Ice Maker FLOOD. Need Help.

[Chickadee]

(08 Essex 4502 w. Frigidaire Side by Side residential refer)

Well, dang!!...it happened. Ice maker in left freezer compartment malfunctioned and woke up to water flood under refer and down into basement compartments below. Back wall in freezer, from ice maker on down to the well in bottom of compartment, looked like a glacier of ice.

Long story short, ....spent day thawing glacier, moving frozen food stuff to basement freezer, slopping up interior water that I could reach, (mostly located directly beneath refer), emptying and drying basement bins, and trying to figure how to shut off ANY water flow to refer from water lines under kitchen sink located about 6 ft. left of refer. BOY!!...what us RV'rs have to do for fun!!

QUESTION: Since I can't get behind refer, and it's tough to trace water lines running from under sink, behind cabinetry and over to refer, I need to ask you guys/gals if I've shut off ALL water feeds to the refer correctly?

#1. Under sink is a thin (maybe 3/8") solid white colored line with needle valve shut off (just after undersink water filter) and this line appears to run through cabinetry toward refer, so I shut off this needle valve assuming this line fed the refer's ice maker. RIGHT or WRONG??

#2. Also under the sink there is a "T" off of what I think is the cold water line to the sink, and this "T'd" line (about 1/2") translucent plastic line, also runs toward refer through cabinetry. So, assuming this line fed the refer water dispenser through refer's filter, I closed the in-line shut off valve which was in this line just after the "T" from the sink cold water line. RIGHT or WRONG??

Are these likely the ONLY two lines feeding water to the refer?????? For quite awhile after closing these two lines I was still getting a pretty steady dripping that I could see through a narrow space in the back wall of the now warm and thawed freezer so I was worried I hadn't shut every conceivable water flow to refer, or, shut off valves weren't sealing well.

This all happened about 72 hrs. ago, and at this point it appears water drips in refer have stopped, basement bins and stuff now dry, freezer and refer side are both working and cooling correctly. HOWEVER, assuming there is a wooden sub-floor under refer, I think it has, or may still be swelling from the flood since one (so far) of the tiles in front of refer snapped last night and sure enough cracked through in two directions. We're hoping no more crack though, but it looks like a trip to Nappanee for some flooring and refer repairs!!!

Ofcourse.....no longer under Newmar warranty, but we did get an extended warranty through Freedom RV in Tuscon where we got this rig....we're now in Florida. We've still yet to figure out if flooring and damage repair will be covered under that warranty...or maybe under full timer insurance from National RV Insurance. SURE hope so.

This kinda stuff SURE skunks up this otherwise great full time RV'ing lifestyle...EH???

Would greatly welcome any suggestions or advice from all you Newmar or Essex folks. Thanks.

Steve & Lynette (look !..still smiling !!)

[Theberrys]

Just guessing here but, from the description you gave of the water lines under the sink you not only have an ice maker but a water supply in the door of your fridge. The needle valve is no doubt the cutoff for the fridge and should be just after the water filter if it's in the sink area.

Fixing that hose is a real pain, good to have the CSP the fridge will probably have to be moved to the inside of the coach for access. I did ours last year because the plastic line split. I used copper instead, don’t really know it’s better but at least I feel better about it.

Dick

[Perry White]

That maybe more of an insurance problem for the floor repairs than a warranty problem.

The needle valve is for the refer. The tee could be for under sink filter or stub for the dishwasher., but there is only the 1/4inch white plastic line for the icebox. It goes to the rear of the ice box(outside cover) to the water solenoid.Then there is two lines off of the solenoid. One to the ice maker and the other one to the thru door water dispenser. Did water lay inside of icebox? Could be push on plex fittings on the water storage tank behind the rear cover came loose. If it is laying inside freezer it could have been a stuck solenoid. Sounds like you might have froze the line from under the sink going back to the soleniod.Never mind the froze line. I see your in Florida. Almost impossible to freeze the supply line.

[Ronnie Bledsoe 2006 Dutchstar 43']

Steve, sorry about your problem, but thanks for posting as I will now locate my cutoff just in case.

[wa8yxm]

How to tell if you shut off the water properly three methods

1: If it's no longer flooding, You did good.
2: If you have water in the fresh tank turn off city water, on the water pump if it stops quickly.. you did good.

3: Find the Ice Maker solenoid, often in the fridge's outside compartment (On an RV) and remove the inlet line, no water means you did good.. NOTE you will likely have to do this anyway as that's what most likely failed. (that vavle)

Finally.. When I first replaced my solenoid it was twelve bucks (Original froze on me and broke)

When next I had to replace it (My fault) They wanted 140 bucks

Since for all purposes and intents all the solenoid valves are identical, I got one for an Amana off an E-bay store 27 dollars delivered.

Now, there are, in fact 2x2 types

One has quarter inch compression inlet (RV type) the other 3/4 inch garden hose fitting but those come with an adapter to a quarter inch line in the box so it don't matter

The other split is "Single stage" (just the valve) or dual stage (Regulator/valve) RV type is usually single, Dual is better, the Amana I got for a fraction of what Camping world wanted was a Dual.

