On Apr 28, 8:50*am, "
wrote:
When Sears delivered my new KitchenAid refrigerator, the delivery
folks adamantly refused to hook up the water supply line because my
line is made of plastic tubing and it is allegedly against their rules
to hook up to plastic tubing because of potential liability for leaks.
They will only hook it up if the existing water line is copper.

So I hooked up the water line myself. I've had this plastic tubing for
20 years now and it has never leaked. However, and for a long time
now, I've noticed that the water pressure for the water dispenser in
my old Kenmore was very low. Its even lower with the new KitchenAid
unit.

So my questions a

1. Is the low flow rate because of my using plastic tubing instead of
copper?

The flow rate for the same diameter tubing is going to be virtually
identical.




I would have preferred to replace it with the same plastic
tubing because of the 15 feet distance from the fridge to the water
pipe down below in the basement in a winding fashion, behind the
drywall ceiling which have to be cut out to get to the water tap.

2. Assuming I replace the tubing with the same plastic tubing, will
that increase my water pressure or do I have to also replace the valve
too?

Unless the tubing is somehow blocked with something, replacing it is
not going to change anything. Now, the valve could be suspect,
especially if it's the saddle type. Have you tried flowing water
into a bucket at the end of the existing tubing, with just a short
piece directly near the valve, etc?



The existing one has this faucet like thin handle that goes into
the joint where the plastic meets the pipe, in addition to the main
water shutoff valve.

3. If I relocate the water tap to another location, how do I
permanently seal off the old tap?


If it's copper pipe, saddle type valve and accessible, I'd cut the
pipe, remove the valve and replace with two couplings and a short
pipe. If the frig doesn't have a water filter, I'd install an inline
one at the same time.





Thanks for any help.

F