Refrigerator makes water puddles

I am in N Illinois. We have a refrigerator in our garage. It is making
water puddles underneath it, which attracts some undesirable
lifeforms. There is no water line coming to the fridge, so the water
much be condensate from the air, either from refrigerant pipes or the
freezer.

How would one approach finding out what is wrong? Any good starting
tips?

Water almost certainly from the defrost cycle. Normally this is
collected in a catch pan and just evaporates. If there is enough frost
forming to produce enough water to overflow the catch pan then you
likely have a bad door seal or have the freezer over packed preventing
the door from sealing and letting in warm moist air to form the frost.
It's also possible that the catch pan is missing or could have broken so
the water it would normally catch is going directly on the floor.

Pete, that's a very good start on things. I will definitely try to
verify what is going on with the defrost cycle. Thank you.

Your garage is probably not air conditioned, and if like mine, during
these hot humid days, the condensate in the pan is not evaporating fast
enough.

Should be easy to correct. I would just drain it to a bucket or to
outside... Thanks guys...

Pete C.

Given that its marking its territory, its probably an automatic defrost
model. The defrost cycle melts the ice that forms in the freezer
section, and the melted water is directed out a drain tube underneath
the unit. Normally, there's a catch pan that contains the water and the
hot air from the fan blowing over the coils evaporates the water.

Either you are missing the catch pan, or its mis-aligned and the water
is running on the floor.

Got it. Thank you. Will check it and post some updates.

Also possible this condensate tube is clogged from spilled food or the
like.