check your fridge!

23 years ago

I noticed water coming from under the fridge last night and it was still there this morning. DH pulled it out and found the tubing for the ice maker had a hole worn in it from vibrations and rubbing on a piece of metal . He fixed that and noticed some other connections were loose. It only ended up costing $7 to repair but we really saved finding those loose connections in other parts. Who knows what may have stopped working. My advice: pull it out, clean and tighted up any bolts or screws!

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Comments (4)

cowboyind
23 years ago
This is an EXCELLENT tip. The water lines running to ice makers are usually flexible plastic tubing, often very fragile, and they frequently can develop leaks from vibrations, as in this case, or from pulling the line loose when moving the refrigerator out to clean, rolling over the line with the refrigerator itself, etc. The amount of damage that can be done is staggering.

In a similar way, ALWAYS shut off the water supply valves to your washing machine when not using it. Those hoses can leak and literally flood your whole house overnight. This used to be less of a problem when people often had washing machines in the basement, or in a main floor utility room with a floor drain. But now many are on the second floor of a house, and this greatly increases the severity of the damage that a leak can cause.

Ken
joyfulguy
23 years ago
Good idea to shut off water when not in use, cowboyind.

My friend went away for a few days, and I believe had someone check her home - I think daily. That is quite important with insurance claims if trouble should develop, especially in winter here where there is cold climate, as furnace stopping for more than a day or so would result in frozen water pipes and leakage.

One day (not in winter period) when her friend came in, the water pipe under her sink was leaking so there was water in kitchen and hardwood-floored living room. This resulted in major disruption and repairs that stretched out over a long period. She did not react well to the continued upset.

Even considering that insurance covered most of the cost, I think that she was some money out of pocket, as well.

All told, not a pleasant experience.

How many of us turn off the water valve where the pipe enters our home before we leave for a few days holiday? It would be a good idea to do so.

Good wishes for your friends not accusing you of being "all wet".

joyful guy
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Jelly, I went and looked at the video, and the photos at post #2. The white plastic pan that is shown in the video is where it needs to drain to, and yes, you need to get water to flow into it. I have a Whirlpool with a bottom freezer, and at the very back. after you take off all the shrouds and baskets, it looks just like the photos in # 2. When you look at the right most photo, you see a small ledge, which is labeled drip pan ( though it in not the plastic pan that is at the very bottom of the fridge in the video) and I will call it a drip channel and a spot labelled drain hole. That whole ledge area is probably covered in ice, and ice is also on the area labelled evaporator . What happened originally was that the rubber tube got clogged, water fell into the drip channel, but could not exit the drip hole, and froze. It then continued to freeze onto the evaporator. Right now, the ice on the evaporator is melting, the water is dripping onto the drip channel, and there is still ice in the drip channel, so it is still overflowing into the freezer. You can just leave if for a day and be pretty confident it will be done, though you wouldn't want to do that with wood or laminate floors, because it could be a lot of water, or you can try using the hot pan in the freezer, and use a hair dryer from the rear of the fridge pointing all along where you attached the rubber tube. You won't see the ice in the drip channel, because it is below the top of the channel. You may not see the ice on the evaporator, because it may well be hidden by the vents.
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lilypad22
23 years ago
I had dropped an ice cube in front of the fridge, got distracted and forgot about it. Later I came by and stepped in water - OH NO I thought that drip pan was plugged, it wasn't, but there was so much dust I couldn't even see the coils, I couldn't remember when I had cleaned it last, so I got the vac out and took care of that right away. They run more efficient when clean, right?
joyfulguy
23 years ago
If you don't mind higher power bills,
possibly more frequent repairs, at cost for both replacement equipment and service call, due to overwork of the equpment, and
earlier replacement of your fridge (same cause)...
don't bother cleaning the coils - which dissipate the heat that is pulled out of the box.

Which payment you make, unless (in many cases, depending on the tax laws in your country) your fridge is necessary for your business, with after-tax (dollars/your local currency).

Your choice.

Actually - there aren't a bunch of coils up the back of my (new to me) fridge - there's a major sized fan underneath, by the equipment, so I'll need to check out what maintenance needs are involved.

joyful guy

check your fridge!

Comments (4)

cowboyind

joyfulguy

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lilypad22

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