The Two Most Common Reasons Your Fridge Is Leaking Water
It is never a good sign when your fridge starts to leak water. Here is a quick guide to the two most common reasons that your refrigerator may be leaking water, as well as what action steps you should take depending on the potential cause of the water leak.
Address The Water First
If there is a pool of water under or by your fridge, before you try to diagnose and figure out what is wrong with your fridge, you need to take care of the water that is present. Use a mop or large towel to wipe up the water so that there is not a safety risk to you or anyone else in your home.
Reason #1: Defective Gasket
A gasket is the material that goes around the inside of the door on your fridge and connects the door to the main unit. Door gaskets are also often called seals. The main job of the gasket or seal on your fridge is to keep air out and prevent moisture from escaping from your fridge. If your door gasket is old, cracked or damaged, it will not be able to keep a proper seal on your fridge.
Feel around the edge of the door on the sides and see if you feel moisture. If you do, there is a good chance that your gasket needs to be replaced. This is a relatively simple job; you just need to purchase new material at your local parts store, cut it to the correct dimensions, pull out the old seal and push the new one into place. You may want to throw the new gasket into your dryer for about two minutes before you install it; that will make it more pliable and a little easier to get into place.
Reason #2: Ice Maker Assembly
If you have an ice maker inside of your freezer, the ice maker assembly may be the culprit behind the water on your floor since water flows through a tube into your ice machine on a regular basis. The first thing you should check is the inside of your ice catcher; look and see if there are any ice-cubes inside and if they are normally shaped. If there are not any ice-cubes or all the cubes are irregularly shaped, the issue probably lies in your water fill system. Somewhere along the line, the fill tubs or fill area is damaged, backed up or frozen. If there are not any issues with the fill tubs or fill area, there may be an issue with the water supply line to your fridge; check and make sure that it is connected properly.
An appliance repair person from a company like Appliance Doctor can fix whatever is wrong with your refrigerator if you do not want to fix it yourself..