Short version: I’m getting condensation on the insides of my food containers (tupperware, plastic baggies, etc).
Longer version: My fridge is leaking, inside. It’s coming from some box-like structure at the top, right under the freezer. It drips every now and then, and so far all I can do is just collect it in a bowl and dump it out once every day or two. The water freezes in the bowl. I figured maybe the freezer was overactive or something, so I turned the temperature setting down below 9 (9 being the coldest, 1 warmest). However, I noticed that my ice cubes were a little less solid after a day of that, so back to 9 it went. There’s no frost formed in the freezer, but in the two years I’ve been in this apartment I’ve never had any, and had no problem 'till now. The food seems to be frozen just fine.
So, anyway, I figured that leak was somehow related to the condensation I’ve been finding. I find it inside the bag of bread, the packets of lunchmeat and cheeses, etc. I don’t find any condensation outside the packages, or anywhere else in the fridge. My bread feels harder/drier around the edges, and sure enough, after I microwaved a sandwich, the bread felt almost stale on the edges.
Unfortunately, the whole leaky fridge idea was shot when I found the condensation in the ziploc bag I put my chips in. It was not kept in the fridge, and chips don’t seem to really be full of moisture that’d seep out like that.
I’m getting really concerned about this. I found the condensation even in a packet of cheese that hadn’t yet been opened, and it was bad enough that the paper (wax paper? cheesecloth? whatever that is between the slices) was practically soaked. I don’t like all this one bit; I’m afraid that it is or will soon be ruining my food. What on earth is causing this and how do I stop it?? I’m hoping someone here can shed some light on the situation.
As always, thanks in advance for any information you can provide.
Dirx
…the leak in the fridge may very well be caused by an obstruction in the tube that’s meant to drain condensation and extra moisture from your freezer. Normally, excess water falls down it into an evaporation tray at the bottom of the fridge, and that’s that. But if the tube gets blocked by freezer debris (say, a stray pea or some such thing), it may cause leakage into the lower part of the fridge, and maybe onto the floor as well.
That box-like structure you mentioned is probably covering the tube. You may be able to pull the box off and get at the tube to check to see if it’s obstructed, and if so, clearing the blockage should solve the leak. Alternately, if you take everything out of the freezer, you should be able to find a small hole a quarter-inch or so in diameter somewhere in the back. That’s the drain. If you can see that it’s blocked from the top, you’ll probably be able to clear it easily, but more likely, if water’s accumulating in the bottom of the fridge, the obstruction’s elsewhere.
Cost me seventy-five bucks to learn this from the fridge repairman when I had the same kind of a leak. Also, you mentioned that you’re in an apartment – so you’re renting? Call the landlord. That’s what I’d do, except that I am the landlord. But I never mind when my tenants call me about things like this.
Now, about that condensation, I don’t know. Is it tremendously warm in your apartment?
When was the last time that you moved the refrigerator out from the wall and vaccumed all the dust off of the heat exchanger coils?
With you having to keep the thermostat set on 9, it sounds as if you are not getting efficient cooling anymore. A good cleaning could solve your problems.
Actually, this is a school-subsidised apartment (still in college here. At least until May ). I left a note with Maintenance for them to check it during Spring Break, but they didn’t do anything about the fridge (they did check out the other stuff I wrote down). I’ll just have to pester them again, it seems.
I didn’t see any little hole in the bottom of my freezer. In the front, the floor is lined with a bunch of slots all the way across. Dunno if they’re for draining or something else. They’re not obstructed from what I can see in the freezer.
I haven’t vaccuumed the back of the fridge in, well, ever. I don’t know if the school ever did during the summer cleanings and all, but I’ll bet they didn’t. I’ll see if I can get a vaccuum from the RA later today and have at it.
Yes, my apartment is often very warm, but that’s sadly unchangeable. Even in the dead of winter, I keep my window fan in and active, and it’s still a feat taking the room down to ‘room temperature.’ The building is a giant furnace, so when all the cold-abhorrent babies in the building turn on their radiators, the whole place heats up. Not only that, but when the building’s heat is turned on, the place gets warm no matter what you do with your own radiators (last year, the heat got so bad over semester break that my bathroom door was actually warped; bent so much it wouldn’t shut).
But, is that heat really enough to do that to my food? Even unopened food that’s been in the fridge (which, despite any problems, is keeping the food cold enough for now)?
Dirx
Doing as Squink suggests is good idea, in any case. It should be done once a year.
I don’t know how old your fridge is, but the older ones had tubing at the back that ran almost the height of the fridge. This was a passive system that dissipated heat just by its exposure. It’s easy enough to vacuum these with a brush attachment. Newer models have a fan-cooled “radiator” underneath the unit. You may be able to access it from the front, by removing a panel. The panel either unhooks by lifting and pulling or it may be secured by a couple of screws. Alternately, you will have to pull the fridge away from the wall and remove a cardboard cover at the back near the bottom. It runs the width of the fridge and is about a foot high. It will be secured by 279 screws, so find a power screwdriver, if you can. (Seriously, there will be 8-12 screws).
At any rate, once you’ve exposed the cooling unit, you should be able to vacuum most of the dust out. You’ll need a brush attachment and maybe one of those flat crevice attachments. Once you get out all the dust you can, use a can of compressed air to blow out the junk between the fins and around the fan.
This fixes one problem - having to use setting #9.
Bangiadore has given you the right advice for problem 2 - excessive moisture in the fridge. The high heat is exacerbating the problem, but it might all but disappear once the tube is cleared. The tube might be blocked or frozen. If something wet was put into the freezer, it could have dripped into the tube, frozen up and the defrost cycle isn’t able to melt it. Once you open up the bottom of the fridge, you should see the lower end of the tube hanging over a plastic drip tray. If you can get a soda straw or something in the end of it, try blowing thru it. If it won’t unblock, you could try manually defrosting the fridge.
There must be an entry hole for the drip tube somewhere in the freezer. It may be more like a slot along an edge. If you do find it, and can push a wire coat hanger into it, that may free it up.
). I left a note with Maintenance for them to check it during Spring Break, but they didn’t do anything about the fridge (they did check out the other stuff I wrote down). I’ll just have to pester them again, it seems.