Winterizing RM1350 Ice Maker

Maverick

Member
I am a new owner of a Landmark San Antonio with a Dometic RM1350 Refer with Ice Maker. I will need to winterize the ice maker. Hopefully I can do this myself even though the instruction say to have a qualified tech do the work. I am sure there are many out there who have done this thus my questions:confused:. The winterize instruction are a little vague. For instance my main first question is how do you turn off the water supply to the ice maker without turning off the water to the entire RV unit? Second question is the instructions say to disconnect the water lines from the solenoid valve. Can I assume they mean the larger copper line attached to the valve. Also can I assume they mean to disconnect the smaller plastic tube which is connected at different location?. And they also say to blow air into the supply side of the valve. Do I blow air into the solenoid valve fitting where I have disconnected the large copper tube? And furthermore they say to activate AC power to the icemaker while blowing air into it and cycling the gear wheel inside of the plastic housing. But it says to only activate AC power for a max of 20 seconds (what!!). I guess it is a two person job right? One to blow the air and the other to cycle the ice maker. This is a little hard to understand and very vague to say the least. Do I have to turn on the main refrigerator power switch before I do this to activate AC power? Sorry for my lengthy post but I want to do this right for the first time. Thanks for any reply.
 

cookie

Administrator
Staff member
It is actually pretty easy to winterize your ice maker. But first of all you need to know that the large copper line is the LP gas line.
The shut off for the ice maker is behind the wall in the basement. You will need to remove the wall. There are three or four screw is the UDC that hold one side of the wall in place. On the opposite end of the wall there will be a couple of screws to hold that end.
I remove the poly water line at the refer and at the shut off valve and blew that line out. Then as the instructions say, I removed the line from the solenoid that goes to the ice maker and cycled the ice maker while blowing into that hose. You will have to remove a cover from the side of the ice maker to manually cycle it. It does not take much air to clear that out. Then wipe out the cube tray re attach all the lines and you are done.
Hope this helps.

Peace
Dave
 

danemayer

Well-known member
I use my air compressor to pressurize the system at the water heater using a fitting I got from Camping World. That lets me evacuate all of the water lines including the icemaker/water dispenser line and washing machine hoses. Afterward I shut off the icemaker water feed in the basement so I could use the rig in freezing weather.
 

sgtbigb

Well-known member
Storage procedure / Winterizing the refrigerator
RM1350IM, rm1350mim & RM1350WIM
The refrigerator is equipped with a heater tape wrapped around
the water solenoid valve and outlet water tube. During cold
weather operation below 32°F/0°C the automatic temperature
switch will turn the heater tape on automatically.
If the RV is in storage and the refrigerator or the DC power is
turned OFF there will be no 12V DC present to operate the
heat tape; therefore, it will be necessary to drain and dry the ice
maker and the water dispenser (if applicable). This will prevent
water from freezing in the solenoid valve or becoming stale and
producing bad tasting ice.
If the temperatures are expected to reach or exceed 0°F/-18°C
the ice maker and water dispenser (if applicable) must be
drained to prevent component damage and leaks. For instructions,
see the following sections draining the ice maker
and draining the water dispenser

Am I reading this right, that if you do not disconnect the battery the heater cord on the frig will keep the heater coil activated and prevent componet freezing damage?
 

jpdoggett

Well-known member
Why not cycle RV anti freeze through it like you do the other lines and washer?

Watch out doing this I had the anti freeze get into my hot water tank and I never got the pink out of the water that stuf gets into metal it is so hard to get it out
 

boatto5er

Founding VA Chap Ldr (Ret)
Why not cycle RV anti freeze through it like you do the other lines and washer?
Your ice will taste like anti-freeze for a long time. Made this mistake once with our boat.

It does help to have two people when doing this, one operating the air compressor and the other cycling the ice maker (need a large, but short, flat tip screwdriver to turn the ice maker).
 

danemayer

Well-known member
Am I reading this right, that if you do not disconnect the battery the heater cord on the frig will keep the heater coil activated and prevent componet freezing damage?

