The short answer
A manual-defrost freezer holds litres of water as frost, and most leaks on this platform date from the day somebody defrosted it. Ranked first on this platform: Manual defrosting done without preparation. The checks below follow that ranking, and the first of them need no tools and no panel removed.
What you observe
- The leak dates from a hand defrost — A leak with the same date as a defrost is the defrost.
- Frost heaviest near one part of the door, and water appearing after each defrost — The frost pattern points at the leak; the timing points at the defrost.
- Water appearing in bursts rather than steadily — Bursts mean something is accumulating and releasing.
- NEAR MISS — water appears only after a power cut or a door left open — That is accumulated frost melting at once, and once it is dried up there may be nothing at all to repair.
Causes, most likely first on this platform
- Manual defrosting done without preparation — A manual-defrost cabinet holds a surprising volume of water as frost. It ranks first on this platform because there is no drain designed to carry a whole cabinet of melting frost at once, so a defrost done without the plug pulled and towels down puts that water across the floor — and the owner reports it as a leak that started that day.
- Humid air entering past the seal — Every cubic metre of room air that gets past the seal leaves its moisture behind as frost. It ranks second here because static cooling means cold falls and warm rises inside the cabinet with nothing to move it, so temperature is a function of where in the box you measure and how the shelves are packed.
- The load packed against the rear wall — Anything held against the cold surface keeps it below freezing through the defrost, so the frost that should have melted and drained stays put and grows. It sits third because the causes above it account for more of these cases, not because it is unlikely.
Check in this order, and why
- Find out whether the cabinet has a drain plug at the front of the floor — Most manual cabinets have one, and most owners have never found it. It leads because it tests the top-ranked cause.
- Run a slip of paper round the seal and find where it comes out freely — Two minutes with no tools, and it maps the whole door. Tests the second-ranked cause.
- Look at what is pressed against the rear wall and over the vents — One flat package is enough to cause it. Tests the third-ranked cause.
What an owner can safely check
- Defrost with towels down and the drain plug pulled into a tray — Do it before the frost gets thick enough to hold litres.
Tools: towelAbout 30 min
- Wash and dry the gasket, then check the hinges for droop and repeat the paper test — A dropped door gives the same reading as a dead gasket and costs nothing to correct.
Tools: clothAbout 25 min
- STOP here — the remaining causes are diagnosed with a meter, not by eye — Record which of the checks above changed anything. That record is worth more to the visit than another attempt.
Before you start tracing it
Safety
Unplug the appliance or switch off its breaker before removing any panel or reaching into the base — a capacitor can hold a charge after the power is off, and water in a live machine compartment is the one combination that deserves real caution.
When to call a technician
Call when the drain will not clear from the cabinet side, when the water is coming from behind a sealed panel, or when a defrost fault is putting more water into the cabinet than the drain was ever meant to carry.
Nearest pages of this class
What this page does not cover
This page is written for the Mora freezer as a class, not for one family or one model line. Where a family- or model-specific page exists for your unit, that page is the more specific answer and the one to read first. Deliberately not here: part numbers, wiring colours and disassembly order, which differ by family.
Lead Appliance Repair Technician · 12 years experience
Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
