What could be the cause of the excessive water noted in the bottom of the refrigerator portion of the unit? Thanks, Steve

Hello Susan;


My name is Peter. I am a retired field service refrigeration technician.

You do not have any oil in your system with the exception of a few ounces in the bottom of your compressor. This is not your problem.

You have a water leak. The water will run across the bottom coils and the floor. By the time it reaches the front of your unit it looks oily.

Pull you unit out. Make sure you raise the leveling screws in the front first.
Remove the lower back cover. There are a few screws holing it on.

1.) Inspect the drain pan. Is it leaking?

2.) Inspect the water shut off valve. Is it leaking.

3.) Inspect the plastic tubing to your water filter, ice maker and water dispenser. Plastic tubing will dry rot and crack over time due to the heat.

4.) Have someone press your water dispenser while you observe for leaks in the back.

Excessive water in the catch pan can be caused by a leak in the ice maker. Shut off the water supply and if the problem goes away it is caused by a small leak. If it continues it can be caused by high humidity in your home.

Hello Wayne,
You already mentioned the reason for the excess water. When the freezer automatically defrosts itself once every 24 hours the melted water drains down through a tube down to a water pan at the bottom of the refrigerator where it sits and supposedly evaporated by the fan back into the atmosphere. However in your case the excessive dust is preventing the evaporation phase to occur by the fan. You need to vacuum as much of the dust as possible and your problem will disappear.
Good Luck
Rich Lilja

you have a clogged defrost drain. when y our unit goes into defrost, the water that is supposed to go down a tube from your freezer down to the bottom outside of the unit, into a pan to evaporate, instead is going into your fridge etc. This drain needs to be cleared. I would not recommend doing it yourself, you may cause further more expensive damage.

Refrigerator FAQ and Tips

Don't know three in one is, capacitor?
The compressor has oil in it. If the unit is layed on its side, compressor oil can leak out into the refrigeration tubing. This can cause a refrigeration circuit clog. Leaving the unit disconnected, upright, for a few days, sometimes fixes this oil clog.
If it sprung a refrigeration leak, it's another story, it needs a service tec looking for a leak. Then repairs, just chuck it or invest in this nice unit on repairs.
If compressor and fan blowers all run and work, the electric portion is good, compressor line gets hot, the other one cold.

IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU HAVE DEFINITE ISSUE WITH YOUR COMPRESSOR, IT MAY BE CONSTANTLY RUNNING OR RUNNING TOO OFTEN, THIS WOULD CAUSE THE LARGE AMOUNT OF HEAT COMING FORM THE BOTTOM. IF YOUR COMPRESSOR IS RUNNING TOO MUCH YOU WILL ALSO GET AN EXCESS AMOUNT OF WATER EVAPORATING DUE TO CONDENSATION ON THE EVAPORATOR COILS THEREFORE FILLING UP YOUR DRAIN PAN THAT MUCH QUICKER. YOUR FRIDGES COMPRESSOR MAY BE ON THE WAY OUT BUT YOUR FRIDGE SOUNDS LIKE IT'S WORKING THE WAY IT SHOULD BE.HOPE THIS HELPS

THANKS

If the door seals are still pliable and intact there are two possible causes.

1/ The upper door hinge on the top of freezer unit has two adjusting screws under a plastic cover/cap which allows the upper hinge to be set forward or back altering/adjusting the spacing of the door seal to the freezer body. Moving the hinge outward at the top will cause the door to seal tighter at the bottom and lessen escaping cold air and condensation to form (water droplets). Adjust carefully so as not to create a weak seal (air gap) along other sealing edges of the door frame.

2/ Many United Refrigeration Commercial Freezers are manual defrosting. Moisture from inside the freezer can condense between the inner molded door panel (door shelves) and the exterior metal door. Usually ice buildup will occur in this space, but when defrosting or during high ambient temps the ice will melt and drip out along the bottom door edge/seal. Screws alomg the door frame (hidden by the door seal) hold the seal in place and also the inner molded door panel. The inner panel can be removed to replace the seal or to remove the ice buildup.

you can take a ook into the freezer sect its possible that the line has frozen, nad no longer is defrost water going into the drain but rather falling on to the floor of freezer and evnetually out the door

Defected DEFROST HEATER can cause frost build up on the panel at the back of the freezer,and freezer stop cooling and ice frozen on unit so air could not flow to refrigerator side.Water will coming out caused of unbalanced freezing,and causing the flooding of water in the floor. You must change this defroster heater assembly so it will works normal again..


Hope this may help;

Regards,
VOTIT