Samsung fridge+freezer.
Some time ago, a few weeks - started forming ice at the bottom layer so I had to bash it a bit to break it. Removed the bottom basket and noticed there was ice around the areas with the arrows.

Removed as much as I could and took a hairdryer and melted what I could see.

I suspect the "outflow" tube or whatever it's called - is plugged. Or the inlet for it.
But I cannot access it to see.
What I can see is perhaps some spiral in a shallow pan. Is that a heating element that is supposed to keep the dripping liquid from freezing. Could that be malfunctioning and stopped being warm?

I cannot turn off the freezer section, so I did what I could. It's a hot time of year so its risky to leave the whole thing off for an hour or more.

Any suggestions?

Here's a wide view, and the cover plate on. Highlighted where the ice was forming.

There's supposed to be airflow between the fridge and freezer, if you block the flow the freezer tends to freeze up over the hole then the sightly warmer air from the fridge melts it and it drips down.

I always end up blocking mine because I can't see it or always tell how far back stuff is, so there's an ice tray in the fridge under the vent that fills up every few weeks and I have to empty a big block of ice.

>>2928905
how do you end up blocking it?
So I know to avoid doing it myself.

This never happened before. It's a fridge from 2008, if that's of any import.

>>2928907
Unplug the fridge and put a heating pad over it to speed up melting. I have a chest freezer in my basement so I just moved what I can fit there temporarily. I only did that once to unclog the line down to the drip pan.

>>2928910
sadly no other fridge I can use in the meantime.
Hopefully what I managed to do with the hairdryer will be enough.
Will leave it as for a few hours before putting the cover back on.

As long as no additional ice forms. Alternatively will call a repair technician.

>>2928912
Oh hairdryer is a good idea I should've done that. But even if you have to unplug it, most stuff is fine if it thaws and then freezes again. Or wait and do it in the winter and just put the food outside!

>>2928915
heh, open up the windows in the balcony and drop the baskets there :)

>>2928903 (OP)
Yes there should be a heating element in the drain, are you able to expose it enough to take an amp draw on it or access the control? The heater may be constantly warm or it may only come on during a defrost cycle, with commercial freezers they only have like 4-6 defrosts a day for like 10 mins each. You may be able to force it into a defrost so you can test the element but probably unlikely with a domestic fridge. Pour some water down the drain to make sure it isn’t clogged before you fire it back up

>>2928903 (OP)
I've had two different freezer systems do this to me. Each time it started right after I let my wife arrange the items in the freezer. I've identified the common problem, but not why it happens. I still love my dumb wife but fuck do i hate some of the issues she causes to my home appliances

>>2928907
lmao 2008 time to replace

>>2928967
I've drained as much as I could at this time. No overflow at this time.

Too bad I don't have a way to check if it's heating or not - but if the drain doesn't freeze again - should be good to go.

>>2928971
Honestly not sure that the reason why it happened now. Wife arranges from time to time and it never caused this.

>>2928978
Why would I spend money on a new one if a generally perfectly working fridge is right there.

If it caused me enough expenditure as to reach 75% of a new ones' value - sure I might think about it.

>>2928971
>my dumb wife
You're the dumb one.

When you rearrange items in the freezer a significant amount of room temp air replaces the cold air. When the door is closed the room temp air drops to freezing which pulls the moisture out of the air and it turns to ice. This will happen regardless of who rearranges the freezer. Over time, with regular use, ice necessarily forms inside the freezer because every time the door is opened some warm air is exchanged with some cold air and the freezer always seeks steady state which pulls out moisture. The rate at which this occurs varies over time with the weather. High humidity increases this rate, low humidity reduces it. Simple thermodynamics.

>>2929027
Oh, of course. How silly of me to attribute this occurrence of ice build-up to only the times my wife arranges the freezer. The fact my wife overloads the freezer and blocks most air flow, to include the ice maker, means I'm the ignorant one for not understanding how heat exchange works or the fact that some ice formation is normal. Additionally, since the ice accumulates at a significant rate only after my business trips (these are also the times my wife loads the fridge), it means the root problem isn't something she does. With all that out of the way, I'll now allow you to pull your head out of your fourth point of contact and learn to shut the fuck up. Stop jumping to conclusions on things you know nothing about.

>>2929067
I suspect they object to the usage of "stupid". The rest is probably correct.

PS: ice started to build up again. *sigh*
It might be a malfunctioning heating spiral in the drip pan. Will call someone on Monday.

>>2929124
The *proper* way to fix this is to unplug and defrost the freezer completely for 2-4 hours, gallon or two might come off the coil depending how bad it's frozen. If it starts up and freezes/cools fine for a week or two then you're good to go. If it happens again it's typically a faulty defrost thermostat/defrost sensor, and usually what happens is it blocks up with ice and doesn't cool/freeze very well but everything else works fine.

>>2929027
>>2929067
>>2929124
>>2928971
A circulation problem can form ice(melted water from food or condensation/ice melting and refreezing), but if frost(snow like powdery ice) is forming that is a defrosting component issue. The frost build up can also cause circulation problems because it can block the coil/fan from running altogether. Ice build up happens from improper food placement/drain issues, but typically doesn't block off or prevent cooling of the entire freezer/refrigerator because the fan and coil are isolated from whatever happens in the main compartment. It can still frost up though and effectively yeet itself because the frost builds up and eventually starts acting like insulation. The biggest sign of a defrost issue is huge ass icicles forming on the doors/walls because constant circulation of moist air causes it to freeze and make icicles but keeps the inside insulated and warm enough to not cool your food proper.

>>2929132
I do get small icycles under the ice-cube shelf (it's a shelf where we place a wine bottle cooling pad and a few trays for ice (they have lids too).

>>2929175
Just keep in mind that ice and particularly frost also acts as insulation, you'll want to stack things like icepads and ice trays apart evenly because they are also insulation due to the plastic/gel in them. Pizza boxes/boxes/ things in plastic bags too, those are a big culprit because cardboard plastic+airspace makes it a higher r value and can block off the bottom parts of the freezer. I stack stuff like that vertical and in between other things so they don't stack up and block the airflow from reaching the bottom and recirculating.

>>2929270
good to know, thank you!