The short answer
Water inside a refrigerator or on the floor beneath it has a short list of sources, and the drain that carries defrost water away is at the top of it by a wide margin. On these models the BCD pair here includes one row written with a slashed plate variant. Where the water shows up separates them: inside the cabinet is a drain story, behind or underneath is a tray or a supply one.
What you observe
- Water pooling under the crisper drawers — The classic blocked defrost drain, and the water has run forward under the liner.
- Ice building on the floor of the freezer — The same blockage seen one stage earlier, before the water reaches the fresh-food side.
- Water on the floor behind the cabinet — The evaporation tray or a supply connection rather than anything inside.
- Beads of water on the interior walls — Humidity from a door that is not sealing, which is a closure problem rather than a plumbing one.
- NEAR MISS — water only on the outside of the door — Condensation on a cold surface in a humid kitchen, and not a fault at all.
Causes, most likely first on the BCD models
- Blocked defrost drain — First on these models and by a distance. Every defrost cycle sends melt water down one small drain, and food debris or a plug of ice in it sends that water into the cabinet instead.
- Door seal and closure — Second, and it feeds the first: a seal that is not pulling up lets humid air in all day, and the extra frost load is more than the drain was meant to carry.
- Evaporation tray and levelling — Third. The tray under the cabinet is meant to hold the water the drain delivers, and a cabinet tipped forward or a tray sitting out of its rails puts it on the floor.
- Water line, filter housing or inlet valve — Fourth, and only where a supply is plumbed in. This leak is behind the cabinet, is present whether the unit is cooling or not, and is the one that does the most damage unseen.
- Liner or tubing fault — Last, and rare. When the drain is clear, the seal is good and nothing is plumbed, the remainder is a service question. No counted corpus covers these models, so this ranks mechanisms rather than measured shares.
Check in this order, and why
- Read the plate and confirm which of the pair you have — It takes a moment and then you can stop thinking about it: the two rows differ in finish letters, not in the parts this fault involves.
- Find the drain hole and prove it is clear — It is at the bottom of the rear interior wall on most builds. Warm water poured slowly into it should disappear rather than back up.
- Test the seal with a sheet of paper all the way round — Anywhere it slides out freely is letting humidity in, which is what overloads the drain.
- Pull the cabinet out and look at the tray — It should be seated in its rails and the cabinet should sit level or tipped very slightly back.
- Check the supply connection where one is fitted — A weeping fitting behind a refrigerator can run for weeks before anyone sees it.
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. Water on the floor beside a plugged-in appliance is the hazard here, so switch off at the breaker before kneeling in it. Never clear a drain or chip ice with a metal blade: the tubing behind the liner holds refrigerant and punctures easily. Close the supply valve before undoing any water fitting.
Models in the BCD family
Reference| Model number | Family key |
|---|---|
| BCD-422WY2NA1/HC1(H) | contoure:refrigerator:bcd |
| BCD-513WY | contoure:refrigerator:bcd |
When to call a technician
Call when the drain runs clear, the seal passes, the tray is seated and the water is still arriving, because what is left needs panels off. Call sooner if the drain blocks again within weeks of being cleared, which usually means ice is reforming in it rather than debris. Call at once if water is reaching an outlet, a floor covering that will swell, or the cabinetry beside the unit. Say which of the two finishes you have when you call. It will not change the part, but it settles the question before anyone travels.
Other pages for this family
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