If the RV is in storage and the refrigerator or the DC power is
turned OFF
there will be no 12V DC

Gene, I read it as saying that if either the refrigerator is off OR the battery power is cut off, there will be no heating. Of course, if the battery power is cut off, the refrigerator will be off since it needs 12V to operate.
 

boatto5er

Founding VA Chap Ldr (Ret)
I would never rely on 12V power always being on. Batteries dies, power gets cut off by bad weather - any number of things could go wrong.
 

sgtbigb

Well-known member
I
Gene, I read it as saying that if either the refrigerator is off OR the battery power is cut off, there will be no heating. Of course, if the battery power is cut off, the refrigerator will be off since it needs 12V to operate.
In that case I guess if I expect a freeze I could turn the battery switch on and turn on the frig:=)
 

cookie

Administrator
Staff member
Am I reading this right, that if you do not disconnect the battery the heater cord on the frig will keep the heater coil activated and prevent componet freezing damage?

Gene, I don't know about your floor plan, but my refer is in a slide. Therefore the water line runs outside the coach to get to the slide. If it is not drained it will freeze.
I am not a fan of taking shortcuts to save a little time and labor when I know that the results could be costly.

Peace
Dave

Peace
Dave
 

sgtbigb

Well-known member
Gene, I don't know about your floor plan, but my refer is in a slide. Therefore the water line runs outside the coach to get to the slide. If it is not drained it will freeze.
I am not a fan of taking shortcuts to save a little time and labor when I know that the results could be costly.

Peace


U R RITE, If I was storing my unit up north where u r at, I would not consider taking any short cuts, But here in San Antonio we have only a few days where it below freezing for a 24 hour period. Last year was the First year in 10 Years when it was below 32 degrees for a 24 hour period.
 

danemayer

Well-known member
If the water line freezes, you may find out by way of a basement flood into the underbelly when you go out on your first trip next year.
 

Maverick

Member
Thanks Dave.
Very good to know the large copper line is for the gas. I was thinking it was for water. I just have one further question. I found the poly water line at the refer but I cannot see the line you refer to from the solenoid that goes to the ice maker. Is that also a white poly line or maybe black? Is it a different line than the one from the refer and shut off valve? Very confusing for the first time.
 

boatto5er

Founding VA Chap Ldr (Ret)
Thanks Dave.
Very good to know the large copper line is for the gas. I was thinking it was for water. I just have one further question. I found the poly water line at the refer but I cannot see the line you refer to from the solenoid that goes to the ice maker. Is that also a white poly line or maybe black? Is it a different line than the one from the refer and shut off valve? Very confusing for the first time.
If you have an icemaker, but not water in the door, then you should have one poly line into the solenoid and one the same size coming out of it on the other side. To be double safe, I disconnected the poly lines from the solenoid last winter. Not necessary if you've blown them out well with compressed air, but hey - why not (someone will probably tell me why not now!).
 

Willym

Well-known member
I made up a fitting to connect my compressor to the water supply line after the shut off valve. This makes it a one person operation. I first blow out the line to the fridge solenoid valve and drain the solenoid valve itself. I then reconnect the now dry water supply line to the solenoid valve and blow out the ice-maker following Dometic's instructions.
 

Chris429

Member
Last season 2010 I tried something a little different. I shut off the water valve to the refrigerator in the basement. and disconnected the water line and left it hanging. I than disconnected the water line at the solenoid and let it drain. I reconnected that line. We continued to use the refrigerator for three more days. This spring, (2011) I reconnected the water line in the basement and turned on the valve. Everything worked fine. With the water line disconnected and the refrigerator still working I had hoped the ice maker would drain itself. It apparently did. I used three days because it takes us that long to use up a bucket of ice.
 

lwmcguir

Well-known member
If you have water in the door it is hard to get the chiller drained completely unless you unhook it in side the fridge. Had the dealer winterize it the first year. They used air and antifreeze and my water chiller froze and broke.
 

sgtbigb

Well-known member
Bill I was you neighbor at the Goshen Rally, got a photo of that fittimg?
I made up a fitting to connect my compressor to the water supply line after the shut off valve. This makes it a one person operation. I first blow out the line to the fridge solenoid valve and drain the solenoid valve itself. I then reconnect the now dry water supply line to the solenoid valve and blow out the ice-maker following Dometic's instructions.
 
Top