For the last three weeks on random occasions I’ll go in to my fridge and the middle shelf will be full (like full-full) of water. The first time I thought someone spilled a glass – mopped it up. Meh.
A week after that again, pool of water on the same middle left shelf (not the middle right, there are two). So I look for something that could have created condensation, glass spilled, looked up on the “roof” of the fridge and there is no water leaking down from the top or the back, etc. I can’t find anything but notice this time that the very bottom of fridge (under crisper) is also holding a lot of water. Mop everything up. . . fast forward to TODAY Same darn thing – I ended up with a kitchen towel and a fluffy, thick beach towel full of water. What gives?
To recap – it is not a spill, it is not condensation created from anything. Yes it fridge an ice maker, but no water dispenser and we have plenty of ice, so it isn’t like the line being diverted (I checked). Any ideas ladies/gents? Has this happened to you?
Thank you!! I am just hoping this isn't our 12 yo fridge kicking the bucket.
Thanks for all the advice. We are do it yourselfers. I'll try some of the things mentioned. While old, we want this to be our garage fridge after we move, so a new purchase is in our near future, we want to hold on to this little beauty:)
Time for a new frig... 12 years is a long time and you're paying a lot in electrical bills with this frig.
I'd replace it if possible rather than pay a repair man to come out and quote you a big sum of money to service it. (And you'll have to pay a service call if you decide it's too much to pay for an old frig.) But that's just me.
Good luck!
I'd say the water line inside your fridge that feeds your ice maker has sprung a leak or the water filter from the water line to the ice maker has become clogged.
Turn off the water to the fridge and you'll stop the leak for now.
Check your fridges manual to check on maintenance (filter changes, etc).
You might have to call a repairman if the internal water line has cracked (they are all plastic these days and cold + plastic + time = cracks).
10-15 years is the average life of a fridge.
You have to determine if it'll cost more to fix it vs replace it.
You are lucky you found the water quickly and inside the fridge.
An appliance that has a leak that goes undetected for a long time can rot out floors and walls and create HUGE expensive problems - termites, other insects, water/mold damage, etc.
This has happened twice to me. I bet if you take the panel off of the inside of your freezer you'll find ice buildup. The first time this happened it was due to a bad bi-metal defrost part. I think it tells your fridge when it needs to defrost. It was a $30 fix I did myself. The second time, the baffle motor burned out. I think that part is like a vent that opens and closes to let cold air into the fridge compartment and the motor opens and closes the vent. Didn't have time to tinker with that one so it was just over $200 to have someone come and fix it. IIRC, the repairman said i was lucky it wasnt the main board as that would have been at least twice as much. You may be better off replacing your refrigerator since it's at an advanced age.
If you're in the budget for a new fridge, now may be the time. The previous answers are spot on, water doesn't run up so it's most likely something freezer related. Good luck.
Also, if all else fails, take everything out of the fridge and turn it off. Leave it off for 24 hours. Then turn it back on and see if it clears up. We have this happen to our work fridge, and usually it's a clogged/frozen something-another. Defrosting the entire fridge fixes it.
Oh, it may be just that. Sorry! When our last one was - what was it? Twenty? - we started having major leaks - and, later, some funny smells. We did invite our repairman out after the smelly business, and he said it would cost more to fix, with no guarantee of what would go wrong next or when, than to invest in a new fridge. He also declared that we wouldn't find a fridge that would serve us for twenty years again!
If you have a *regular* repair person (as opposed to calling the big store and their sending the first available person out), you might have a phone conversation with him or her first. Ask if the fridge, as you describe it, is worth making a trip out to your house. If you're possibly going to have to replace it, go ahead and ask for brand recommendations. Some of the "good" brand names are still out there, but they're sometimes owned by other companies and not attached to good appliances any more.
If you have an ice maker in your freezer it may be clogged. We had this problem with one of our rentals and my hubby used the air-compressor to blow out the line and no more leaking.
I don’t know what they charge to come out and do this but it will fix the problem and will cost less than a new fridge.
I agree with Jackie, this just happened to ours. We pulled out the fridge, shoved a wire up the pipe, then blew a hairdryer on the freezer for about 6 hours to totally defrost it.
I suspect the melting ice from the freezer's auto-defrost cycle is finding it's way somehow into your fridge. Normally, the melting ice drips down into a pan beneath the fridge and simply evaporates from the heat and air generated by the condensor.
