ATF: Bighorn - ice maker water line

[onetexasoldman]

Is there an easier way to fix the ice maker line besides taking the refrig out?
When we purchased the unit the guy that walked us thru said there was a leak on the line and had to pull the refrig out. Well it worked without leaking for a couple months and started leaking again. Has to be somewhere up by the top. I checked the drain valve in the slide.

 

[HOGHAULER]

Is there an easier way to fix the ice maker line besides taking the refrig out?
When we purchased the unit the guy that walked us thru said there was a leak on the line and had to pull the refrig out. Well it worked without leaking for a couple months and started leaking again. Has to be somewhere up by the top. I checked the drain valve in the slide.

Not sure on your model but during our pdi we also had a leak and on the left side cabinet at floor level all the way in back we had a removable piece of luan wood and gave access to water tubing ours just needed to be removed,cut with razor blade and reinserted into quick connect fitting, Hope yours is as easy

 

[onetexasoldman]

Not that easy. I have traced the water line from the valve to the drain valve on the slide and back in. It then goes up to the back of the frig (household frig) When I turn on the valve I can't see it leaking but leaks out of the back side of the slide which would be the side the line goes into the frig I THINK!

 

[wdk450]

I quit using my freezer icemaker, because I would rather have more room for frozen food, the icemaker takes 4 hours to make a tray of ice cubes, and my water line kept getting invisible pinhole leaks under the kitchen slide. I replaced the icemaker with an Igloo tabletop icemaker I bought through WalMart. It makes about 8 round hollow pieces of ice every 12 minutes until the ice reservoir is full, needs no water hookups (you pour water into the water reservoir )and only needs a 110 volt electric hook-up. I keep it on the floor by the doorway.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/31136425?reviews_limit=9&

Addendum: I left the icemaker in the freezer, but removed the cube storage tub for more frozen food storage, turned off the icemaker water line, and unplugged the AC supply to the icemaker in the lower outside access panel.

 

[For20hunter]

Often times, the leak has been found to be right where the line goes from the drain valve up into the floor of the slide. In ours, we had enough slack where we could pull the tubing down and see were there was a little pin-hole. We purchased an inexpensive 1/4 inch plastic coupler at home depot and TA-DA!! it was fixed. If the leak isn't accessible from under the slide, the only other option would be to either remove cupboard drawers where the hose may run behind or pull the fridge out to gain access to where it's leaking. Once you locate the leak, the fix is easy and cheap.

Rod

 

[onetexasoldman]

sounds good will have to look into it

 

[jmgratz]

I quit using my freezer icemaker, because I would rather have more room for frozen food, the icemaker takes 4 hours to make a tray of ice cubes, and my water line kept getting invisible pinhole leaks under the kitchen slide. I replaced the icemaker with an Igloo tabletop icemaker I bought through WalMart. It makes about 8 round hollow pieces of ice every 12 minutes until the ice reservoir is full, needs no water hookups (you pour water into the water reservoir )and only needs a 110 volt electric hook-up. I keep it on the floor by the doorway.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/31136425?reviews_limit=9&

We got an Igloo ice maker too. Works great and we don't have to worry about water line leaks. Makes ice fast too.

 

[onetexasoldman]

prob going to get an ice maker but want them to fix this one on the warranty first, if I can ever get in somewhere to get the warranty stuff fixed!!!!!!

 

[danemayer]

Is there an easier way to fix the ice maker line besides taking the refrig out?
When we purchased the unit the guy that walked us thru said there was a leak on the line and had to pull the refrig out. Well it worked without leaking for a couple months and started leaking again. Has to be somewhere up by the top. I checked the drain valve in the slide.

If you have a Dometic or Norcold, the water line connects to a solenoid at the back of the frig. You get to it by removing the lower louvered vent.

If you have a Residential Refrigerator, you might be able to get to it from underneath, but there's a good possibility the frig will have to be pulled out.

 

[onetexasoldman]

I have the Residential Refrigerator

 

[farside291]

Ours leaked to...first trip out. Flooded the entire slide. Now, we also have a counter top ice maker. I was surprised at how fast it makes ice, takes like 10 minutes to make the cubes. When the little bin is full of cubes I dump them into the icemaker bin in the freezer. We still have ice through the door just no water and no winterizing of the icemaker. You can't use it in the winter anyway for fear of freezing that line, why have it at all. I keep the water line shut off going to the fridge.

 

[alwayslooking]

Ice makers in RV's are accidents waiting to happen. Think of where that thin water feed line goes. If it doesn't freeze, it's still bound to eventually develop a leak just because it's constantly being flexed. I turned the ice maker on our residential refrigerator off before any water got in it. Probably not what anyone wants to hear and certainly not what a salesman will tell you. Just my opinion.

