Sub-Zero Refrigerator Leaking Water in Clearwater: Iced-Up Drain and a Hardened Door Gasket

Water inside the refrigerator section. That was the call from a home in Clearwater with a built-in Sub-Zero, model BI-48SD/S/TH. Both sections were holding temperature, about 0 in the freezer and 38 in the refrigerator, and the fans, ice maker and dispenser all checked out. The leak was the only problem.

Following the water

You could see the trail it left. There was a rust-colored line of dried water along the trough at the back of the compartment.

Defrost water is meant to run down that channel and out through the drain. On this unit, ice had built up in the drain channel and blocked it, so the water backed up and came out into the cabinet instead.

Getting to the drain

Reaching the drain on a built-in like this takes some disassembly. We took out the shelves, drawers and inner panels to get to the evaporator section, then opened the covers over the drain assembly.

From there we defrosted the ice in the channel, then cleaned and flushed the drain line from both the inside and the rear access point until water ran through it freely. Everything went back together after that.

The door gasket

The other thing we found was the refrigerator door gasket. It had gone hard and wasn’t flexible anymore, which means it can’t seal the way it should. We removed it, fitted a new one, lined it up and checked that the door closes tight all the way around.

With the drain open and a gasket that seals, the leak is gone. If you find water pooling inside a Sub-Zero, a blocked drain is a likely place to start. Our refrigerator repair page covers the other faults we run into on these.