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The first question on this roster is whether the water is inside the cabinet, under it, or behind it — each answer leads somewhere different. A door seal that has taken a set lets humid air in, which condenses on every cold surface and runs. Find out whether the water is cold and clean or not, and whether it appears whether or not the icemaker is running.
Where the water shows up
- Water under the crisper drawers inside the cabinet — The signature of a blocked defrost drain. It collects in the lowest part of the fresh-food liner and nowhere else.
- A puddle on the floor at the front of the cabinet — Either the drain overflowing past the liner, or the drain pan at the back overfilled and sloshing.
- Ice building under the freezer floor or in the drawer — The same blocked drain, seen from the freezer side, where the water freezes before it can reach the compartment below.
- Condensation running down the inside walls — Humid air getting in. Suspect a door seal or a door being held fractionally open by a shelf or a bottle.
- A damp patch appears and dries between uses — Small volumes arriving on a defrost cycle. That timing points at the drain rather than at anything plumbed.
- NEAR MISS — the cabinet is also warm — Then the leak is secondary to an airflow problem and the cooling page for this family is where to start.
Causes, most likely first on this roster
- Defrost drain blocked with ice or debris — Top of the list and not close. The drain entry sits at the coldest point in the cabinet, so a slow drain becomes a frozen one, and a season of food debris finishes the job.
- Drain pan displaced, cracked or overfull — Second. The pan sits over the compressor to evaporate what the drain delivers, and a pan knocked out of position when the cabinet was last moved will spill everything it receives.
- Cabinet not level, tipping water the wrong way — The drain channel relies on gravity. A cabinet that leans forward sends condensate into the compartment instead of down the tube, and levelling it is a complete fix.
- Supply line, fitting or inlet valve leaking — Bottom by frequency and top by urgency. This is the only water on the page that is connected to a main, which means it does not stop when the cycle does.
What to check first, second, third
- Establish whether the water is inside the liner or on the floor — Inside means condensate and the drain; outside at the back means supply. This single observation halves the list.
- Look behind the cabinet at the supply fitting and the tap — Do this early despite it being the least likely: a mains leak is the only one here that gets worse while you think about it.
- Close the door on a strip of paper at several heights — Paper that slides out freely marks where the seal is not sealing, which is where the humid air is getting in.
What to do before the panel comes off
Safety
Take the power away first — at the plug, or at the breaker where there is no reachable plug — and treat any capacitor as charged until proven otherwise. Do not run the cabinet with the drain pan removed to see where the water goes.
Models in the CFC family — These listings are what this page covers, and the boundary of what it claims.
Reference| Model number | Family key |
|---|---|
| CFC-18 | atlas-homegoods:refrigerator:cfc |
When this stops being owner work
Call at once for anything behind the cabinet that is wet and does not stop. Supply leaks are the one thing on this page with a deadline.
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.
