ice then builds up until water drips down the back panel and into the base of the freezing compartment where it promptly freezes. I have checked the machine levelling , and this seems fine. I have no idea why the water won't drain away. The freezing definitely starts in the rear and works forward as the ice builds up. The problem is that the ice blocks the airway between the freezer and fridge, causing the fridge to stop cooling.

Any help greatly appreciated.
 
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monkeyfinger said:
Bosch freezer ices up around the coil behind the back panel inside freezing compartment. It seems that water does not travel down the drain tube, but gathers and then freezes. Freezers are usually not self-defrosting (unless you paid the extra for a fan-driven frost-free model) as they are supposed to stay below freezing temp
- is it a frost-free model?

Or did you mean the fridge is getting overly frosted?

If the door is not sealing properly you will get too much frost, as warm damp air will creep in. If the fridge temp is too cold then the frost will not melt away during the intermittent pauses in compressor running. Try turning the fridge stat so it is not so cold. You had better get a fridge thermometer so you can check what the fridge temp is. About 6 degrees C is about right and will not support frost inside.

If it is the freezer you mean, use the thermometer to check this is about -18 C and is not running too cold.
 
Thanks for your reply. It is a frost free model (don't have model number with me, and apologies for not mentioning it).

About a year ago had the same problem and got it looked at under guarantee by Bosch approved engineer. He replaced ecu module and left saying 'it's fixed'. It wasn't, and second engineer found iced up element behind baskets, cleaned drain and defrosted. The door seal seems fine, with plenty of 'suction'. We get this trail of ice running down the back and pooling in the base, which implies to me that water is forming, but does not gather and run down the drain tube as it should. Eventually the fridge cannot get any cool air from the freezer compartment due to blockage with ice. I currently 'force' the defrost process in an hour or so using hot water - don't know whether a full 24 hour defrost would help.
 
Wrap some copper wire around the heater element and let the end down into the drain hole. This should stop ice forming/plugging the drain.
 
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I like the copper wire idea - I assume the heater element is underneath the cooling matrix? There is a wire loop there so I guess that will be it.
 
Sounds like its not running through it's defrost cycle correctly. You need to see the freezer on a defrost cycle and check that all the heaters are working, also there will de a termination set point where the heaters will turn off, this could be too low. lastly there should be a heater down the drain, check this is working.

Frost free freezers are a pain in the A*** as basically you have a commercial freezer in a domestic appliance :LOL:
 
I had a frost-free where the freezer stopped working about a year ago, it was quite old so I bough a new one, it had a 2-year guarantee but Bosch recently offered to extend it to 5, I think perhaps I'll take them up on it, if these things are generally not very reliable.
 
This is quite interesting as it looks as if I'm going to have to get another fridge/freezer.

What is the most reliable make of fridge freezer? Our old one is a Brandt and, personally, for the money its rubbish.

Are Bosch any good?
 
Bosch is generally considered among the best.
 

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