leaking U-line

[Jimwo]

If you see a wet spot on you carpet and you try to soak it up and it gets bigger and bigger and starts to look like old faithful turn off the water supply to the U-line quickly. Stupid Ice maker!

[RJay]

Good advice. I hope the damage wasn't too bad.

[Romeo]

I had a leak last year when de-winterizing. I found that it was the water inlet solenoid valve. Uline and Uline suppliers want way too much for the valve; it's just a common refrigerator valve. I got my replacement at a local appliance parts store... just in case your leak is the valve.

[Jimwo]

It's the valve, thanks for the info. I caught it before too much damage. I have water stains and stinky carpet but I will clean the carpet when we get home.

[wa8yxm]

I will give you fair warning: That valve, from a Dometic authorised parts dealer (Camping world) comes with a price tag.. $120.00 last time I checked (OUCH)

I found something however, There are basically 4 types of valves. Dozens of mounts but 4 valves.. The 4 types

Single or dual stage
3/4 inch garden hose or 1/4 inch compression fittings on the water inlet

They all have 1/4 inch compression outlets.

Now; The ones with the garden hose fittings come with an adpater in the box so you can use them no problem

And the dual stage.. Have a pressure regulator stage ahead of the volve, Worst case this won't do a thing for you.. Best case it will regulate the pressure so the differences between city water and the house water pump become zero at the valve.. So they are better.

The replacement I got (27 dollars delivered to my park by UPS) was for an AMANA. The mount is slightly different but again there are adapters in the box that cover many things.. I had to drill one additional screw hole, Screws were included.

[ga traveler]

In my fifteen years as a ser. mgr., I had more leaks from U-lines than any other source. They used the water hose type fitting. Which was crap. But the main problem was the owners or dealers not winterizeing them right. We always blew them out with compressed air, After loosening the fitting at the valve.

[Romeo]

Twenty seven dollars ($27) sounds like what I paid at the local appliance parts store.

As wa8yxm stated there are several different types available; I removed mine and took it with me to ensure the right valve.

I would like to hear a vendors rationale for charging a 4 or 5 times markup on commonly available parts. For those of us that refuse to pay those prices, we can save quite a bit. It does, however, require more time to locate the better price. But I have more time than money... soooo

[Jimwo]

I just took the U-line apart and found the problem. The 1/4" vinyl tubing that goes from the valve to the ice maker fill fell apart as soon as I touched it. It was cracked and brittle from heat. I had a similar problem on my Southwind once. If you have an Ice maker check theses lines yearly. If I can get the bends right due to the distance of the valve to the bottom of the unit I think I will replace it with copper tube.

[Romeo]

JimWo,

Make sure to check the inlet solenoid valve, it may be cost effective to replace it on "general principles". As I mentioned, mine was leaking due leaking around the solenoid bonnet, I think; it wasn't easy to tell just where the leak came from. Were ever the leak was, it was enough to make a large puddle on the floor in front of the ice maker, wetting the carpet, and it was solved by replacing the valve. The valve did have white residue around the bonnet seal indicating leakage.

I have been concerned about the amount of heat that is generated in the unvented space behind the ice maker. I gave a little thought on how to installed an exhaust fan in the space that would draw out the heat, but then it would just vent into the under-sink area. One would have to figure out how to vent the under-sink area... I gave up!

I did notice that it does get very hot in the under-sink area due to the output of the ice maker, but I don't want to drill another vent hole in the side of the coach. It was scary enough to drill a 4" hole for the washer-dryer that I installed last summer.

[Jimwo]

Ron, I ended up replacing the valve as well. After installing the new line I ran it for a couple of hours and noticed some small leaking where the solenoid and valve join. All is good now and the ice maker is on my yearly list of things to inspect.

[Romeo]

Sounds good. I took my old solenoid apart to see if I could find out why it was leaking, but didn't learn anything. Too bad we can't fix them since the parts are all screwed in and easy to disassemble... oh well.

I haven't turned mine on this year, yet... I hope I blew out all the water from all the important place in ice maker. We'll see...

Glad you got it fixed.

[Mr_D]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ga traveler In my fifteen years as a ser. mgr., I had more leaks from U-lines than any other source. They used the water hose type fitting. Which was crap. But the main problem was the owners or dealers not winterizeing them right. We always blew them out with compressed air, After loosening the fitting at the valve.

Ours leaked, I found that the water hose fitting had worked lose. Tightened it and no leaks for the last 4-5 years, no leaks this year either.

Winterizing with air is OK IF you don't have any low points that collect water. Air will blow right through water in the low points. Using the anti-freeze won't allow this.

Every year about this time the boards come alive with people complaining about broken pipes/leaks after they used the air method.

[Jimwo]

I live in central Florida so Winter is not a problem. The problem with the overly expensive U-line is they use nylon from the valve to the Ice maker and not copper. I am betting the temps near the line are around 150 since it is right next to the compressor. Poor design. If you have a U-line you will have a leak if you don't check the line yearly.

[ga traveler]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr_D Ours leaked, I found that the water hose fitting had worked lose. Tightened it and no leaks for the last 4-5 years, no leaks this year either. Winterizing with air is OK IF you don't have any low points that collect water. Air will blow right through water in the low points. Using the anti-freeze won't allow this. Every year about this time the boards come alive with people complaining about broken pipes/leaks after they used the air method.

I don't agree with you about the air blowing out of lines. WE only blew out lines for 15 years, while I was ser. mgr. We did hundreds of coachs in this period. We never had one freeze. Trust me, If you winterize a coach and it freezes you will hear from the owner.