The short answer
On the AFI refrigerators where the water appears is most of the diagnosis: the door, the back of the cabinet and the inside of the liner each mean something different. On these models an overfilling ice maker is the first thing this page would have you rule out. None of the causes below needs a technician to rule out — only the repair might.
What you observe on these models
- A sheet of ice under the bottom drawer — The same fault caught before it reaches the floor.
- Water at the back of the cabinet rather than at the door — The back is the pan and the supply; the door is the drain.
- Beads of water inside the liner along the door edge — That is condensation getting in, not water getting out.
- NEAR MISS — the box is warm as well as wet — Start with the cooling page for this family.
Causes, most likely first on this family
- Ice maker overfilling or the fill tube misaligned — Ice outside the mould — on the shelf or down the back wall — is this fault and very little else. First, because it accounts for every observable above without needing a second fault. This family is a single build, so it holds across the line.
- Drain pan cracked or out of position — Pans get knocked out of position whenever the appliance is moved, so this cause follows a house move or a deep clean. It ranks second — the fault the first check leaves standing.
- Cabinet tipped forward — Condensate is meant to run to a trough at the back; a cabinet leaning forward sends it to the front of the compartment instead. Third: a real cause on these cabinets, but a less frequent one.
- Condensation from a leaking door seal — The water runs down inside the liner and collects in the bottom of the compartment, so it reads as a leak from within. Last, which is exactly why the checks above are worth spending first.
- Body: Against the brand-wide order, installation and loading causes move up here and wear causes move down: one build means a narrow spread of ages in service, so how the cabinet was put in matters more than how long it has run.
Check in this order, and why
- Look at the mould and the shelf under it for ice that is outside the cavity. — First, because it settles the top of the ranking before anything else is touched.
- Cut the power, look under the back of the cabinet and check the pan is intact and properly seated. — Next, once the check above has come back clean.
- Set a level on the top of the cabinet, front to back, and correct it with the feet. — Last, so that nothing further is spent until the cheaper checks are exhausted.
Power down first, then work
Safety
Unplug the appliance or switch off its breaker before removing any panel, because a capacitor can hold a charge after the power is off. Nothing on the sealed system is owner work; those lines are under pressure. Dry the floor before pulling the appliance out, and keep water away from the electrical parts at the base of the cabinet.
Models in the AFI family
Reference| Model number | Family key |
|---|---|
| AFI2539ER*** | amana:refrigerator:afi |
When to call a technician
Call when the leak returns within weeks of the drain being cleared: that pattern puts the blockage upstream in the trough, behind a panel. Call sooner if the water is arriving from the supply side.
The other faults covered for this family
Lead Appliance Repair Technician · 12 years experience
Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
