The short answer for FF models
An FF cabinet that leaks is usually leaking its own melt rather than anything from a supply. That matters because it changes the urgency: a blocked drain is a nuisance that ruins a floor slowly, while a supply leak fills a room. Establish which you have before anything else, by finding out whether the water is cold, clean and intermittent or steady and increasing.
What the owner sees
- A musty smell with damp at the base of the cabinet — Standing water in a channel that has not drained for some time.
- A steady drip that does not stop — Steady rather than cyclic points at a supply connection, and that one is worth isolating immediately.
- A layer of ice under the bottom drawer — Water sitting in the channel and freezing where the air is coldest.
- NEAR MISS — water plus a cabinet that is no longer cold — That combination is a cooling fault with melt as its symptom, and the cooling article is the right place to start.
Causes in likelihood order on this model group
- Drain pan cracked, displaced or overflowing — The pan sits over the compressor so its heat can evaporate what collects. First on this family because it needs nothing taken apart — on a cabinet this size it is a look and a listen, and excluding it costs less than five minutes.
- Containers or packaging blocking the internal channel — The channel that carries melt to the drain runs along the back of the compartment, and a drawer pushed hard back or a box standing in the channel dams it. Second on this family: it produces the same complaint as the cause above it, so the two have to be separated before either is acted on.
- Defrost drain blocked — Every cycle melts the frost off the evaporator and sends it down a small drain to a pan underneath. Third on FF: it is still something you can see rather than measure, but it takes the cabinet emptied or moved and the two above it do not.
What to check first, second, third
- Cyclic or continuous — Water that appears every day or two is defrost melt. Water that never stops is a supply, and a supply leak is the one to isolate before diagnosing anything else.
- Pull the cabinet out and look at the pan — It should sit square on its bracket and be damp rather than brimming. Note whether it is cracked or merely displaced.
- Empty the bottom of the cabinet and look at the channel — It should be clear along its length and slope toward the drain opening.
- Find the drain opening and check it takes water — It sits at the base of the compartment. A spoonful of warm water poured in should disappear; if it sits, the drain is the fault.
Isolate the machine first
Safety
Switch the breaker off or unplug the unit before removing any panel; a capacitor can hold a charge after the power is off. Anything you do behind the freezer rear panel happens next to a fan blade that the door switch is there to stop, so leave that switch alone.
Models in the FF family
Reference| Model number | Family key |
|---|---|
| FF1010D0W | avanti:refrigerator:ff |
| FF1011D1B | avanti:refrigerator:ff |
| FF1013D3S | avanti:refrigerator:ff |
| FF104H0W | avanti:refrigerator:ff |
| FF104H3S | avanti:refrigerator:ff |
| FF10B*** | avanti:refrigerator:ff |
| FF10B0W | avanti:refrigerator:ff |
| FF10B1B | avanti:refrigerator:ff |
| FF10B3S | avanti:refrigerator:ff |
| FF116B0W | avanti:refrigerator:ff |
| FF116D0W | avanti:refrigerator:ff |
| FF120WH | avanti:refrigerator:ff |
| FF138G0W | avanti:refrigerator:ff |
| FF138G0W-1 | avanti:refrigerator:ff |
| FF138G1B-1 | avanti:refrigerator:ff |
| FF138G3S | avanti:refrigerator:ff |
| FF138G3S-1 | avanti:refrigerator:ff |
| FF145H0W | avanti:refrigerator:ff |
| FF145H3S | avanti:refrigerator:ff |
| FF14D0W-4 | avanti:refrigerator:ff |
| FF14D3S-4 | avanti:refrigerator:ff |
| FF14V0W | avanti:refrigerator:ff |
| FF14V1B | avanti:refrigerator:ff |
| FF14V3S | avanti:refrigerator:ff |
| FF15X0W | avanti:refrigerator:ff |
| FF15X1B | avanti:refrigerator:ff |
| FF15X3S | avanti:refrigerator:ff |
| FF18B0W | avanti:refrigerator:ff |
| FF18B1B | avanti:refrigerator:ff |
| FF18B3S | avanti:refrigerator:ff |
| FF18D0W | avanti:refrigerator:ff |
| FF18D0W-2 | avanti:refrigerator:ff |
| FF18D0W-4 | avanti:refrigerator:ff |
| FF18D1B | avanti:refrigerator:ff |
| FF18D1B-4 | avanti:refrigerator:ff |
| FF18D3S | avanti:refrigerator:ff |
| FF18D3S-2 | avanti:refrigerator:ff |
| FF18D3S-4 | avanti:refrigerator:ff |
| FF18F0W | avanti:refrigerator:ff |
| FF18F1B | avanti:refrigerator:ff |
| FF18F3S | avanti:refrigerator:ff |
| FF18H** | avanti:refrigerator:ff |
| FF18H0W | avanti:refrigerator:ff |
| FF18H1B | avanti:refrigerator:ff |
| FF18H3S | avanti:refrigerator:ff |
| FF45006W | avanti:refrigerator:ff |
| FF45016PS | avanti:refrigerator:ff |
| FF4D15H3S | avanti:refrigerator:ff |
| FF7B** | avanti:refrigerator:ff |
| FF7B0W | avanti:refrigerator:ff |
| FF7B3S | avanti:refrigerator:ff |
| FF99D0W | avanti:refrigerator:ff |
| FF99D1B | avanti:refrigerator:ff |
| FF99D3S | avanti:refrigerator:ff |
When this stops being owner work
Call when the next step would need a meter, and call earlier than that for three things: a breaker that will not stay in, a plug or cord warm to the touch, and oil at any joint in the tubing. Everything above those lines is owner work and most of it needs no tool at all, which is why the order puts it first.
Other FF problems we cover
Lead Appliance Repair Technician · 12 years experience
Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
