How To: Fix the issue that causes water to accumulate under the deli drawer
Symptom: Water starts to accumulate on the bottom of the refrigerator, underneath the deli drawer; it will begin to drip down into the freezer as well. The fix is technically simple, but requires some prep work and a couple tools.
Tools required: #2 Philips screwdriver, turkey baster, tubing
Why does this happen? There is a drain tube that channels the water from the defrost cycle to a drain pan in the bottom of the refrigerator. Next to the pan is a fan that evaporates the water. If the tube becomes obstructed water will backup and spill over into the bottom the refrigerator. Backup can occur if the water freezes or from other debris in the tube.
To begin the repair, remove all food items, shelving and drawers from the refrigerator.
With clear access to the panel in the back, remove the shelving bracket. There are a couple screws that hold it in place. The panel itself is held in place with tabs (refer to image below), removal takes some effort, and might be hindered if there is ice at the bottom. It could be necessary to use a hair drier (on low heat) on the lower part of the panel.
Now that the panel is free, disconnect the two power connectors and set the panel aside.
The coil can be seen with the drain hole shown below. There will be water accumulating around the hole. Remove all standing water with a towel, once completed, use the turkey baster filled with hot water and cover the area to melt the ice.
In this case, the drain tube was blocked with debris, so a small tube was inserted into the end of the turkey baster and put down the drain tube. A couple cycles of hot water flushed it free. An additional baster full of hot water was run through as a precaution.
Pull the refrigerator from the wall, remove the lower panel. The drain tube is on the far right, and is easily removed for inspection. Verify that it too is free of obstructions. This is a good time to vacuum all the dust from the coils.
That’s all there is to the repair, quite simple once the process is known.
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