Water valve/tee

I have developed a drip out of this valve which appears to be attached to the water line that goes to the refrigerator. Has anyone else had an issue and replaced it themselves. My unit is 2018 3560 ss. It’s located under the kitchen slide underbelly.

That appears to be the drain valve for the refrigerator water feed line. It's not very effective as a drain, so if that's the only leak in the line, you might just bypass it.

danemayer said:

That appears to be the drain valve for the refrigerator water feed line. It's not very effective as a drain, so if that's the only leak in the line, you might just bypass it.

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Thanks that’s what I thought but figured I would ask just to make sure.

This morning we woke up to pump groaning and water running this is the second time that has broken after a freeze. My question is why is this fridge "T" valve exposed.. prone to the weather?
Den.

For the first two years of ownership we would winterize the fridge ice maker ensuring it didn't freeze. This was after we froze it the first year of ownership. Now we drained all of the water from the icemaker, shut of the water to the fridge and purchased a table top icemaker. Lift is easy now. As the portable icemaker makes ice we dump it right into the icemaker bucket. So we still have ice through the door just not water.

https://www.freshwatersystems.com/products/seatech-tee-valve-type-50-1-4-od-x-1-4-od-x-1-4-od-branch

I found this vale on line.

Routemaster said:

This morning we woke up to pump groaning and water running this is the second time that has broken after a freeze. My question is why is this fridge "T" valve exposed.. prone to the weather?
Den.

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First, the drain valve is an idea that someone at Heartland came up with when they started offering Residential Refrigerators. The idea was to make it easy for you to drain the water feed line to the refrigerator. When we were collecting information for the Residential Refrigerator User Guide, some of us tested this out on an early unit and found it ineffective.

Second, before Residential Refrigerators, when refrigerators started getting located in slideouts, that created a problem with routing of the water feed line. In most builds, the feed line is routed into the slide through the floor. So a portion of the 1/4" poly tubing is located under the slide where it's exposed to outside air.

If there's water in the line, and outside temperatures drop below freezing, you're likely to have damage to the feed line, and to the drain valve with Residential Refrigerators.

Some people suggest adding insulation, but I don't think that will give you more than a little protection as insulation slows, but doesn't prevent heat transfer.

Some people have changed out the 1/4" poly tubing for a stronger tubing reinforced with metal braiding. Haven't heard any complaints from those who did, so maybe those lines survive a hard freeze.

On our 2011, the water feed line to the fridge starts in the basement plumbing area and is routed outside and through the floor of the kitchen slide. I also got tired of winterizing the water feed line and just stopped using the ice maker and water dispenser.

danemayer said:

On our 2011, the water feed line to the fridge starts in the basement plumbing area and is routed outside and through the floor of the kitchen slide. I also got tired of winterizing the water feed line and just stopped using the ice maker and water dispenser.

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Same with us

I removed all the plastic tubing and two valves. Routed a braided water supply line right out to the slide and under the the where it enter below the fridge. I put a tee in here and just remove a cap to drain. I cut away the fridge cover to access the valve, disassemble the water feed, drain it. No antifreeze in the fridge at all. In spring I flush and sanitize the water feed through my braided hose.

Brian