How to Replace a Refrigerator Water Reservoir (or what to do if you fridge is leaking on the inside)

You’re thirsty, so you go to the fridge to get a glass of water from the dispenser. You push your glass against the dispenser…. and then nothing comes out. Oh no! Your fridge’s water system could have a couple of different problems. In our case, it was a small crack in the refrigerator water reservoir that is inside the fridge. Luckily, it’s a pretty simple fix that should take you less than 30 minutes.

Before we get started, I apologize for any pictures that don’t have the best quality. It’s kind of hard to get good pictures when you’re using a flashlight in tight places with no power.

First, we had to order the water reservoir that fit our fridge. Luckily, they sell it on Amazon Prime so we had it in two days. First thing first, cut off the power to your fridge and turn off the water supply. Then, remove all the drawers to get to your reservoir.

Once you get to the back of your fridge, you may have to remove several covers first. I had to unscrew the light bulb plate, two covers and a piece of styrofoam.

Next, unscrew any screws holding the reservoir in place and then let it dangle.

Now it’s time to go under your fridge, both in the front and the back. You’re going to have to remove the panels from each side, but they should just be a couple of screws that you can get past easy.

Now you’ll see where the water lines connect, probably with a compression union connector. To remove the water line from the connector, push up on the tab and pull the line straight out. There might be a little water that runs out of the line, so just have a towel handy. Do that on both the back and front of the fridge.

Time to go back in the fridge and pull the reservoir out with the two water lines. Make sure you note which hole the long line goes in and which hole the short line goes in.

Now, feed the tubes from your new reservoir into the appropriate holes and connect the short line to the back and the long line to the front. Make sure to push the new line into the union connector all the way to the black line.

Next, go inside the fridge and attach the reservoir to the back wall of the fridge.

Now, you might want to test your water before putting the covers and panels back on. Turn your water and power back on and then push your water dispenser. Nothing will come out for a while because the reservoir has to fill up, but you’ll see that happening.

Finally, screw all the covers and panels back on and push your fridge back into place.

If these amazing pictures and step-by-step directions aren’t how you like to learn DIY, I also made a video that you can check out below that will give you some more detail.

Voila! You just saved yourself a couple hundred bucks from not calling an appliance repair dude!

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Morgan

Hello, I’m Morgan, half of the creative force behind CharlestonCrafted.com! With a passion for DIY that dates back to 2012, I’ve transformed three homes and now I’m dedicated to helping others craft their dream spaces. Let’s turn your house into a home together!