Frozen drain on Hotpoint Combination 8562

[DougButtimer]

I’ve got a problem similar to this thread Ancient Thread

I have cut the insulation away on the back surface at the condensation drain “trough height. The drain pipe seems to be attached to an intermediary “funnel” that is secured by what appears to be brown tape (bit like parcel tape !) I WISH that I could attach a photo in this thread, but I can’t seem to find any way to do that. Anyway, water appears to be coming through this tape and impregnating the foam (presumably it travel all the way down the outside of the pipe thus causing an ice-ball to form on the inside at the bottom of the pipe, causing the blockage. Seems to me that that tape has to come off and replaced. What is it, and would B&Q All-weather tape do the job ? Pretty sure that the insulation above this point is all dry, but I guess I’ll have to follow the pipe down and cut out all the contaminated insulation – yes ?? Appreciate some comments before I start ripping the tape off !!

[Penguin45]

Re: Frozen drain on Hotpoint Combination 8562

Whatever might have been wrong with it before, the machine is now scrap.

Penguin45.

[admin]

Re: Frozen drain on Hotpoint Combination 8562

Hi

The repair that you are attempting would not be allowed under the current EU regulations considering the breaking up of the foam insulation. 😯

Bearing also in mind that the foam that you are taking out cannot be placed into your dustbin as it is classed as hazardous waste and you need a specialist waste carriers licence to move it. 😕

Yes you could use botch up tape and use the expanding filler used by builders..Luverly mess it’ll make of your nice kitchen floor as well when it drips all over it.And how those sticky fingers will go down great with your pint when you cant get rid of the sticky stuff of them. 😥

And next year when it all happens again :rolls:

Bryan

[kwatt]

Re: Frozen drain on Hotpoint Combination 8562

Insulation repair has, at the VERY best a 50/50 chance of success.

The only way to do it is to cut away ALL the insulation that is even remotely wet and re-foam it. Messy, a total pain of a job and ultimately almost always a futile effort.

It’s scrap now I’m afraid.

K.

[DougButtimer]

Re: Frozen drain on Hotpoint Combination 8562

Thanks for the replies, lads ! I wish there had been at least one that was slightly more optimistic !! However, “now that I have started, I’m going to finish” !!! 😉 If, as you say, the machine is scrap ( 😯 😯 ), then I have nothing to lose !! It works fine at the moment, apart from the accumulation of water. When re-applying the foam, would it be worth leaving a channel open (i.e. no foam) between the drain tube and the radiator ? That would tend to heat the tube somewhat and boil off any residual moisture, and I doubt that it would affect the fridge loss very much. What do you think :rolls: :rolls:

[kwatt]

Re: Frozen drain on Hotpoint Combination 8562

As moisture fills the foam the insulation “breaks down” as we say. What this means is that there is no insulating properties when it gets wet therefore the internal temperature is not held stable. This means that the food inside will either not be stored at the correct temperature or that the run time of the unit is severely extended but, in most cases, you will get both. In addition you can and almost certainly will get an “ice ball” where the insulation is at its worst.

There is no way around these problems once they start other than removing all the affected insulation and re-foaming the unit. This usually involves cutting away the outer skin then cutting the insulation back until it’s dry then leaving it open and switched off for at least 48 hours to totally dry out.

There’s no short cuts and, if you take one the repair will fail. Cutting channels etc. will not help in the slightest as it only solves the problem that you see of water build up, it doesn’t solve the actual cause.

There is not enough heat produced to dry the insulation.

Running it in it’s current state you risk food that is not fit for human consumption and you will be running up a horrendous electricity bill as it will run almost constantly. Running for the extended time will obviously stress the compressor beyond its design and it will ultimately fail.

HTH

K.

[DougButtimer]

Re: Frozen drain on Hotpoint Combination 8562

kwatt wrote:As moisture fills the foam the insulation “breaks down” as we say. What this means is that there is no insulating properties when it gets wet therefore the internal temperature is not held stable. This means that the food inside will either not be stored at the correct temperature or that the run time of the unit is severely extended but, in most cases, you will get both. In addition you can and almost certainly will get an “ice ball” where the insulation is at its worst.

There is no way around these problems once they start other than removing all the affected insulation and re-foaming the unit. This usually involves cutting away the outer skin then cutting the insulation back until it’s dry then leaving it open and switched off for at least 48 hours to totally dry out.

There’s no short cuts and, if you take one the repair will fail. Cutting channels etc. will not help in the slightest as it only solves the problem that you see of water build up, it doesn’t solve the actual cause.

There is not enough heat produced to dry the insulation.

Running it in it’s current state you risk food that is not fit for human consumption and you will be running up a horrendous electricity bill as it will run almost constantly. Running for the extended time will obviously stress the compressor beyond its design and it will ultimately fail.

HTH

K.

