Reefer Madness

Last week, we noticed a big puddle under the refrigerator. We pulled the fridge out and sopped up all the water. It had clearly been there for a few days. You could see that the cabinets on either side of the fridge had absorbed some water and at least one of our floor planks looks a little curled. Not enough to have to replace it but we’re keeping an eye on things.

I checked today and there was some water under the refrigerator. Not as much as last time but we clearly have a problem.

We pulled the fridge out and I pulled off some of the backing to get a look under the fridge. There is a tray under there that was full off water and it was pretty slimy and dirty too. We sucked out the water with the shop vac and tried to clean out as much dust and debris as we could.

After trying to diagnose the problem, I decided to replace the water filter located at the bottom of the fridge. There was a very slow leak I saw that was located in the area of the filter. 

I made the mistake of pulling out the old filter while the water line was still on. That has never been a problem before when I replaced the water filter but today, something had changed.

I had to scramble under the house to turn off the water.

Once I had the new filter installed, I went back downstairs and climbed into the crawl space. Susan and I were connected on the phone so I could easily hear her tell me to shut off the water if we had to.

To my pleasure, she did not scream to turn off the water. I came back up and checked underneath the refrigerator and all seemed well. We are keeping an eye on it. I just now took a look and it looked dry in the tray.

I really hope this solves the problem. This fridge is about 25 years old. I don’t want to have to buy a new one. We both like this refrigerator and would like to keep it.