The short answer
On the AQF 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. The checks below are all owner-side; what they buy you is a named cause before anyone is paid.
What you observe on these models
- 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.
- Ice outside the mould, on the shelf or down the back wall — A fill is overshooting or is aimed wrongly.
- 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. One design carries every cabinet size in this family, so it holds across the line.
- Filter head or filter seal not sealing — Fitting a filter without wetting the seal is the usual cause, and it shows within a day of a change. It ranks second — the fault the first check leaves standing.
- Supply tap or saddle valve seeping — The self-piercing valves used on older installations corrode round the pierce point and seep long before they fail outright. Third: a real cause on these cabinets, but a less frequent one.
- Cabinet tipped forward — Appliances are normally set slightly back of level so the doors close themselves, and losing that is what starts the complaint. Last, which is exactly why the checks above are worth spending first.
- Body: Because this family is one design at several capacities, the air path is the part that is worked hardest at the top of the ladder — which is what moves airflow causes above installation ones here.
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.
- Dry around the filter head and watch it for a few minutes with the filter seated. — Next, once the check above has come back clean.
- Unplug the appliance for a day and see whether the water keeps arriving. — Last, so that nothing further is spent until the cheaper checks are exhausted.
Cut the power before anything else
Safety
Unplug the appliance or switch off its breaker before removing any panel — a capacitor can hold a charge after the power is off. A loaded cabinet is heavy and top-heavy with the doors open, so empty it and get help before moving it. 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 AQF family
Reference| Model number | Family key |
|---|---|
| AQF1201TRW | amana:refrigerator:aqf |
| AQF1613TEW | amana:refrigerator:aqf |
| AQF1613TEW* | amana:refrigerator:aqf |
| AQF2013TEW | amana:refrigerator:aqf |
| AQF2013TEW* | amana:refrigerator:aqf |
| AQF2023TEW | amana:refrigerator:aqf |
When to call a technician
The drain, the pan, the feet and the filter head are owner checks. The trough behind the evaporator is not, because reaching it means taking the freezer rear panel off with the cabinet loaded.
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.
