residential frig water line failure

slnlb · Mar 22, 2017

Our residential refrigerator has a PLASTIC water line that feeds the ice maker has failed. Water all over took a few days to dry up. Frigidaire booklet says never use PLASTIC. Why does Heartland? It had been repaired under warranty about 20 months ago and the dealer used plastic as well after I suggested a braded SS line as the booklet suggested. Have all of the parts for the a SS braided line replacement. Any one replaced the lines before from the center island shut off to the frig before?
Thanks
Steve

sjandbj · Mar 22, 2017

Steve,
When I replaced my refrigerator with a new residential one I ran a SS line from the refrigerator to the water line under the sink. There are several others that have done the same. The plastic lines are worthless but cost pennies to use. If you use the water in the fridge then a SS line is the way to go. I do not use the water line because it is a PITA to get all the water out to winterize the unit.
Regards,
Steve

jbeletti · Mar 22, 2017

slnlb said:
Our residential refrigerator has a PLASTIC water line that feeds the ice maker has failed. Water all over took a few days to dry up. Frigidaire booklet says never use PLASTIC. Why does Heartland? It had been repaired under warranty about 20 months ago and the dealer used plastic as well after I suggested a braded SS line as the booklet suggested. Have all of the parts for the a SS braided line replacement. Any one replaced the lines before from the center island shut off to the frig before?
Thanks
Steve

Yes, I have replaced mine with SS braided line. I pushed it down the hole in the floor under the island, then fished it out of the underbelly from the off-door-side by pulling down some of the coroplast. I used a step-bit to make a hole in the frame where I wanted it to come out, then ran it through the hole and over to the other wiring under the slide and up through the floor into a cabinet. Then through the cabinets, the same route as the poly line. I chose to NOT pull my refer out and ended up splicing into the poly in the cabinet next to the refer. I left about 6' of SS line looped in the cabinet for potential future connection directly to the refer. See the parts I used further down in this thread.

danemayer · Mar 22, 2017

slnlb said:
Our residential refrigerator has a PLASTIC water line that feeds the ice maker has failed. Water all over took a few days to dry up. Frigidaire booklet says never use PLASTIC. Why does Heartland? It had been repaired under warranty about 20 months ago and the dealer used plastic as well after I suggested a braded SS line as the booklet suggested. Have all of the parts for the a SS braided line replacement. Any one replaced the lines before from the center island shut off to the frig before?
Thanks
Steve

Hi Steve,

The plastic water line is pretty commonly found, in homes as well as RVs. If your leak was caused by external pressure, like rolling the fridge over the water line, a braided SS line probably would have avoided the problem. But if the leak was from freeze damage, I don't think a braided SS line would have helped. With refrigerators located in a slide out, as most are, the water line is typically routed under the slide and is exposed to outside air. When temps drop below freezing, if there's any water in the line, you'll have damage. And if the water isn't evacuated completely before putting the rig into winter storage, you'll find a damaged line in the spring.

If you haven't seen it already, you might take a look at our owner-written Residential Refrigerator User Guide. Winterizing procedure is covered.

slnlb · Mar 22, 2017

The cheap plastic line used by Heartland should have not be used as by recommended by the frig manufacturer. Never seen plastic used in a home probably not allowed by codes My line has never been frozen. I'll replace is with braided SS as recommended by the Frigidaire and as discussed below.

Thanks everyone.
Steve

Jesstruckn/Jesstalkn · Mar 22, 2017

Mine was smashed from the factory first. After fixing that it sprung a leak at the back of the fridge a few months later. I replaced it with a 25' SS line. I was able to fish it through without pulling down the coroplast like Jim did. I went straight from the valve under the island to the back of the fridge. No outside drain. The hardest part was pulling out my fridge, I have a angle iron bracket that I mounted the top of my fridge with so I had a little extra work to do to pull it out. The newer Landmarks come with a nice access door now.

slnlb · Mar 22, 2017

Mine was also smashed or kinked from the factory . Had service man today run two SS lines today ,$150.00 . Pulled through and hooked up to the frig. I'm going to put on a outside drain valve if needed for winters.
Thanks
Steve

Nuclearcowboy · Mar 22, 2017

jesstalkn said:
Mine was smashed from the factory first. After fixing that it sprung a leak at the back of the fridge a few months later. I replaced it with a 25' SS line. I was able to fish it through without pulling down the coroplast like Jim did. I went straight from the valve under the island to the back of the fridge. No outside drain. The hardest part was pulling out my fridge, I have a angle iron bracket that I mounted the top of my fridge with so I had a little extra work to do to pull it out. The newer Landmarks come with a nice access door now.

Bighorns also come with the access door - makes it a LOT easier to replace the line.

- - - Updated - - -

danemayer said:
Hi Steve,

The plastic water line is pretty commonly found, in homes as well as RVs. If your leak was caused by external pressure, like rolling the fridge over the water line, a braided SS line probably would have avoided the problem. But if the leak was from freeze damage, I don't think a braided SS line would have helped. With refrigerators located in a slide out, as most are, the water line is typically routed under the slide and is exposed to outside air. When temps drop below freezing, if there's any water in the line, you'll have damage. And if the water isn't evacuated completely before putting the rig into winter storage, you'll find a damaged line in the spring.

If you haven't seen it already, you might take a look at our owner-written Residential Refrigerator User Guide. Winterizing procedure is covered.

The SS braided lines can withstand freezing without breaking - the internal line is more of a thick rubber line and it takes expansion and contraction well. I plan on replacing my line at our next RV park stop.

slnlb · Mar 22, 2017

There is no access door in 3570 RS. We used the cheap plastic lines to pull thru the SS braided ones.
Steve

Nuclearcowboy · Mar 22, 2017

slnlb said:
The cheap plastic line used by Heartland should have not be used as by recommended by the frig manufacturer. Never seen plastic used in a home probably not allowed by codes My line has never been frozen. I'll replace is with braided SS as recommended by the Frigidaire and as discussed below.

Thanks everyone.
Steve

I would think that Heartland would put the SS braided line in their units but don't know why. They could charge $15 more bucks for their units to recoup the cost and no one would even blink at that - and the positive aspects of this feature would far out way the negative feedback that continues for this piece of junk line.

- - - Updated - - -

slnlb said:
There is no access door in 3570 RS. We used the cheap plastic lines to pull thru the SS braided ones.
Steve

Our 2017 has it - it may depend on the model as to whether or not you get the access door.

slnlb · Mar 22, 2017

Mine is a 2015 model and had to take back to the dealer as it came from the factory smashed. The dealer repaired it so they said. I gave them a SS line but they would not put it on. Not sure why but I'm out $150.00 for labor today. The $15 cost would have save a lot of additional cost , time and clean up. This would also meet the requirement of the frig manufacturer and made a happy customer/camper.

Steve

residential frig water line failure

slnlb

Member

sjandbj

Well-known member

jbeletti

Well-known member

danemayer

Well-known member

slnlb

Member

Jesstruckn/Jesstalkn

Well-known member

slnlb

Member

Nuclearcowboy

Well-known member

slnlb

Member

Nuclearcowboy

Well-known member

slnlb

Member

Similar threads