The short answer
On an A Premium TAW refrigerator, where the water shows up tells you which of the three drain paths has failed. Taller cabinets on a shared mechanism: the vertical distance between the cold source and the top shelf is greater, so stratification within the compartment is a real effect rather than an imagined one. The models covered are in the variant table below, and the ranking is written for them rather than for every A Premium refrigerator sold.
What you observe
- Water down the inside of the rear wall — A drain that is clear but overwhelmed, or a door left ajar long enough to load the compartment with humid air.
- Wet patches only after a hot or humid day — Ambient-driven condensation on a marginal seal or an over-loaded drain, which is why it comes and goes.
- Water at the back near the floor, with nothing inside the cabinet wet — That is the evaporation pan or the fill line, and it is a different path from the drain entirely.
- NEAR MISS — steady clean water at the supply connection with the cabinet dry — That is a fill-line or valve leak and belongs on the ice-and-water page, not here.
Causes, most likely first on the TAW models
- A blocked or frozen defrost drain — Ranked first on almost every cabinet: every refrigerator makes condensate continuously and the drain is a narrow path that silt and food debris close over time.
- Stratification across a tall compartment — Height is what separates this family from the brand's shorter lines: the top of the cabinet is furthest from the air source, so a marginal airflow fault shows up there first and nowhere else.
- A water supply line, fitting or inlet valve weeping slowly — A supply leak is clean water and is usually at the back; ranked here because it is less common than the drain paths but does more damage.
- A cracked liner or a failed seam behind the drawers — Ranked last because it is rare and because every cause above must be excluded before it is worth believing.
- Body: The TAW key covers a stepped range of taller cabinets, so height and shelf position matter more here than on the brand's shorter lines. That construction is what moves the ranking on these models, and it is where this page departs from the brand-generic article. A Premium sells compact and replacement refrigeration into rental, dorm and hospitality use, so the unit is routinely moved, re-levelled and run in a warm room: the installation conditions outrank the parts. That is why the order below is what it is rather than a generic list of everything that can cause a water leak.
Check in this order, and why
- Do the paper test around the whole door seal, corners included — A seal that fails only at one corner still loads the drain continuously.
- Find the lowest wet point and work upward from it — Water travels down and forward, so the puddle tells you nothing until you know where the highest wet surface is.
- Compare the top of the compartment against the bottom — On a tall cabinet the difference between shelves is the measurement that matters, and it is free to take.
- Only then look for a cracked trough or liner behind the drawers — It needs the drawers and often the rear panel out, so it is last for access reasons as well as likelihood.
Before you open anything
Safety
Unplug the appliance or switch off its breaker before removing any panel — a capacitor can hold a charge after the power is off. Water on a floor beside an appliance on a live circuit is a shock hazard: dry the floor before you kneel on it, and never work on the unit standing in a puddle.
Models in the TAW family
Reference| Model number | Family key |
|---|---|
| TAW35 | a-premium:refrigerator:taw |
| TAW45 | a-premium:refrigerator:taw |
| TAW55 | a-premium:refrigerator:taw |
When to call a technician
On these taller cabinets, judge by the bottom shelf rather than the top one before calling; the top is always the last part of the compartment to come down. Call once the drain takes water freely, the pan is seated and the seal passes, and the leak still comes back — at that point the water is coming from somewhere that needs the cabinet opened up.
Other faults covered for the TAW models
Lead Appliance Repair Technician · 12 years experience
Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
