There is a sizzling noise and red tube heated and lit behind the freezer area of my fridge. Is this normal?

Question

I have a very stupid question. I have a 7-8 year old GE fridge. I recently heard a sizzling noise when going to get some late night ice cream. I looked down at the bottom and saw that there is a coil that is red and heated with a drip hole for water. Could someone explain to me what this whole situation is all about. Is this normal, I have never noticed it before and I want to make sure my fridge doesnt burn down the house. I really like my house.

Answer 1

It is a normal defrost.It terminates after a few minutes.

Probably just once a day and is late so you probably just never noticed it.  It's fine though.

Answer 2

I agree with most of the other posters - it's part of the normal defrost cycle.  If you notice problems with food  thawing and it's on all the time you'll have to replace the defrost timer.

Been there done that.  It's not a hard DIY job;  they're plug and play.

Answer 3

This doesn't sound normal to me, I would unplug it right now, & call a qualified repair technician.

Answer 4

Yes it's perfectly normal. Your refrigerator is simply in "the defrost mode" which is  on a built in timer. The set of aluminum tubes next to that red glow builds up with ice and in time will cease to function all together unless the ice melted. If and when that heating element burns our your system will build up with ice like the north pole and air circulation around those aluminum tubes will be no longer. Then if you try removing the ice with an ice pick its REALLY easy to puncture one if those tubes. Even a microscopic pin hole will allow your "refrigerant" to escape and You will find yourself in the market for a new refrigerator because its just about cheaper to replace rather than repair.

Answer 5

That is the auto defrost heater. It should only come on occasionally to melt the frost buildup from the freezer coils. There's a timer, Under the fridge, behind the front panel, which turns it off and on. If it's staying on all the time then the timer is locked up and needs to be replaced. It isn't hard to replace and most appliance stores can sell you a new timer.

Answer 6

Your fridge was going through the defrost cycle. At regular intervals, the fridge will turn off and the defrost timer will activate the heater inside the freezer It is a glass hollow tube with an element inside. This heater melts off frost accumulation on the evaporator coils in the freezer. It glows red and you just happened to be there at the right time. The sizzling you heard was the frost melting and splashing on the element. It is perfectly normal. Remember the old style fridges where you had to manually defrost the freezer compartment? Well this newer design is made to eliminate that by doing it automatically.