The short answer
Water around an ARBC cabinet almost always started as condensate the machine made on purpose and then failed to route away, not as a burst pipe. On a glass-door beverage centre 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 running down the inside of the glass and pooling at the bottom lip — Normal condensation until the floor drain cannot keep up with it.
- The puddle appeared after the cabinet was moved — Levelling, tray or hose, in that order.
- Water only after a long door opening — That is the cabinet catching up with the room rather than a leak.
- A wet patch in front of the cabinet that appears on humid days only — Weather-driven leaks point at condensation and drainage rather than at plumbing.
- 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 ARBC family
- Condensation running down the inside of the glass — First on this platform: 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.
- A blocked drain hole at the back of the floor — Second: that channel drains through a small hole to a tray over the compressor.
- Something spilled and frozen inside — Third: a spill that freezes into the channel blocks it as effectively as debris, and it melts on the same schedule as everything else.
- The cabinet has been moved recently — Fourth: moving disturbs levelling, the drip tray and the drain hose in one action, and a leak that starts the week after a move is usually one of those three.
- Condensation on the outside of the cabinet — Last: a cold shell in humid air collects water on its own skin, and it puts a puddle on the floor without a drop of it coming from inside.
Check in this order, and why that order
- Decide whether the water is on the glass or on the floor of the cabinet — Condensation on the inside of the glass is normal in a humid room; water standing on the floor of the cabinet is not.
- Clear the drain hole at the back of the cabinet floor — It is the smallest part of the water path and the part that plugs.
- 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.
- Note whether the puddle grows on humid days — Weather-driven water is condensation and drainage, not plumbing.
- Take the drawers and lower shelves out and look at the floor of the cabinet — Water pools where the drain is before it reaches your floor.
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 ARBC family — The numbers this page covers.
Reference| Model number | Family key |
|---|---|
| ARBC17T2PG | avanti:refrigerator:arbc |
When to call a technician
Clearing a drain, levelling a cabinet and replacing a gasket are all owner jobs on a glass-door beverage centre. On these models the line falls at the rear panel and the sealed refrigerant circuit. Call without working through anything at all for a compressor that knocks hard enough to move the cabinet, or any smell of burning.
Nearest pages of this class
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