The evil hidden hazard's of Ice maker/Water Dispenser inour RV's

[MrRvGypsy]

We will never have another RV with a residential refrigerator with a water dispenser/ ice maker option. We are not full timer's and being from the midwest we were never confident that these thing's could be winterized effectively and were reliable, therefore we shutoff the water line under the slideout and drained the existing water from the system. Due to a malfunction of the control panel I chose to remove the fridge to do some troubleshooting and was shocked to see a patch of significant rust on on the rear of the fridge directly below where the waterline goes into the fridge at the top for the ice maker along with mold, warping of the fridge support platform and considerable water damage to the floor beneath the fridge. It would appear that the unsealed hole where the waterline goes through the back of the fridge into the icemaker was constantly dripping condensed water down the back of the fridge damaging my floor. GRR Never again.
I plan to caulk the crap out of the hole after replacing the damage platform, drying the floor and resealing it.

 

[wdk450]

Many of us after fighting the many leaks etc in the icemaker line have decided to quit using it, and regain some more freezer space.

You can buy a tabletop icemaker for about $100 from Walmart, or other vendors. It makes a small load of round center hole ice cubes EVERY 12 MINUTES continuously until the ice full sensor is tripped. It uses a reservoir of water holding about a 1/2 gallon. Mine sits on the floor, and is on constantly during the summer. BTW, if the RV type refrigerator does NOT have 110 volt power to it (like going down the road) IT DOESN'T MAKE ICE. When parked it takes about 4 hours to make 1 load of ice.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Igloo-ICE102C-SILVER-Counter-Top-Ice-Maker-Silver-Refurbished/191043627

 

[CDN]

Hello,

I have seen others add a braided water supply line to eliminate the small 1/4 plastic line. Something I and looking at changing mine once I get the new trailer.

 

[danemayer]

With any refrigerator that has a water feed line, "draining" is probably insufficient. And it most definitely won't do the job on residential refrigerators. On the residential refrigerators, because they are designed for sticks and bricks homes, the manufacturers don't include winterizing instructions. Even if the water feed line drains, draining won't get the water out of the filter or chill coil, and may leave water in the ice maker.

We have an owner-written Residential Refrigerator Guide that among other things, has a recommended procedure to winterize the residential fridge.

 

[MrRvGypsy]

This is not a case of insufficient or poor winterizing. No water has been on the fridge in 4 years. It is a case of 4 years of condensation leaking and dripping from the hole in the back of the freezer compartment into the freezer section of the fridge for the ice dispenser water line.