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Where the puddle appears tells you where water leaves the machine, which is not where it started. Work from the sources rather than from the floor, and the diagnosis takes minutes rather than an afternoon. On the BAR models the defrost drain and the supply connection sit at opposite ends of the cabinet, so establishing which one you have before moving anything saves the whole second half of this list.
What you are actually seeing
- A puddle on the floor at the front of the cabinet — A front puddle is the least informative symptom on the page, because almost every internal leak arrives there eventually.
- Water pooling under the crisper drawers — Classic blocked defrost drain. Water that cannot reach the drain backs up and finds the lowest point inside the cabinet.
- Ice building on the freezer floor or under the drawer — Defrost water refreezing where it stalls. It is the same fault as the puddle, caught one stage earlier.
- Water running down the inside back wall — A wet rear wall is usually the machine’s own water taking the wrong route, not a plumbing failure.
- NEAR MISS — Water inside but the cabinet has also gone warm — If the temperature has slipped as well, read the cooling page — the water is a consequence of that fault.
Causes, most likely first
- The drain pan cracked, dislodged or overflowing — An overflowing pan is often a symptom rather than a cause: something is sending more water down than the defrost system normally produces. It is first because it is the most common source of water on the BAR models by a wide margin. That is the departure from the brand-wide order: the drain pan cracked, dislodged or overflowing goes ahead of the water supply line or its fittings on the BAR models because it is visible without moving the machine.
- A blocked defrost drain — It recurs if only the visible ice is cleared: the plug is usually further down the tube than it looks.
- The water supply line or its fittings — Supply leaks give clean water, often at the back and often growing rather than coming and going. That pattern separates them from defrost water immediately.
Check in this order, and why
- First — find the drain pan above the compressor and look at it — With the power off, find the pan above the compressor and check it is clipped in, intact and not brimming. A pan holding far more than usual points back at the defrost system. Work down and stop at the first source you confirm: two simultaneous leaks are rare and chasing a second one wastes the afternoon.
- Second — look for water under the crispers and ice on the freezer floor — Both sit directly below where the defrost drain should have carried the water away, so either one confirms the drain without a tool being lifted.
- Third — check the supply line and its fittings at the back — Supply leaks announce themselves on a dry tissue. They are clean, continuous and they get worse rather than better.
Safety first
Safety
Disconnect the power before reaching behind the grille, and close the supply valve before disturbing the line. Wet hands, a metal chassis and a live compressor circuit are a bad combination, and a supply line under pressure can empty a great deal of water into a kitchen very quickly.
When this stops being a homeowner job
The owner line is the panel and the fitting. Flushing a drain from inside the compartment, reseating a pan, levelling the cabinet and switching the ice maker off are yours; removing the freezer rear panel to reach a plugged drain or replacing a valve is not.
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Lead Appliance Repair Technician · 12 years experience
Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
