Help me fix my fridge.

July 9, 2011 3:26 PM

My fridge is leaking. Can I fix this myself? Details inside...

I have a Haier refrigerator in my kitchen and I noticed over the past few days that it's dripping water from this part. Is this something simple I can fix or should I call an actual repairman? I'd hate to spend the money for them to come out just to find out it was something simple.

posted by fishmasta to home & garden (4 answers total)

That looks like a sensor for a thermostat, so I guess it's on the inside, right? It looks like you have a lot of condensate -- not an unusual amount, really, but it suggests that you need to make sure that the drain at the bottom of your fridge is open so that the condensate can reach the drip pan (where it usually just evaporates into the household air). Alternatively, you may have a circulation problem, such as a vent between the fridge and freezer that has frozen closed; sometimes there's a fan there and it actually gets blocked. A defrost will fix that. Finally, older fridges sometimes have problems because the gasket is failing. Can you do a dollar bill test around the gasket -- just close the door on a dollar in various places -- and not have it slide out without resistance?

In any case, you will want to look into these before diagnosing any substantive equipment failure. They're entirely normal ways for fridges to get out of whack.
posted by dhartung at 3:53 PM on July 9, 2011 [1 favorite]

dhartung covered most of the bases really well. If you want to rule out the really simple things first, have a look behind the fridge-- do you see coils and are they covered in dust, hair, etc? The coils might not be dissipating enough heat and the fridge might not reaching target temperatures as a result. Increasingly likely if it's been hot in your house (seeing as it's July).

It could end up being a related problem of the fridge not working efficiently enough in high summer due to aging components. Rule out the previous suggestions before you consider this because it's going to call for some decisions.
posted by Mayor Curley at 5:36 PM on July 9, 2011

The thing the silver thing is attached to is part of the drain for the defrost system. Either that piece or the tube that leads from that part to an evaporation container outside the fridge is plugged (often with a pea or kernel of corn). If you can get that piece off you can attempt to clear the blockage. A length of non springy wire (eg: a piece of copper) works well to fish through the tube and clear blockages.
posted by Mitheral at 5:37 PM on July 9, 2011

I'm about to try to diagnose the exact same issue with my fridge! RepairClinic is great for helping figure out what should be where for your specific model of fridge.
posted by desuetude at 2:24 PM on July 10, 2011