What this means on this family
When the ATMP family leaves water on the floor, the first question is not what broke but where the water was before it was on the floor. The table on this page covers a small group of model numbers in the same line. The drain path answers it more often than any component.
The observations that separate this fault from its neighbours
- Water appears only when the ice maker runs — The fill tube or its connection, not the drain. Timing is the evidence here.
- Water pooling under the crisper drawers — The classic blocked-drain signature: melt water from the defrost cycle backs up and finds the lowest point inside the cabinet.
- Damp only in the bottom drawer, nowhere else — Condensation collecting at the coldest, least ventilated point in the cabinet rather than a drain fault.
- Water only after a hot or humid day — Condensation again, and the machine is coping rather than failing — but a drain that is marginal will overflow on exactly these days.
- NEAR MISS — the cabinet is also warm and the freezer is soft — Then the water is melting food, and this is a cooling failure. Use the cooling page for this family first.
Ranked causes for these models
- The water connection behind the cabinet — First on the ATMP family whenever the cabinet is plumbed. Fittings loosen when a machine is pulled out for cleaning, lines kink behind it when it is pushed back, and a compression joint that has been disturbed once will weep. The leak is steady, not tied to any cycle, and that is how you recognise it.
- The path from the valve to the mould — Second. Water that leaks at the fill tube appears only while the maker is filling, which makes it intermittent and hard to catch. If the puddle matches the ice cycle, this is where to look.
- Defrost drain — Third. It stays high because it is common and cheap to clear, but on this family it is second to the supply when the water is on the floor rather than under the drawers.
- Condensation from door and seal — Fourth. It produces beads and damp rather than puddles, so it explains a wet interior with a dry floor.
- Drain pan and levelling — Last. Worth a look when the machine has recently been moved, and rarely otherwise.
What to check first, and why that order
- Empty the bottom of the cabinet and dry it completely — You cannot tell a new leak from an old one through standing water, and drying takes a minute.
- Lay paper at the front and at the back and wait a day — It turns an argument about where the water comes from into a fact, at no cost.
- Check the drain hole in the freezer section with a torch — Placed here because it is the single most likely cause and the cheapest to clear.
- Level the cabinet front to back and side to side — A cabinet that leans sends interior water to the wrong place and turns a small pan leak into a visible one.
- Close the water shut-off for a day if the cabinet is plumbed — A leak that stops with the valve closed is a supply leak, and that is the one that needs attention today.
Before you open anything
Safety
Unplug the appliance or switch off its breaker before pulling drawers, panels or the cabinet itself — water and live electrics share the floor in this fault, and a capacitor can hold a charge after the power is off. Shut the supply valve before touching any fitting. Never clear a drain with a metal tool: the channel is thin plastic and a hole in it turns a blockage into a permanent leak. If the leak came with a warm cabinet, judge the food by temperature rather than by the puddle: a refrigerator holds food safely at 40 °F (4 °C) or below and a freezer at 0 °F (−18 °C) or below.
Models in the ATMP family
Reference| Model number | Family key |
|---|---|
| ATMP031AEB | arctic-king:refrigerator:atmp |
| ATMP031AES | arctic-king:refrigerator:atmp |
| ATMP031AET | arctic-king:refrigerator:atmp |
| ATMP031AEW | arctic-king:refrigerator:atmp |
| ATMP032AEB | arctic-king:refrigerator:atmp |
| ATMP032AES | arctic-king:refrigerator:atmp |
The line between an owner fix and a service call
Call if the leak is at a supply fitting and does not stop when the valve is closed and reopened, or if water has reached the floor structure. On the ATMP family clearing a drain, adjusting feet and reseating a pan are owner work; anything that needs the evaporator cover off, or a plumbing joint remade, is not. Call the same day for a leak behind the cabinet, because that one is quietly expensive.
Other problems 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.
