Why Is My Ice Maker Leaking?

Any appliance leaking is not a good sign. Standing water is a safety hazard for bodily injury from slip and falls and can be a hot bed for bacteria or attract home pests. If you notice a leak, you shouldn't let it go, take care of it fast. Because the ice maker deals with water, it can be prone to leaking for various reasons. The important thing is to locate the source of the leak, figure out the cause, and get it fixed fast. This isn't always possible to do yourself and sometimes a professional needs to step in.

The first thing to do is to get towels and other absorbent materials down at the site of the leak to clean up any standing water. If you can locate the drips, get something under there to catch the water. After that don't act in haste. You can easily make matters worse if you respond too hastily to a leak.

A common problem with ice makers is their penchant for getting clogged. If there's even a small clog it can build up quickly because of the nature of the freezing water. Pretty soon you might have a full ice jam somewhere in your ice maker that's causing water to accumulate and spill out before it has the chance to become ice. You can hunt down this ice jam yourself once you've turned off the power to the machine, but it doesn't hurt to have a professional step in. If you are looking to thaw an ice jam yourself don't use boiling water. Instead use warm water or a hair dryer.

Whether you have a free-standing ice maker or it's attached to your refrigerator and freezer, an appliance that was not installed properly can sit on uneven ground which results in water tipping out. You may not notice an uneven appliance but the appliance certainly will. If you're noticing a leak in conjunction with an ice maker that is only partially filling the ice trays, then it's usually a sign that the appliance isn't sitting level and needs to be adjusted.

If you've ruled out user error and an electrical issue in the ice maker, you may be dealing with a clog in the water line that runs water to the machine to produce ice. This is likely the cause if you also notice the machine won't make ice at all. While you can track down the clog yourself, it doesn't hurt to call someone for help at this point to make sure you don't do any more damage to the ice maker. But, if you want to give it a try you can take a hair dryer to the water line to thaw a clog. Make sure you've turned off the power to the appliance before looking for the clog in the water line. Be ready to call a professional, however, as water lines can be tricky on appliances.