Thank you for explaining the process of insulation breakdown – I hope that I have caught this problem early enough to save the unit, but time will tell. I have now cut the drain tube just below the funnel and was amazed to find that there is virtually nothing sealing the joint – the tape just held the funnel in place. So if ANY blockage at all occurs, the drain pipe fills up until the level reaches the funnel level and then “overflows” into the insulation. This is a truly dreadful design ! I have now glued the funnel in place and eventually intend to fit piping that exits immediately into the gap behind the radiator panel. Hopefully, this will fix the “leak” ! I have stripped the foam sideways at the top and the dampness seems to disappear quite rapidly – I’m hoping that the dampness will follow the old drainpipe downwards, and that most will have accumulated at the base where the iceball formed. We’ll see !!

[hotpnt]

Re: Frozen drain on Hotpoint Combination 8562

no, not a deadfull design at all, if it was blocked you just need to clear it with a piece of wire, or some warm water, sound like you have wrecked a perfectly good design though 😯

[DougButtimer]

Re: Frozen drain on Hotpoint Combination 8562

hotpnt wrote:no, not a deadfull design at all, if it was blocked you just need to clear it with a piece of wire, or some warm water, sound like you have wrecked a perfectly good design though 😯

What are you on about ?? !!
By the time it is blocked, it’s TOO late !!! (The water is IN the insulation at that stage, and YOU don’t know the consequences !!)

Tell me why I have WRECKED a “Good” design then !!!!!!!

The truth of the matter is that it is cheaper for the manufacturer to attach the drain hose in the way that he/she (!!!!) has done so, and enclose it within the foam insulation – purely cost-reduction to the manufacturer ( just the cost of adhesive on the funnel – that’s what caused the problem !!!!!)

Over to YOU !!! (Why did “I” wreck it then !!!!!!! – let’s have the details !!!)

[hotpnt]

Re: Frozen drain on Hotpoint Combination 8562

well cutting the insulation, as kwatt has pointed out, you can now no longer garantee that the food inside will be safely stored,
if the tube was frozen then that would point to the freezer over freezing, possibly a sensor fault,
then again after only 14 years of useage i guess you would call that premature failure & a poor design?!, (the 8562 model was produced in 1994),
maybe if you asked for help earlier we could have provided a less drastic solution

[helo_75]

it has to be said, but at times people look for bigger problems than actually exist

ive NEVER seen insulation break down on one of those machines, and hotpnt has made a good point

it probably just need a sensor, or even a good defrost, what you did was somewhat excessive

now if it had been an ff72……………….

[Dales-Electronic]

Re: Frozen drain on Hotpoint Combination 8562

OK before it all goes up like a bottle of pop lets try and resolve the problem rather than the cause. Bearing in mind that you now have removed some of the insulation and can now get at the drain pipe this is what I would do – obtain a suitable piece of pipe and fix it to the existing funnel, seal the joint with silicon sealant. Now take the new pipe and run it down the outside of the existing insulation so that it feeds into the defrost tray. Leave the old drain hose in situ filling it in at the top with same silicon. Fix the new pipe to the outside of the insulation. Masking tape or similar will do the job. Finally, fill up the hole (if you have one) where you removed the insulation with suitable insulation material.

[DougButtimer]

Re: Frozen drain on Hotpoint Combination 8562

Dales-Electronic wrote:OK before it all goes up like a bottle of pop lets try and resolve the problem rather than the cause. Bearing in mind that you now have removed some of the insulation and can now get at the drain pipe this is what I would do – obtain a suitable piece of pipe and fix it to the existing funnel, seal the joint with silicon sealant. Now take the new pipe and run it down the outside of the existing insulation so that it feeds into the defrost tray. Leave the old drain hose in situ filling it in at the top with same silicon. Fix the new pipe to the outside of the insulation. Masking tape or similar will do the job. Finally, fill up the hole (if you have one) where you removed the insulation with suitable insulation material.

Hi, this is almost EXACTLY where I am !!! I have gone to the source of the problem (the leak !!) and fixed it (the adhesive) and tried to avoid a repeated of the problem (routing the hose outside the cabinet) I’m JUST about to root out the contaminated insulation (probably with the old hose as well !!) and just happened to mention the fact that, in my humble view, the original appeared to me to be a fairly poor “design” !!!

I have now had a posting implying that “I” have “wrecked a perfectly good design” !! I have asked for an expansion of this comment, but have received no reply so far !!

[DougButtimer]

helo_75 wrote:it has to be said, but at times people look for bigger problems than actually exist

ive NEVER seen insulation break down on one of those machines, and hotpnt has made a good point

it probably just need a sensor, or even a good defrost, what you did was somewhat excessive

now if it had been an ff72……………….

I cannot BELIEVE this !! (Meldrew ??) Originally, I DID try clearing the drain with wire – no good !! The unit HAS been defrosted regularly. FYI, ice (as found in both drain tube and surrounding insulation, cannot form without moisture (i.e. WATER, from a leak !!!!!!!)

I’m still waiting for a reason for why “I” have “wrecked a good design”

( Dales-Electronics is the only person making sensible responses here recently !! )

[hotpnt]

Re: Frozen drain on Hotpoint Combination 8562

try reading 5 posts back!!!!!

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