Heat tape on ice maker water line?

I read some where about a heat tape on the ice maker water line. (Didnt get a manual with our papers) I dont have anything on ours to keep it from freezing on short piece of line just behind the panel that goes to the solenoid. Whats up? Suppose to move ours up to our spot in 2 weeks and it dips below freezing at times. Dont need any problems.

Looked again and there is a tag that says that this ice maker is equipped with a heater for ice maker use in winter. Dont see how the short plastic water line is protected. Am I missing something?

Hey Bill, We quit monkeying with our slow making ice maker and bought a stand alone one and have never looked back. This new one makes more ice than we and the nieghbors can use. Wife said take the one out of the freezer as she can use the extra room it takes up. Now I don't have to worry about what you're going thru or more water leak possibilities. We either put the maker in the basement or on one of the counters in the 3670.

retired4fun said:

Looked again and there is a tag that says that this ice maker is equipped with a heater for ice maker use in winter. Dont see how the short plastic water line is protected. Am I missing something?

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Chopper, the line from the supply valve to the solenoid is NOT protected. That said, I have never had a problem. I don't know if it's because the reefer itself generates enough heat to keep it warm out there? The line going from the solenoid up to the inlet is protected. The problem there is the heat wire turns the vinyl/tygon tubing brittle and it eventually begins to degrade and crack. I recently replaced mine and remounted the solenoid to the compartment floor to keep it from vibrating and causing a crack. For a while I unplugged the fuse for the heater and had problems with the inlet area icing up blocking the flow of water into the ice tray. Plugged it back in solved that issue.

End result, I guess if you want to play it safe, put a heat tape on it. I don't know how hot they get though.

To tell you the truth I aint much of an ice maker fan anyway. Cold beer dont need no ice. Fridge just happen to come with one and Renee thought it would be a neat deal. Have to say that new refer is going to be great. Seem to really cool down fast. Has a fan in the flu which I discovered to day when I was installing the inverter. Wondered what the ***** was making that noise and drawing off the battery.

Another consideration in using the ice maker is the quality of the water. Some water is safe to drink but tastes terrible as an ice cube. Best solution is to get a stand alone ice maker and use bottled water or buy a bag of ice IMHO.

jmgratz said:

Another consideration in using the ice maker is the quality of the water. Some water is safe to drink but tastes terrible as an ice cube. Best solution is to get a stand alone ice maker and use bottled water or buy a bag of ice IMHO.

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Jim, where we spend the summer we have to haul our own water, so I have a 50 gallon tank that I haul water from home with. The place where we stay has electric only so the the ice maker will work. If it doesnt we are parked about 50 yards from the lodge and they sell ice.