Small Problems Can Create Large Ones

UPDATE: The repairman fixed the fridge on Wednesday, so we are back in business.

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Our refrigerator has taken us on an unpleasant adventure over the last few days. Only 18 months old, it surprised us on Friday when the water dispenser began to leak when we tried to get water. It came out the spout but also other places, making a big mess on the floor. Saturday evening, while I was at work, the entire refrigerator shut off. Since the fridge was out of warranty, I could feel the doubletime I was making at work disappearing from my wallet.

Fortunately (?), I came home and discovered that the fridge had tripped the GFCI – kinda weird, but at least I could reset it and turn the fridge back on. I stayed up for a while to watch a movie. Then around 1:00am the ice maker started freaking out, filling the ice dispenser to overflowing, churning constantly, and dropping ice all over the floor when I opened the door to investigate. Then the water dispenser started dumping water everywhere. I ran around frantically trying to catch the ice, dump it outside or in the sink, sop up the water, reset the GFCI, figure out what on earth was going on without slipping on the wet tile and breaking something. I would have called an exorcist, but I figured they were all in bed. I finally shut off the water line and emptied all the ice and water from the fridge as a temporary solution.

Jenny called out a repairman on Monday. He discovered that the small plastic tube in the water dispenser’s spout had gotten pushed up into the door, which is why water was leaking. That alone is an easy fix. Unfortunately, we’d run it so much trying to troubleshoot it that water had dripped down onto the circuitry that control the icemaker, ice dispenser, and water dispenser, which is why that side of the fridge seemed to be possessed. New circuit boards are not cheap, but they are cheaper than replacing an 18-month-old refrigerator, so that’s the plan. He had to order the part and hopes to install it on Wednesday.