the water dispenser on my refrigerator is leaking quite a bit, even though the water supply has been turned off for months. the tray completely fills up every few hours. why is this happening and how can i fix it?
i appreciate any advice.
kathy
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Remove the line from the back of the fridge or directly at the shut- off. Does water still come out?
Maybe your shut-off isn't working.
Or make sure every faucet/fixture in your house is off and check the water meter. If it moves during the time that the tray fills up, then the water is running right through the shut-off.
Obviously the water supply really hasn't been turned off, even though you have operated the valve. You need to replace the valve, likely it is a saddle valve, I would replace it with a proper tee, threaded fitting, and a good ball or stop type valve. Stop and waste would be even better so you could drain it if you needed to remove fridge for whatever reason.
Unfortunately, this likely means that you will need to drain down the whole house, at least to below the level of the saddle valve, so you should probably turn off your water heater as well while you're doing this. Any other plumbing maintenance that you need to do at the same time?
good luck,
nate
Are you referring to the little saddle tap valve located on a larger water pipe, under sink, in the basement or crawlspace? Like this:
The simple saddle valves aren't very good. Mine dribbled at the stem iirc unless it was turned all the way in or all the way out.
I turned off the water, and positioned a new, better saddle valve where the old one had been using the needle to position it esactly where the other one was. Obviously, look at it in detail and read the instructions more than once before starting the project, especially if you intend to do it quickly for this reason:
It's not always necessary to drain the pipes in one's house to do somethin like this. The guy at the plumbing store gave me some good advice. Turn off all the faucets, then turn on the lowest faucet in the house, often the laundry tub in the basement. Let it run until the water stops coming out. At that point water pressure will be holding most of the water in the pipes, although a little might dribble out.
You should already have disconnected the tube from the saddle valve
Then working quickly, remove the saddle valve and replace it. I'm not sure if you should replace the rubber sheet that goes under the valve or not. If it's not leaking there and it's not really old, I probably wouldn't. But that's me. If it comes off cleanly it only takes a few seconds and if it doesn't come off cleanly you can scrape off whatever is left behind with a knife, in a few seconds. Then replace the valve using the extended needle, exended so that the wide part truly centers the needlle in the hole, and tighten up the screws. Some water may be dribbling out during all of this, so put a bucket or pan underneath. It's the basement, right?
I just bought what seemed like a better valve and it works fine but I don't know for sure it will last more years. If it doesn 't I'll do it again, but you may want to make a big effort to get a quality saddle valve. Surely they exist.
By the way, if you have a polyethlene hose, with enough slack, you can probably fold it back on itself and clamp it and that will stop water from coming out.
But....
Polyetheylene hoses to refrigerators can spring their own leak, unprovoked. When you can you may want to change to copper tubing. Ask here for details.
The simple saddle valves aren't very good. Mine dribbled at the stem iirc unless it was turned all the way in or all the way out.
I turned off the water, and positioned a new, better saddle valve where the old one had been using the needle to position it esactly where the other one was. Obviously, look at it in detail and read the instructions more than once before starting the project, especially if you intend to do it quickly for this reason:
It's not always necessary to drain the pipes in one's house to do somethin like this. The guy at the plumbing store gave me some good advice. Turn off all the faucets, then turn on the lowest faucet in the house, often the laundry tub in the basement. Let it run until the water stops coming out. At that point water pressure will be holding most of the water in the pipes, although a little might dribble out.
You should already have disconnected the tube from the saddle valve
Then working quickly, remove the saddle valve and replace it. I'm not sure if you should replace the rubber sheet that goes under the valve or not. If it's not leaking there and it's not really old, I probably wouldn't. But that's me. If it comes off cleanly it only takes a few seconds and if it doesn't come off cleanly you can scrape off whatever is left behind with a knife, in a few seconds. Then replace the valve using the extended needle, exended so that the wide part truly centers the needlle in the hole, and tighten up the screws. Some water may be dribbling out during all of this, so put a bucket or pan underneath. It's the basement, right?
I just bought what seemed like a better valve and it works fine but I don't know for sure it will last more years. If it doesn 't I'll do it again, but you may want to make a big effort to get a quality saddle valve. Surely they exist.
By the way, if you have a polyethlene hose, with enough slack, you can probably fold it back on itself and clamp it and that will stop water from coming out.
But....
Polyetheylene hoses to refrigerators can spring their own leak, unprovoked. When you can you may want to change to copper tubing. Ask here for details.
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