The short answer
On this Antarctic Star antarctic-star refrigerator line, a cabinet that is putting water where it should not be usually comes down to defrost drain blocked or frozen. The quickest way to place it is to find the drain hole at the base of the evaporator area and look at it.
What you observe
- A steady drip rather than a pool — A drip that continues regardless of the cooling cycle points at a supply connection, which is the one leak that does not stop on its own.
- A pool of water on the floor at the front of the cabinet — Water that appears at the front has usually run forward along the cabinet floor from a drain that is not carrying it away.
- Water standing under the crisper drawers — The classic blocked-drain signature: melt water from defrost collects at the lowest point inside instead of leaving the cabinet.
- NEAR MISS: water inside with a cabinet that is also warm — If the cooling has gone as well, start with the cooling page: the water is a symptom of the same fault.
Causes, most likely first
- Defrost drain blocked or frozen — Every frost-free cabinet melts ice on a schedule and has to carry that water out through one small hole, and that hole collects debris and freezes shut more often than any other part of the cabinet leaks.
- Door seal letting warm humid air in — It ranks second because it produces the widest range of symptoms on this page: damp walls, water in the drawers, frost that melts and runs, all without anything having broken.
- Drain pan displaced, cracked or overflowing — A pan that is simply overwhelmed is a symptom rather than a cause: it means the cabinet is defrosting more than it should, which puts the door seal back in the frame.
- Cabinet not level, tilting the water the wrong way — These cabinets are designed to sit very slightly back, so melt water runs to the drain and the doors self-close; a unit tipped forward sends that water to the front instead.
- Body: The table below shows what this Antarctic Star antarctic-star refrigerator line actually is: the same cabinets listed repeatedly in different finishes, with the numeric part of the model number separating the sizes. Finish does not change how a cabinet fails, so the useful differences across this list are size and age rather than specification.
Check in this order, and why
- Find the drain hole at the base of the evaporator area and look at it — A plug of ice or a dark deposit in the hole is the answer, and the water on the floor is simply what could not get past it.
- Run a paper strip around the whole door frame — Close the door on it and pull: anywhere it slides out freely, warm air is going in at that point all day.
- Look under the back of the cabinet at the pan — Water on the deck beside the pan, or a pan sitting off its rails, is visible in a few seconds with a torch.
- Body: The order follows the ranking above rather than the layout of the cabinet: each check either confirms the cause above it or removes it, and they are arranged so that the free checks come before anything that needs the unit moved or a panel off. Across a line this wide the access differs slightly between generations, so work from the outside in rather than assuming where a component sits.
Before you open anything
Safety
Unplug the cabinet or switch off its breaker before you touch anything at the back, and before any water goes near it. Water and the compressor deck do not mix: the relay and the capacitor there are live, and a capacitor can hold a charge after the power is off.
Models in the antarctic-star:refrigerator:? family
Reference| Model number | Family key |
|---|---|
| 58046RRE0-BLACK | antarctic-star:refrigerator:? |
| 58046RRE0-BLACK-ASZ | antarctic-star:refrigerator:? |
| 58046RRE0-STEEL | antarctic-star:refrigerator:? |
| 58046RRE0-STEEL-ASZ | antarctic-star:refrigerator:? |
| 58046RRE0-WHITE | antarctic-star:refrigerator:? |
| 58046RRE0-WHITE-ASZ | antarctic-star:refrigerator:? |
| 58070RRE0-BLACK | antarctic-star:refrigerator:? |
| 58070RRE0-STEEL | antarctic-star:refrigerator:? |
| 58070RRE0-WHITE | antarctic-star:refrigerator:? |
| 58090RFR0-BLACK | antarctic-star:refrigerator:? |
| 58090RFR0-RED | antarctic-star:refrigerator:? |
| 58090RFR0-WHITE | antarctic-star:refrigerator:? |
| 58090RRE0-BLACK | antarctic-star:refrigerator:? |
| 58090RRE0-STEEL | antarctic-star:refrigerator:? |
| 58090RRE0-WHITE | antarctic-star:refrigerator:? |
| 58127RRE0-BLACK | antarctic-star:refrigerator:? |
| 58127RRE0-GREY | antarctic-star:refrigerator:? |
| 58127RRE0-WHITE | antarctic-star:refrigerator:? |
| 58128RRE0-BLACK | antarctic-star:refrigerator:? |
| 58128RRE1-BLACK | antarctic-star:refrigerator:? |
| 58128RRE1-WHITE | antarctic-star:refrigerator:? |
| 58128RRE2-BLACK | antarctic-star:refrigerator:? |
| 58145RKR0 | antarctic-star:refrigerator:? |
When to call a technician
Call when the drain has been cleared, the seal checked, the cabinet levelled and the pan reseated, and water still arrives. Call straight away, without working the list, if the water is a steady drip that does not follow the cooling cycle and the cabinet is plumbed, because that is house pressure behind it rather than melt water.
Nearest pages of this class
Lead Appliance Repair Technician · 12 years experience
Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
