The short answer
Water around an AFR cabinet almost always started as condensate the machine made on purpose and then failed to route away, not as a burst pipe. On a built-in undercounter refrigerator the route is short and the places it can fail are few, which makes this one of the better faults to diagnose at home.
What you observe on these models
- Water appearing at the front of the cut-out, on the floor of the opening — The route to the evaporation tray is short and tight on a built-in, and when it blocks it overflows forwards.
- More water on humid days than on dry ones — Condensation is weather-driven; a plumbing fault is not.
- Water running down the inside of the glass and pooling at the bottom lip — Normal condensation until the floor drain cannot keep up with it.
- NEAR MISS — water only after the door has been left open a long time — That is the cabinet catching up with the room, not a leak.
Causes, most likely first on the AFR family
- Defrost water overrunning its channel to the evaporation tray — First on this platform: every refrigerator sheds water; on a built-in the route from the channel to the tray is short, tight and easy to block with a crumb of packaging, and the overflow appears at the front of the cut-out rather than at the back where you would look.
- The cabinet standing out of level in its opening — Second: an undercounter cabinet is shimmed into an opening, and a cabinet leaning forward by a hair sends its own condensate the wrong way along the floor of the box.
- Door gasket letting warm damp air in — Third: warm air reaching a cold surface leaves water, and a gasket holding open at one corner puts the puddle in the same place every day.
- Water line or ice-maker connection, where one is fitted — Fourth: not every cabinet in this family is plumbed; where one is, a compression joint at the back of the cut-out drips quietly for weeks before it shows at the front.
- Condensation running down the inside of the glass — Last: a glass door in a humid room collects water on the cold side and it runs to the bottom channel; a cabinet opened often on a summer evening will do it every time.
Check in this order, and why that order
- Find out where the water actually is before you move anything — Front of the cut-out, back of the cabinet or inside the box are three different faults, and moving a built-in first destroys the evidence.
- Look inside for the drain hole at the back of the floor and clear it — A warm cloth and patience; never a wire that can puncture a liner.
- Put a level on the cabinet across both axes — Built-in cabinets are shimmed, and shims move.
- Where the number is plumbed, dry the joints and check them again an hour later — A weeping compression joint is slow enough to look like condensation until you dry it and watch.
Before you open anything
Safety
Unplug the appliance or switch off its breaker before removing any panel. A capacitor can hold a charge after the power is off. Treat that as the first step of every check below that involves a panel, a grille or a cover.
Models in the AFR family — The numbers this page covers.
Reference| Model number | Family key |
|---|---|
| AFR151SS | avallon:refrigerator:afr |
| AFR151SSOD | avallon:refrigerator:afr |
| AFR152SS | avallon:refrigerator:afr |
| AFR152SS** | avallon:refrigerator:afr |
| AFR152SSOD | avallon:refrigerator:afr |
| AFR152SSOD** | avallon:refrigerator:afr |
| AFR241SS | avallon:refrigerator:afr |
| AFR241SSOD | avallon:refrigerator:afr |
| AFR242SS | avallon:refrigerator:afr |
| AFR242SS** | avallon:refrigerator:afr |
| AFR242SSOD | avallon:refrigerator:afr |
| AFR242SSOD** | avallon:refrigerator:afr |
When to call a technician
Clearing a drain, levelling a cabinet and replacing a gasket are all owner jobs on a built-in undercounter refrigerator. On these models the line falls at the rear panel and the sealed refrigerant circuit.
Nearest pages of this class
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