Why is dual better.. Water pressure varies, the small regulator means that on city water or pump the crescents are the same size.

[Iron Man]

We have the same setup as you
There is not an outside door for residential refrigerators
Most of the op deal with an RV model refrigerator and no an residental model refrigerator not muc help

The water connection at the refrigerator is at the bottom ( I think)
I think there is 1 water valve for the refrigerator (ice & water)
Turn off the small valves under the sink will turn off the water to the refrigerator
I cannot get to my coach to look at the configuration I think to small
valves are for the refrigerator and the filtered water dispenser on the sink.
If you have a dishwasher there is another valve under the sink for it.

Worse case you can turn off the cold water for the kitchen faucet at the manablock in the water compartment unitl you sort out what the valves control

[Chickadee]

THANKS to ALL of you!! Greatly appreciate the feedback. Lots of things to check and follow up on.

John (Iron Man) you're correct. there is no "outside" access door to the rear of these residential style refrigerators.

Perry White nailed it re: water lines under sink. I did shut off that needle valve which, after you described it, is the ONLY water line to this refrigerator. Not sure yet, but that other line must be the line to the dishwasher (which we never use anyway).

wa8yxm: Great info about solenoid replacement. Trouble is with no exterior access door, I can't find this solenoid from front of refrigerator, and will have to locate it by pulling the whole refer out from wall which is a MAJOR operation (at least for me). This'll have to be done at Nappanee, or somewhere.

Dick (Theberrys): Yup, I agree about using copper. Don't know if it makes a difference, but I too would prefer a copper feed as opposed to this plastic stuff they use now. Must be an "ol guy" thingy .

Say, Dick, did you actually pull your residential unit out on your own??!!! Ours is packed in between washer & dryer on right and kitchen cabinet/counter on left. I can't even begin to figure out how to access the rear of this refrigerator !!! Don't know how your unit is arranged, but, as the kids say, YOU DA MAN !!... if ya pulled yours and repaired it....whew!!

Hey, Ronnie (Ronnie Bledsoe): Yeah, I too pick up alot of tips and ideas from readin stuff like this, but usually I can't figure out what the tool/mechanical "heads" are talkin about.

Well,....looks like an expensive trip to good ol Nappanee.

Thanks for feedback. Nice to have you guys around for moral support and advice during bummer times like this.

Steve & Lynette

[Theberrys]

Steve

I have a plane old two door Dometic side by side fridge, so no super human effort here just a tight fit in the hallway. When I slid the fridge out the fiber glass insulation on the sides fell to the floor and I had to get a neighbor kid to crawl into the fridge hole to staple it back up, I'm just a little too wide.

I thought more about the "T" under your sink and that line may be going to the filtered water faucet in your kitchen sink.

Dick

[Perry White]

You might have a stuck open water soleniod valve. Unplug or disconnect electric to frig and turn water back on. If it runs out of icemaker, that's your problem. If you have a water dispenser pull off the bottom grill and see if the line isn't broke under front door.


I'll bet you will find a brace locking down refrigerator that you can take loose and pull it out on the rollers.

[wa8yxm]

Is this an RV type fridge, or a residential type

Residential it's normally near the bottom, rear, just so you know.

[Chickadee]

Iron Man: So, behind the toe plate at floor level and under the refrigerator side of this Frigidaire is a drip pan (looks about 12" x 12" black plastic), supposedly to catch itinerant liquid from the compartments above. This pan appears to be slanted from the right (as looking from front) toward the left and seems to be fixed permanently,....so I assume it's meant to be slanted. I can just see the stub end of a grey drip tube projecting over the top of this pan and from which water was steadily dripping when ice maker malfunctioned. ANYWAY,....do ya know if this drip pan is supposed to be slanted, AND,...do ya know if there is drain line from this pan to the exterior (or to grey tank)???

When ice mkr. broke, this drip pan was overflowing onto the floor beneath the refer. I can't see, or find a drain line from this pan.


wa8xym: This is a residential type Frigidaire side by side w. in door ice cube/crushed dispenser and water dispenser in door of freezer side.

Steve

[Ronnie Bledsoe 2006 Dutchstar 43']

Steve I don't have a residential style,but on my Norcold 1200 the drip pan is slanted with NO drain line from the drip pan.

[bluepill]

I've had 2 home refers with ice makers. Both failed within the first 5 years. Consumer Reports mentions that this is the most common failure point in modern refers. The last one had a slow leak at the solinoid in the rear of the unit, and we had no idea that it was leaking until the vinyl floor tiles started lifting in the front of the unit. By then, a lot of damage was done to the under floor.

First thing I did to the new MH was to disconnect the line to the icemaker. The solinoid had a nice "Made in China" sticker on it. For now we'll just buy packaged ice like we do at home. Sam's club sells it cheap. We might buy a dedicated icemaker sometime in the future, but no more in-refer units for this guy.

[hometool]

hi that pan you are looking at i belive should be level with the rest of the fridge it does not have a drain line it,s there to collect the water from auto defrost and the water it collects will evaporate under normal operation. it is not unthinkable to have the pan overflow with an i/m isue probably a i/m valve isue. lee