Why is my fridge freezer leaking water?

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duckDecoy

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#319998 24-Jun-2025 15:00

Our fridge freezer has started to leak water, doesn't do it every day but I now no longer think its a one off from someone leaving the freezer door ajar or similar. The unit is about 4 years old, F&P brand.

It appears to be from the bottom freezer unit, and as best I can tell the water is coming out the front of the unit and not from behind.

Is there anything typical (and easy to fix) that I can check for before I request a serviceman?

wellygary

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#3386669 24-Jun-2025 15:20

Check the seals for ice build up or breaks,

gbwelly

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#3386670 24-Jun-2025 15:22

Mine is a Haier, so a F&P, and does it too. One day I'll go in and fix it, until then it's a tea towel on the floor. I believe last time I researched there is a tube or tubes that are blocked. Maybe something to do with defrost? I will be watching this thread with interest as I might finally be inspired to go in and fix it.

mattwnz

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#3386689 24-Jun-2025 15:47

Contact the retailer under the CGA if only 4 years old.

tim0001

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#3386807 24-Jun-2025 18:04

Could be a simple fix. I had a 10-year-old F&P that occasionally had the drain pipe freeze up.

It usually happened after the door was left open too long, causing excess condensation the fridge couldn't handle. The fix was to remove the plastic panel at the back of the freezer compartment and clear out the ice blocking the drain. If its a common problem with your model then there is probably a video on youtube showing how to fix it.

Scott3

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#3386808 24-Jun-2025 18:05

Fridges naturally condense water from air on the interior cooling components, This then drains to an pan on top of the compressor, where the heat will evaporate the water again. If your freezer has a de-ice element, water will drain from it also.

One of your drains will be blocked (likely the fridge one). Simply a matter of cleaning it out to stop the leak.

mattwnz

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#3386815 24-Jun-2025 18:51

Scott3:

Fridges naturally condense water from air on the interior cooling components, This then drains to an pan on top of the compressor, where the heat will evaporate the water again. If your freezer has a de-ice element, water will drain from it also.

One of your drains will be blocked (likely the fridge one). Simply a matter of cleaning it out to stop the leak.

Is that shown in the instructions? I remember ours initially did this and he had to get someone out to fix it and it never did it again 25 years in use

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MadEngineer

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#3386873 24-Jun-2025 21:54

Defrost drain blocked or defrost heater faulty resulting in iced up and blocked drain pipe.

You're not on Atlantis anymore, Duncan Idaho.

Scott3

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#3386881 24-Jun-2025 22:54

mattwnz:

Scott3:

Fridges naturally condense water from air on the interior cooling components, This then drains to an pan on top of the compressor, where the heat will evaporate the water again. If your freezer has a de-ice element, water will drain from it also.

One of your drains will be blocked (likely the fridge one). Simply a matter of cleaning it out to stop the leak.

Is that shown in the instructions? I remember ours initially did this and he had to get someone out to fix it and it never did it again 25 years in use

No idea what is in the instructions, but check the fridge first, it will be low down inside the fridge towards the rear, shouldn't be too hard to search for a drain. Will be heaps of video how to guides online, don't need to match the fridge.

Really it is just:

1: Find the drain hole

2. Remove the blockage.

If it is the freezer (unlikely) it may be a little more complex due to the need to manually defrost. As per the above comment there is a risk the defrost element has failed.

gzt

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#3386887 24-Jun-2025 23:23

duckDecoy: Is there anything typical (and easy to fix) that I can check for before I request a serviceman?

Easiest thing is something small stuck to the face of the seal at that point. It can cause a combination of defrosting and icing in that or some other location.

Give the seal and sealing surface a wipe down and a good look for debris.

Simplest easiest thing to start with.

jonb

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#3386931 25-Jun-2025 10:06

gbwelly:

Mine is a Haier, so a F&P, and does it too. One day I'll go in and fix it, until then it's a tea towel on the floor. I believe last time I researched there is a tube or tubes that are blocked. Maybe something to do with defrost? I will be watching this thread with interest as I might finally be inspired to go in and fix it.

My haier cheapo with top level freezer was an easy fix. Pull out the back light section of fridge and there was a drip channel from the freezer section down to the rear. Was clogged with ice

Eva888

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#3386971 25-Jun-2025 13:26

Freezer door being left ever so slightly ajar because a drawer wasn’t quite pushed in. Causes ice to build up behind the drawer and pushing door further out enough to keep the motor running constantly freezing food in the top fridge part and the back ice slowly melting on to the floor. Happened to us. You need to pull out the drawers and check behind for ice build up. Hopefully it’s just a simple blockage as above.

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duckDecoy

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#3392399 9-Jul-2025 14:31

Thanks for the replies. There was a solid block of ice underneath the cooling fans completely blocking the drainage hole. A hairdryer and a few hours later and everything was cleared.

Annoyingly our evaporation tray above the motor can have the screws removed but there are some thin metal pipes literally glued into it so you cannot remove it. I suppose I could have broken the pipes free but didn't fancy screwing something up and destroying the fridge. I wanted to poke something up the drain hole to make sure it was completely free, but with the tray in the way I couldn't. Dumb design (or im dumb and you can somehow move the pipes).