Any appliance techs out there? My fridge is flooding the house

qslim

qslim

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As I was getting the family out the door last weekend for a quick trip to WY I heard a drip while I was in the basement. I looked up & water was coming through the ceiling, and a drywall panel was sagged. I popped a hole in the ceiling and collected about a 1/2 gallon. The leak was directly under the kitchen where the refrigerator sits, and after extracting the thing from its cavity that whole corner was soaked. There wasn't standing water on the floor, but the baseboard was soggy & the subfloor was damp. I killed the water supply to the fridge, left it in the middle of the kitchen, said a prayer to homeowner Jesus, and went on a trip.

When I got back I noticed a small puddle of water under the thing, right under the drip pan where the condenser sits. The drip pan only had about 1/4" of water in it and there were no signs of water dripping from elsewhere, and I turned the water supply back on.

The next morning as I'm leaving at 3am for work I hear some dripping. I looked at the back of the fridge & saw that the condenser coils were soaked & the water tray was full. I'm thinking I must have a leak from the water supply somewhere right? It might be internal so I'm going to try dismantling the thing to see where there sould be a blockage, I just can't figure out why it's happening sometimes, and only when I'm not around.

It's a Samsung french door w/ the freezer on the bottom, two icemakers & a water dispenser.

Here's a pic of the back, I removed the panel to expose the condenser. The coils look wet, so I'm thinking there's a leak above it somehow.

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I've had a few ice maker lines leak. Sometimes the leak is so slow from the pin hole in the line it is hard to determine where it is. Have you replaced the line? Both of mine have been replaced with braided stainless steel line. My kitchen line was leaking and I never really found the leak but a replacement line fixed it. I have an ice maker in my beer fridge in the garage and that one has busted twice. Glad it was the garage.
 
Viking Jeeper said:
I've had a few ice maker lines leak. Sometimes the leak is so slow from the pin hole in the line it is hard to determine where it is. Have you replaced the line? Both of mine have been replaced with braided stainless steel line. My kitchen line was leaking and I never really found the leak but a replacement line fixed it. I have an ice maker in my beer fridge in the garage and that one has busted twice. Glad it was the garage.
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I haven't replaced anything yet because I can't get it to leak when I'm around. I'd think if it were a busted line it'd be leaking all the time with the supply pressure, but I'm looking at the stupid thing now for an hour with the water supply on & there isn't a drip. The damn tray is full & the coils are soaked, so it's definitely leaking somewhere. I'm thinking it must be something internal dependent on a certain cycle that provides pressure to the suspect part. Maybe I should reflash the PCM.
 
I would replace the supply line but if you are convinced it is only leaking at certain times have you looked for leaks while someone is getting water or the ice tray is being filled up?
 
Does the door seal look okay? If the thing has a large air leak it will collect tons of moisture and when it runs the defrost cycle on the coils can drain a ton of water. You'd probably also see frost on stuff in the freezer. On most you can empty the inside and remove covers to reveal the evaporator which might be a big block of ice.

Low pressure on the supply line can also prevent the water valves from closing properly. If you have a kinked or damaged supply line, clogged filter or generally low water pressure the ice maker and water dispenser valves can leak even new.

I'm not an expert, don't waste too much time with my advice.
 
I just heard a splash & jumped up to look at it - looks like it is coming out form where the supply line goes inside the cabinet to the bottom ice maker. It only squirted for a second, must be something with the ice maker cycle.
 
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Sorry I am a bit drunk. :)

Condensate pipe is normally what creates water.
Open the back when it is in full throttle. Anything that sweats is a "suspect".
The Joint is leaking, normally at an elbow or tee.

The second suspect is the water supply to the freezer. This is "if" the water on the floor is not cold
 
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TJ2 said:
Sorry I am a bit drunk. :)

Condensate pipe is normally what creates water.
Open the back when it is in full throttle. Anything that sweats is a "suspect".
The Joint is leaking, normally at an elbow or tee.

The second suspect is the water supply to the freezer. This is "if" the water on the floor is not cold
Click to expand...
I shall take your inebriated advice & see if the burping water is indeed cold. Good call
 
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Did t read everything. But we had a freezer bottom. And there was a drain tube that clogged with dust to the point it drained the water into the freezer instead of the evaporator tray.

I found my answer on google.
 
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