The short answer
On the K family water inside the cabinet and water on the floor are two different faults. The first is a blocked defrost drain; the second is usually a supply connection. The brand-generic page runs them together and this one does not.
What you observe
- A sheet of ice on the floor of the compartment — Same fault caught later, once the pooled water has frozen.
- Water on the floor at the front — The cabinet floor slopes forward, so a rear leak arrives at the front.
- A crackle of ice under the drawers before any water appears — The early stage of a blocked drain, caught before the water reaches the floor.
- Water appearing a day or two after the unit was moved — A displaced drain pan or a strained supply connection rather than a drain fault.
- NEAR MISS - condensation on the outside of the doors — That is humidity and seal performance, not a leak.
Causes, most likely first on K
- Water supply connection or line — Ranked first on the K family: made up behind the cabinet and pushed against the wall on installation, so it chafes and weeps out of sight. That is a family-level property rather than a model-level one, which is why it leads here. This moves above blocked defrost drain, which leads the brand-generic order, because the family spans several sizes on one platform and it is the shared parts that wear.
- Blocked defrost drain — Second: defrost melt water has exactly one way out, and when that channel closes the water simply backs up into the lowest part of the cabinet.
- Drain pan cracked or displaced — Third: the pan is the end of the drain path and is disturbed whenever the unit is moved, which makes a recent move the thing to ask about.
- Door seals and condensation — Fourth: warm air reaching a cold cabinet has to give up its moisture somewhere, and a seal that no longer meets decides where that happens.
- Ice maker fill valve or its tubing — Last: last, and only where a module is fitted, but a weeping valve leaks continuously rather than in cycles.
Check in this order, and why
- Empty the compartment and find the drain opening — It is the likeliest cause and it is visible once the shelves are out.
- Flush the drain channel with warm water — It confirms the diagnosis and clears most blockages in one step.
- Check the cabinet is level and tilted very slightly back — A cabinet leaning forward sends melt water towards the door instead of the drain.
- Test the seals with a sheet of paper around each door — Last, because it explains condensation rather than standing water.
Before you open anything
Safety
Kill the power at the breaker first, shut the water at the stop tap before touching a fill line, and call at once if you see oil at the compressor or smell burning.
When to call a technician
Call at once if water is reaching the floor under a built-in cabinet: the flooring damage outruns the appliance fault, and the unit has to come out of its housing to stop it.
Other K pages
SC
Sarah Chen
Lead Appliance Repair Technician · 12 years experience
EPA 608 UniversalNASTeC Certified
Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
