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Water pooling inside the fresh-food compartment and water pooling on the kitchen floor are two different faults that happen to share a page. Defrost water is supposed to run down a channel, through a tube and into a pan over the compressor; block any part of that and it goes somewhere else. 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
- The drain pan at the back is full or overflowing — Normal for the pan to hold water; not normal for it to overflow, which means more water than the airflow can evaporate.
- The floor is wet only on one side of the cabinet — Water following a slope rather than pointing at a source. Note where it is dry as well as where it is wet.
- 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 steady drip from behind the cabinet — The supply line, the inlet valve or the fitting at the tap. This is the one that needs attention today.
- 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.
What it turns out to be, in order
- 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.
- Icemaker fill tube or tray overfilling — A tube that is part frozen sprays rather than fills, and a tray that is over-filled dumps water into the compartment. Identifiable because the water tracks the icemaker cycle.
- 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.
Work by location, in this order
- 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.
- 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.
- Dry everything, then look again after one defrost cycle — Establishes whether the water arrives on a schedule, which separates the drain from everything else.
- Put paper towel under the cabinet overnight — Where it wets first tells you front or back, and that halves the list before any panel comes off.
Safety before diagnosis
Safety
Kill the supply before anything else happens: unplug it, or switch the breaker off. A capacitor can hold a charge long after the power has gone.
Models in the D family — The listings below are what this page covers; it is a family page, not a model page.
Reference| Model number | Family key |
|---|---|
| D58165-WHITE | auseo:refrigerator:d |
| D58200H-BLACK | auseo:refrigerator:d |
| D5840C-SILVER | auseo:refrigerator:d |
| D5850H-BLACK | auseo:refrigerator:d |
| D5860C-SILVER | auseo:refrigerator:d |
| D5880H-BLACK | auseo:refrigerator:d |
| D5880H-WHITE | auseo:refrigerator:d |
| D5888S-SILVER | auseo:refrigerator:d |
| D5888W-WHITE | auseo:refrigerator:d |
When this stops being owner work
Stop when the water is warm, or when it has any colour to it. Condensate is cold and clean; anything else came from somewhere it should not have, and that is worth having looked at rather than mopped up.
Other pages for this family
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Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
