Why is my freezer leaking water?

[Marky_Mark]

Hi guys 

 

My Sub-Zero side-by-side has started leaking water within the freezer. It seems to come from where the ice maker is located. It drips down the side interior wall and also drips centrally onto food and then freezes all over everything. I have turned off the ice maker and I am not using the water dispenser but it is still happening. Unfortunately I think the water shut off valve is located directly behind the big, heavy unit. Any ideas? 

Thanks

Mark

 

 

 

[rp2813]

We had a similar problem with our '85 Whirlpool side-by-side.  The inlet for the ice maker developed a leak, but it was confined to a growing icicle within the confines of the ice bin.

 

I think your first mistake was purchasing a Sub-Zero.  That is, assuming the fridge wasn't already there when you moved in -- similar to the pathetic Gaggenau cook top and oven that was already here when we bought this house three years ago. 

 

[Marky_Mark]

Thanks for the reply.  The fridge came with the house -- both 20 years old.  

 

I am wondering if the problem might be something to do with the evaporator coil drain or something like that, rather than water coming in from the solenoid valve.  I was hoping it might be a simply fix that I could do myself.

 

[rp2813]

It's been so long, I can't remember what, if anything, that we did about the ice maker inlet.  The fresh food side's door hinge failed in 2006 or so, and we replaced the fridge.  It had other issues besides the leak, but the leak may have started just before the door nearly fell off.   At that point, it was 'bye, Felicia.

 

If it's the evaporator's defrost drain that's clogged, you might be able to get at the drain without having to remove much, if any, of the coil's covering.  The same Whirlpool fridge we had started to form a glacier at the rear of the freezer and it turned out there was a rogue frozen pea trying to escape through the drain opening.   It doesn't take much to back things up and cause problems.

 

 

 

[fisherpaykel]

Leaking

My thought possibly the line or where the line connects to ice maker, unfortunately verifiable by being able to shut off water supply, no chance of hidden access port on other side of back wall or side cabinets or even top if your fridge has top compressor? Fingers crossed.

 

[combo52]

Leaking Evaportor Pan Or Blocked Drain On A SZ SXS

Hi Mark, you just have to get into it and figure out the problem and fix.

 

The IM inlet valve is either under the ref or on top, you do not need to move this ref to replace an IM valve, [ this is not likley the problem anyway ]

 

Sub-Zero refs are very good products and are sold the world over, they normally far outlast ordinary refrigerators by at least 10 years or more.

 

John L.

 

 

 

[dermacie]

Have you unplugged and let it defrost, I once had a refrigerator/freezer that would leak water on the floor and it would need to be defrosted to unblock something.

 

[Marky_Mark]

Thank you very much for the advice.  I will open it up over the next couple of days and see what I can find and figure out.

 

[sudsmaster]

I had a leakage problem with my top freezer 22 cu ft Kitchenaid fridge I keep on the enclosed patio.

It turned out that the drain for the freezer defrost water got blocked with ice, and the over flowed and wound up inside the fresh food compartment (and all over the shelving as well).

I had to unload the thing and let it all come down to room temp to melt all the ice.

Of course a hair dryer sped things up in the freezer area. There was a panel in front of the freezer coils that I had to remove, and after that I clearly could see the ice jam in the drain tray.

That was about five years ago. It hasn't happened again.

A side by side would have a different arrangement, I suppose.

Oh, and I had never connected up the Ice maker in the KA top freezer so that obviously wasn't the source of the water.

You might want to unload the whole unit, move it away from the wall, and shut off the water to the ice maker. You should probably do that anyway to install a water shutoff valve in an easily reached location without having the move the beast in future.

 

[Marky_Mark]

Fixed!

Thanks, guys.  It seems that this kind of "leak" is typically caused by a blocked condensate drain tube in the freezer, typically blocked with ice.  The fix is to turn it off and let the freezer come up to room temp to melt any ice.  I did this and it has been working perfectly since.  I'll keep an eye on it.

 

My thanks to all for the advice,

Mark

 

[rp2813]

A frozen-over defrost drain was a chronic problem with a ~ 1970 Whirlpool top freezer fridge that we bought used for storing drinks in the garage.  This was long before AWO even existed, but somehow I was able to find a suggestion for a solution that cost me nothing.  The advice was to remove the evaporator cover, which was a simple matter of removing several screws, then wrapping a length of 12 or 10 gauge copper wire once around the lowest portion of the heating element, making sure the wire was long enough to extend down into the exact center of the drain by no more than 1". 

 

That did the trick and for the next 25 years or so that the fridge was in the family, that freezer never froze over again.

 

[sudsmaster]

Yes, Mark and Ralph, that's exactly what happened with my ~2002 Kitchenaid top freezer unit I got for the enclosed patio. I had to completely defrost the darn thing to get rid of the blockage. That was around 2015. It hasn't happened again since.