The answer in three sentences
An Agostino AUF cabinet is meant to produce water; a leak is that water taking a route it was not given, and the route is written in where the puddle sits. Defrost meltwater is normal and there is a drain and a tray to take it away. Almost every leak is that path closing up, or a supply line that has let go — and the two behave so differently that finding the water tells you which one you have. The table below names three models under this family key. They are near enough alike that the fault presents the same way on each; the divergence is in part numbers rather than in how you find it.
What you observe on these models
- Water pooling inside, under the crisper drawers — That is defrost meltwater that has not reached the drain, so it has run forward into the cabinet instead.
- Water on the floor at the front of the cabinet — It has come over the front lip, which means the inside pool has been building for a while.
- Water at the back, near the wall — That is the supply line, the inlet valve or an overflowing drain tray, and it is a different repair entirely.
- Ice forming in the bottom of the freezer or under the drawers — The drain is frozen rather than merely blocked, and the water is freezing where it stands.
- NEAR MISS — water only after a hot, humid day with the door opened often — Condensation on the seals and shelves is normal in that weather and is not a leak.
Where the water is escaping, most likely first on the AUF line
- The defrost drain blocked or frozen closed — It is a narrow passage at the coldest point in the machine carrying water that arrives with debris in it, so it closes gradually and gives no warning until the cabinet floor fills. All three models under the AUF key are built the same way here, so an ordering that fits one of them fits the rest.
- The supply line, its fitting or the inlet valve — This is the one part under mains pressure whether the machine runs or not, so it produces far more water than the defrost system can and it does it out of sight at the back.
- The drain pan cracked or knocked out of position — The pan sits under the cabinet where it takes a knock on every move, and a cracked pan drips onto the part of the floor nobody can see.
- The ice maker fill tube or mould overflowing — A fill that overshoots or a split, iced tube puts water onto the freezer floor instead of into the mould, and it only leaks when the cabinet calls for ice.
The order to work through on these models
- Find where the water stands inside and trace it back to the drain outlet — Water inside the cabinet nearly always means this, so the first look is also usually the last.
- Pull the cabinet out and check the fitting and valve body are dry — Checked early whenever the water is at the back, because a pressurised leak does not wait for anybody.
- Look underneath with a torch before moving the cabinet back — Done at the same time as the supply check, since both live in the same place.
Models in the AUF family
Reference| Model number | Family key |
|---|---|
| AUF-1720* | agostino:refrigerator:auf |
| AUF-2120* | agostino:refrigerator:auf |
| AUF-2130* | agostino:refrigerator:auf |
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 and a powered appliance together are the hazard here: switch the machine off at the breaker before you kneel in a wet area or reach behind the cabinet, and dry the floor first. Close the water shut-off valve before undoing any fitting, and never stand a cabinet back on a wet floor covering that has started to lift.
When to call a technician
Call a technician when the drain has been cleared and the water comes back, or the moment you find the leak is on the supply side rather than the defrost side. Call immediately if water is reaching an electrical outlet, a floor void or a room below, because the cost of a leak is almost never the appliance repair and is almost always what the water reached while nobody knew it was there.
The rest of this family, fault by fault
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Lead Appliance Repair Technician · 12 years experience
Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
