What you are actually seeing
- A sheet of ice under the crisper drawers
- Water on the floor at the front of the cabinet
- Not this fault: Water with a soapy or dirty look
Ranked causes on a Conserv refrigerator
- Door not sealing, producing condensation inside — Ranked here because: the full-height door on an all-refrigerator or upright freezer is tall and heavy enough to drop on its hinges, and alignment is the first thing to check
- Defrost drain tube blocked or frozen — Ranked here because: a good part of this range is manual or low-frost rather than fully frost-free, so frost build-up is expected behaviour that becomes a fault only when it is ignored
- Frost melting from a manual-defrost cold plate — Ranked here because: how the machine is loaded and dosed changes its behaviour more than most owners expect
- Water supply line, connection or shut-off leaking — Ranked here because: these cabinets are frequently built into cabinetry that does not give them the clearance the platform assumes
What to check, and in what order
- Take out the bottom drawers and look under them for standing water or a sheet of ice
- If there is a water connection, close the shut-off valve and watch the floor for a day
- Find the drain outlet in the trough at the bottom of the evaporator area and flush it with warm water from a turkey baster
Steps you can safely do yourself
- Find the drain outlet in the trough at the bottom of the evaporator area and flush it with warm water from a turkey baster — Tools: turkey baster, warm water — Estimated time: about twenty minutes
- Unplug the cabinet, pull it out and look at the drain pan under the compressor — Tools: flashlight — Estimated time: about ten minutes
- Put a level on the cabinet front to back and set it slightly higher at the front — Tools: spirit level, adjustable spanner — Estimated time: about a quarter of an hour
- Dry the floor completely, then look at where the water reappears — front, back or inside — Tools: towels — Estimated time: about ten minutes, then a wait
Safety
Safety
unplug-before-service branch-circuit-15-20a
When to call a technician
the leak is at a pressurised supply fitting, because a weeping fitting becomes a burst one the drain will not clear from the inside and the evaporator panel has to come off the drain pan is cracked or the leak is somewhere in the sealed area
Nearest pages
What this page does not cover
Not this fault: the family pages for the all-refrigerator, upright-freezer and chest lines Not this fault: model-specific pages once a model number is known
Links: - [Common CONSERV Refrigerator Problems](/blog/conserv-refrigerator-problems) - [Common Conserv Refrigerator Problems](/blog/conserv-refrigerator-problems-2) - [Common Conserv Freezer Problems](/blog/conserv-freezer-problems) - [CONSERV Refrigerator: Abnormal Noise or Vibration](/blog/conserv-refrigerator-abnormal-noise)
Lead Appliance Repair Technician · 12 years experience
Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
