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Screwdriver (maybe), bucket/towel, bleach or white vinegar, rubber gloves.

Its job is to catch the water that melts off your evaporator coils during the fridge’s automatic defrost cycle. Most modern frost-free refrigerators run a defrost cycle every 6 to 12 hours. The ice melts, turns into water, drips down a drain tube, and lands in this pan. This is the clever part: The pan is usually placed on top of the compressor.

That dripping sound under your refrigerator isn’t a leak; it’s science. Learn how the defrost drain pan works, why it gets smelly, and how to clean it in 15 minutes. We spend a lot of time worrying about the front of our refrigerators: the water dispenser filter, the smart screen, or the vegetable crisper drawer. But the real magic—and the most common point of failure—happens out of sight, in the back.