 

[danemayer]

Until you can find and fix the leak, you should turn the ice maker water feed line cutoff valve OFF. The location varies. Some are under the sink, some under cabinets, some behind the UDC (have to take the rear pass through storage wall down). The clear poly line is teed into a blue 1/2" pex line with a cutoff valve. You'll probably need to poke around with a flashlight to find it.

 

[Padiddle]

Discovered a flooded slide after our first trip out and back. 3570RS. At 4 months old, yes, we sent it back for the warranty work. Lost use of it for a month. Got it back, hooked it up and 3 days later found the carpet in the slide saoked again!
Uh-uh! Doing it myself this time.
Made a platform to pull the fridge (residential) out off of the slide floor, pulled the anchor screws from the frame at the floor, and rolled it right out. Don't know what caused the first leak, but the repair guy didn't even bother to use the available clip behind the fridge to keep the water line straight into the inlet. Line kinked just 3 inches above the inlet and began leaking. I cut the line, installed the new ferrel fitting, and so far (2 weeks later) no leaks. Repair from start to finish took about 1 1/2 hours. Another 1 1/2 hours with a wet vac, and some fans for a day or two, and we're back in business!
Mrs wanted it for the filtered water, but I really think i see a countertop icemaker in our future as well. Don't know if the constant flexing, & pressurizing/depressurizing is tough on those particular fittings or not? Sure seem to hear about it more than we should, though.
Thank you Heartland, for including the vapor barrier under the carpet in the slide. Kept most of the underlay dry.

 

[OldTanker]

After 18 months ours decided to flood the floor under the cabinet. I have shut off the water line. The center island blocks the fridge, fortunately, since the factory never anchored the fridge in the first place. (residential fridge on ROLLERS). I assume the repeated movement of the fridge in transit finally shredded the water line. I am going to the dealer, out of warranty, to try and get the darn thing anchored so it will stop trying to migrate around the rig when we are driving. I am unsure if I will have them hook up the water again.

I am curious for those who got the counter top icemaker. where did you get it, what make / model (especially the resevior type) and how much?

 

[wdk450]

I am curious for those who got the counter top icemaker. where did you get it, what make / model (especially the resevior type) and how much?

I got an Igloo brand in silver through Walmart.com. Here is a link to a search of their site.
http://www.walmart.com/search/?query=countertop icemaker
I notice the price has come down some more - I think I spent something like $116 about 3 years ago - They are $98 now. Another idea for a "trailer" Christmas present???

 

[OldTanker]

Thanks for the icemaker info. Right now that is pretty insignificant. I just found that the floor under the fridge is delaminating on the underside and self destructing due to slide operation. I guess I didn't find the water leak soon enough to avoid losing the floor. Now instead of just finding a way to anchor the fridge properly I will have to get the entire slide floor replaced. I am hoping it didn't also take out the floor on the main part of the coach.

 

[NTXNEWBIES]

So it appears to me that the consensus here is to cut the water off to the fridge at the get go and eliminate one less concern? We are taking delivery this Friday March 11 of our BigHorn 3875FB and may do just that. One thing for certain I will get our tech to show us where the valve is and if difficult to get at will have it shut off then.
Any thoughts?

 

[cookie]

You asked for thoughts and everyone has their own but my thought is we love our ice maker and would not be without it.
I regularly, I mean regularly check the system for leaks.
Had a leak when it was new but since I fixed that I have not had a problem in over five years.

Peace
Dave

 

[danemayer]

So it appears to me that the consensus here is to cut the water off to the fridge at the get go and eliminate one less concern? We are taking delivery this Friday March 11 of our BigHorn 3875FB and may do just that. One thing for certain I will get our tech to show us where the valve is and if difficult to get at will have it shut off then.
Any thoughts?

We have an ice maker/water feed in our Dometic RM1350. I got tired of winterizing it which must be done before temps go below freezing. The final straw for me was at a North Texas Chapter Rally. I de-winterized before going to the rally. Temps were supposed to be in the 70s. It never got above 50 and I had to winterize the ice maker again while at the rally because the forecast was for temps to get down to 29. We've happily reclaimed the space that used to be taken up by the ice cube bin.

If you're getting a residential refrigerator, keep in mind that the refrigerator probably has a water filter and a water chilling coil that need to be included in the winterizing process. Check out our Residential Refrigerator Guide. It provides a lot of RV-specific information that the refrigerator maker didn't include since RVs aren't their target market.