Supplin line to ice maker

[Bill.Usher]

Good afternoon all. I am a new owner and member to Hearland. My Sweetheart, girlfriend, Brenda are getting ready to head south to FL right after Christmas. We are still learning about our new rig. A 2013 Landmark Mesa. WE LOVE IT. We are having so much fun. Just a couple of seniors enjoying the rv livestyle.
We we picked the Landmark, bought through a dealer, owner had there on consignment The owner said everything worked. NOT. One of things that did not work was the icemaker. It appeared when someone was winterizing the rig, to drain the suppliy line to the ice maker they removed the fitting that is a hose fitting on one end that screws on the solenoid valve and a 1/4'' compression fitting on the other end to connect the supply line to, and did not put it back on. Easy fix. Ice maker works fine. The problem is, the supply line is not insulated for freeze protection. Its a 1/4'' plastic line, sam e as used in y9ur house. I was wondering what ohters may hqve done to protect this line. I thought about heat tape, but the manufacture does not recommend using heat tape on this kind of plastic line. I did put a light bulb in the area when it got below freezing here. That would probably be the easiest.
Thanks for any ideas.
Have a great weekend.

 

[danemayer]

Hi Bill,

The portion of the water feed line that's exposed to outside air will definitely freeze and suffer damage as soon as outside temps drop below freezing. With refrigerators in slideouts, which is generally the case across the industry, there's not a lot you can do other than to evacuate the water from that line during the winter.

With an air compressor and appropriate fitting, you can winterize the water feed line in a minute or two by closing the cutoff valve and disconnecting both ends. Connect the compressor to the interior end, letting the exterior end hang out of the refrigerator vent opening. If you have a residential refrigerator where there are no vents on the exterior, you can parallel the procedure in our Residential Refrigerator guide, attaching the compressor fitting at the cutoff valve.


To reduce the possibility of breakage, some people have replaced the poly line with a stronger, braided tubing. But while this strengthens it, it doesn't keep the line from freezing.

 

[Bill.Usher]

danemayer, thanks for the quick reply.When I winterizie I always use air. I didn't say my question correctly. I was wondering what people did when on the road and the temps drop at night?

 

[danemayer]

danemayer, thanks for the quick reply.When I winterizie I always use air. I didn't say my question correctly. I was wondering what people did when on the road and the temps drop at night?

They either shut off the water line and evacuate the water, or they find a leak at some point in the future. Sometimes people talk about putting insulation on the line, but since insulation just slows the heat transfer, it's only slightly effective.

I de-winterized some years ago and turned on the water to the ice maker prior to attending a rally where temps were supposed to be in the 60s and 70s. It never hit 50 and when the forecast called for overnights in the low 20s, I had to blow out the ice maker line while at the rally. I've left it off ever since.

 

[Bill.Usher]

Thanks again danemayer for the reply.
I will have to give this some thought on what action I will take. Certainly don't want a frozen leaking supply line.
Have a great weekend.