Partially off - my Refrigerator has a leak

[electroRF]

Hi guys,
I hope you could help me out here.

I got a 10 years old Magic Chef refrigerator.
We recently moved to another apartment and the guys who carried our stuff messed up with the refrigerator (I tried talking to them but they'd take no responsibility).

I looked at the top corner in the back of the refrigerator and saw there's a water leak from hole there that is made for ice maker but we never used it and it is now causing a water leak.

Did anyone experience such fault and can help me stop the leak?

Here's a pic of the ice maker hole:
View attachment 67084

and a second pic from distance:
View attachment 67085

I thank you very much.

 

[cowboybob]

Presumably, there is no water being supplied to the fridge.

So that means that the water leaking out is probably[I/] coming from the freezer (or whatever is on the inside, opposite the hole).

Am I correct so far?

If I am, look inside the freezer box and try to see if that hole goes through to the inside, and where.

Maybe you can track down the leak source that way.

 

[electroRF]

Hi cowboybob
Thanks a lot for your help!

You're correct, no water is being supplied to the fridge.
Opposite the hole is the freezer, as you said correctly.

I opened the freezer door and looked inside, there's a "barrier" there, probably for potential ice maker tool, that prevents me from looking on the other side of that hole (i.e. looking at it from the inside of the freezer).

I'll try to find proper tools to remove that barrier and see what's behind it.

here's a picture from the inside of the freezer, that is the "barrier" I was talking about:
View attachment 67087

The round plastic you see there is where the hole should be.
I pointed it below:
View attachment 67088

It sounds like you got an experience with this kind of issues.

 

[cowboybob]

Looks like freezing cold air is getting into the space between the inside of the freezer and the outside, inner wall of the fridge, condensing and then leaking out.

<EDIT> You already said you're going to do this -->Can you remove the plastic piece with the slots? Might give you a better view of where the condensation is occurring.<--- so "never mind".

 

[Mr RB]

It's probably condensation of some sort caused by being unplugged and/or moved. Just run it for a couple of days and it should dry out and come good.

 

[electroRF]

Hi dear fellows.

I tried removing the plastic piece (with the rectangular slots) as you suggested cowboybob, but I don't have the right tools for this.

MrRB, it's been like that since we moved a few months ago (yeah I was too busy with my Bsc and work to handle it).

I'm thinking that maybe this hole in the back of the fridge - opposite of the freezer (see picture attached)
View attachment 67091
was filled somehow before we moved and was exposed during the moving - what do you think? does it make sense that no hole would originally be in the back of the fridge and that it was originally blocked / filled with some piece?

Therefore I consider to fill this hole with some cloth to block the leak - do you think its ok?

Thank you again mates.

 

[electroRF]

Hi again,

I found unfortunately another source of the leak.
It comes from the bottom of the refrigerator where the freezer is.
As there's indeed no water supply to the refrigerator, I assume that this is a condensation issue as you mentioned.
Do you have an idea what should be done to stop it?

Thank you again guys.

 

[cowboybob]

Often, in order to evaporate the normal condensate that a "frost-free" fridge generates, the water created is allowed to drain into a small "holding" dish that is mounted on top of the fridge compressor (at the bottom) which gets hot and helps evaporate the water collected.

On occasion, when a fridge is moved/transported, that dish (or its equivalent) is jostled/moved such that it will leak/spill the condensate.

 

[electroRF]

Hi,
That information really helps.
Thank you!

What would you suggest doing?
Is it possible to move that holding dish back to its place?

I'm trying to understand whether it's possible adjusting this dish before I take everything out of the fridge and somehow lift it up (hope it's not as heavy as it seems)

 

[cowboybob]

Sometimes the compressor can be seen from the back and at the bottom of the fridge (there may be a grill or panel in the way).

<EDIT> You shouldn't have to elevate the fridge to do this. Just move it to where you can get at the back of it. You will, of course, have to get down on your hands and knees, however. A flashlight will help.

If so, the compressor can, generally, be easily seen and the evaporator dish should be on top of it. If not, put it back and secure it as best you can (there may be tabs or holder straps for this).

There may also be some other arrangement for the dish, such as laying on top of an evaporator coil, for instance.

 

[electroRF]

Hi cowboybob,
Thanks again mate!!

I'll follow your advice, hopefully I'll manage to locate that dish.
My flashlight is missing so I'll check it out by the end of the week when I get one, and will update here.
Currently I don't see anything there 'cause it dark there and I can't even take a photo of it.

Thanks man

 

[KeepItSimpleStupid]

Could that hole be the hole for the water supply line for the ice maker?

If it is, there should be something like a 1/4" fitting nearby on the inside for a piece of plastic tubing.

My guess, is it's leaking because cold air is coming out of the hole and mixing with the warm, moist air and creating water.

I suspect the hole needs to be plugged.

 

[electroRF]

Hi,

Cowboybob, I finally followed your advice, took a flashlight and went behind the refrigerator, to its bottom, opposite the freezer, and looked at the compressor.

I'm not sure I saw there any holding dish for the water.

I took some pictures of it - do you spot any such dish?

This is the bottom back of the fridge of which I took photos:
View attachment 67256

Picture #1:
View attachment 67254

Picture #2:
View attachment 67255

KeepItSimpleStupid,
I blocked the ice maker hole with an old cloth a few days ago, but the water leak still exists.

 

[cowboybob]

electoRF,

*lease bear with me, here.

Does your fridge have a small fan inside of it? If so, where is it? If it does, it's a frost-free and would be in the freezer. If not, then it's not a frost- free. Only the frost-free types would have the condensate dish, bowl, whatever. Probably should have asked that question at first.

And, I'll have to say, haven't seen a fridge like this one before. Kinda shootin' in the dark...

In the 3rd picture, am I right thinking the "box" with the pipes going around it is the freezer? Or do you think the compressor might be in that box?

Can you get a picture of the entire back, bottom of the fridge and the stuff in there? (Lotsa light!)

What you have id'ed as a sponge is insulation, I think. If it's actually a sponge, is it wet?

One last question: when the fridge was moved, was it kept upright, or was it laid on its side?

Wait a minute. The more I look at pic3, the more it looks like a coil within a coil within a coil. In other words, the condenser coil for the fridge. When running, it should be hot. And it looks like there's more space to the left of pic3, which may be where the compressor is (or inside the coil group).

At any rate, if a frost-free, then directly above the coil group (maybe) there would be a hole (maybe with a short tube) where the condensate would drain from the fridge (usually the freezer compartment). Below that would be the area used for evaporation of the condensate (and any other water from inside the box. And, of course, somewhere inside the fridge there would be a drain hole going out.

 

[KeepItSimpleStupid]

Do you have an actual model number? It should be possible to get a diagram on the internet, e.g. www.searspartsdirect.com