Narrative:

This was our second attempt to fly this trip. On the first attempt in the same aircraft; we had an icing system failure in icing conditions and returned to our departure airport. Maintenance checked it out and 'ops check good' was the result. This second time; similar problem; wing anti-ice fail message; a quicker decision to return but with an additional issue of needing to descend through a cloud layer in freezing conditions. We worked with ATC and found a break in the cloud deck and descended to 10;000 feet without encountering icing. The flight terminated in an overweight landing (I caught the landing weight on short final but told the first officeer to continue because of approaching thunderstorms and low-level windsheer advisories) and briefed him on the need to make a smooth; low rate descent landing; and he greased it on.everything seemed like it worked pretty well. The PF and I kept checking in with each other as we did our tasks to make sure we weren't missing anything. It was stressful and exhausting; with lots of things to do; reports to send; people to notify; frequencies to change; flight plans to fix; FMS data to fix; passengers and flight attendant stuff to do. The PF commented to me that he thought my idea/request to descend quickly in the opening in the cloud layers (basically VFR) to get below the freezing level was something he never would have considered before this event. He said he just kept wondering how we were going to safely get down through the clouds. We worked with approach and did a descending 360 through a hole in the clouds to avoid ice and get below the freezing level.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An EMB-145 flight crew experienced a Bleed Over-Temp and Wing Anti-Ice Fail warning while entering icing conditions; and returned to their departure airport for maintenance inspection. The Anti-Ice system ground checked normal; and the flight again was dispatched. When entering icing conditions for the second time and activating the Anti-Ice system; they again had the same failure and the same Master Caution warnings as before.

Narrative: This was our second attempt to fly this trip. On the first attempt in the same aircraft; we had an icing system failure in icing conditions and returned to our departure airport. Maintenance checked it out and 'ops check good' was the result. This second time; similar problem; Wing Anti-Ice Fail message; a quicker decision to return but with an additional issue of needing to descend through a cloud layer in freezing conditions. We worked with ATC and found a break in the cloud deck and descended to 10;000 feet without encountering icing. The flight terminated in an overweight landing (I caught the landing weight on short final but told the First Officeer to continue because of approaching thunderstorms and low-level windsheer advisories) and briefed him on the need to make a smooth; low rate descent landing; and he greased it on.Everything seemed like it worked pretty well. The PF and I kept checking in with each other as we did our tasks to make sure we weren't missing anything. It was stressful and exhausting; with lots of things to do; reports to send; people to notify; frequencies to change; flight plans to fix; FMS data to fix; passengers and Flight Attendant stuff to do. The PF commented to me that he thought my idea/request to descend quickly in the opening in the cloud layers (basically VFR) to get below the freezing level was something he never would have considered before this event. He said he just kept wondering how we were going to safely get down through the clouds. We worked with Approach and did a descending 360 through a hole in the clouds to avoid ice and get below the freezing level.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.