Refrigerator Drain pan overflowing

Por_sha911 · Por_sha911's Garage

15 year old side by side has worked perfectly except for replacing the ice maker.
Everything works fine. No signs of freezer or fridge not being cold. No door seals look bad or signs of the doors being ajar. No signs of leaking ice maker.

I used a baster to get most of the water out of the pan. This fridge is too big jammed in so tight for me to move it. I don't see anything I can easily access from the front. So now what? Wait and see if it refills or should I be looking for a repair person asap?

Por_sha911 · Por_sha911's Garage

Anyone have any ideas?

flatbutt · 01-09-2021, 02:14 PM

No sorry, but that's the reason I replaced my ancient refrigerator. It was constantly draining onto the floor.

billybek · billybek's Garage

Is it a Kenmore (sears) by chance? There was some issues with their refrigerators drain pan cracking and leaking on the floor. Some caused huge amounts of damage to the floors.

Is it possible that you had a door not fully closed for a while on the fridge?
Door seals OK?
Refrigerating leftovers that are still warm from the oven?
Could have been a high frost load melting off during defrost.

Por_sha911 · Por_sha911's Garage

The pan was overflowing so it isn't a cracked pan.
I've had a freezer door that was ajar in the past and you could see frozen condensation on the roof and frost on everything so that ain't it.
Everything in the fridge is fine, no sign of being warm.

The only thing I could find was a site that said that if the drain holes are clogged or the condenser fan isn't working right that it can cause the drain pan to flood. I found a piece of plastic covering a hole about a dime in width near the bottom of the freezer. Maybe it was blocking air flow? I got most of the water out of the pan and put a little PineSol in the pan. I noticed the water rippling so I figure the fan is working. For now, I'll wait and see if it starts to fill again. I actually have a great appliance warranty (no deductible, covers parts and labor...) but it is always a hassle to setup the appointment and wait for the tech to show.

billybek · billybek's Garage

Those little drain hoses can be a pain to clean out and are easily damaged.
Watch it and see if it happens again.
Typically you will have a loop of copper from the discharge of the compressor in the bottom of the pan to help evaporate the water from defrost.
Maybe the air flow across the pan (typically the warm air leaving the condenser) has changed? Partially plugged condenser?

Sometimes I will use an "air duster" to blow down the condenser if I don't feel like hauling my compressor out of the garage.

Por_sha911 · Por_sha911's Garage

Well, turns out the water line feeding the ice maker and water dispenser in the door is leaking somewhere inside. Easy to diagnose (once I got some help moving the fridge because it was wedged in between the wall and the cabinet) when I shut the water off, the drain pan stayed dry. 15 yo fridge so I'm not sure I want to start replacing parts...

rusnak · 01-10-2021, 09:19 PM

It's probably just a bad hose clamp or no clamp. I'd check it out further before buying a new unit.

recycled sixtie · recycled sixtie's Garage

Our 20 year old Amana fridge had a problem with the ice maker line leaking. I shut off the ice maker and isolated the water line supplying it. Never used the ice maker much anyway. Don't miss it.

macssc911 · macssc911's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by Por_sha911

The pan was overflowing so it isn't a cracked pan.
I've had a freezer door that was ajar in the past and you could see frozen condensation on the roof and frost on everything so that ain't it.
Everything in the fridge is fine, no sign of being warm.

The only thing I could find was a site that said that if the drain holes are clogged or the condenser fan isn't working right that it can cause the drain pan to flood. I found a piece of plastic covering a hole about a dime in width near the bottom of the freezer. Maybe it was blocking air flow? I got most of the water out of the pan and put a little PineSol in the pan. I noticed the water rippling so I figure the fan is working. For now, I'll wait and see if it starts to fill again. I actually have a great appliance warranty (no deductible, covers parts and labor...) but it is always a hassle to setup the appointment and wait for the tech to show.

When you said door let open, my guess would be the evaporator got a heavy saturated with frost and your defrost cycle was heavy filling your drain pan up. Just make sure pan is clean and give it some time, Not sure if your drain pan uses air off of condenser fan to evaporate water out of pan or a condenser loop line in pan