water kit for refrigerator
 

I've been thinking of buying this fridge that comes with a water
supply box that comes in the freezer compartment of a top freezer
refrig. The salesman said that I could hook it up myself if i purchase
a water kit at any hardware store. I asked if they sold them, he said
no which I thought was unusual. He said it runs about $15. and comes
with a copper tubing. Now, my concern is if I "diy" would those copper
tubing come long enough and is it easy to connect as he said? next to
the fridge is my dishwasher which in turn is connected to my sink next
to it. I can't think how I am going to bypass the dishwasher to get it
to the sink. He said the kit comes with a gadget that when you put on
the tubing, it punctures it so as to get water flowing.

water kit for refrigerator
 

Noel wrote:

I've been thinking of buying this fridge that comes with a water
supply box that comes in the freezer compartment of a top freezer
refrig. The salesman said that I could hook it up myself if i purchase
a water kit at any hardware store. I asked if they sold them, he said
no which I thought was unusual. He said it runs about $15. and comes
with a copper tubing. Now, my concern is if I "diy" would those copper
tubing come long enough and is it easy to connect as he said? next to
the fridge is my dishwasher which in turn is connected to my sink next
to it. I can't think how I am going to bypass the dishwasher to get it
to the sink. He said the kit comes with a gadget that when you put on
the tubing, it punctures it so as to get water flowing.

Very easy hookups. Many kits have poly tubing which is a bit easier to
work with and generally sufficiently durable.

For "bypassing" the dishwasher you just run the tubing directly under
it. Dishwashers have space under them for their own connections and a
1/4" tube to the fridge water will pass through just fine.

The gadget mentioned is a saddle valve. They are illegal under some
plumbing codes (MA comes to mind) and not the ideal solution, though
they do generally work fine and I've used them on occasion. The better
option if you have basic plumbing soldering skills is to install a "T"
and a regular shutoff valve with a 1/4" compression type output ($5 or
so).

Another thing to consider is installing a filter in line to the fridge.
The fridge probably has it's own filter setup, but I find those filter
cartridges are a fair amount more expensive than the cartridges for
inline filters. The fridge filter usually has a bypass plug that you can
install if you don't want to use the in fridge filter. If you have one
of the nice little under counter RO filter units you can readily feed
the fridge water from that and have really nice fridge water and ice.

Pete C.

water kit for refrigerator
 

On Jul 12, 11:19 am, "Pete C." wrote:
Noel wrote:

I've been thinking of buying this fridge that comes with a water
supply box that comes in the freezer compartment of a top freezer
refrig. The salesman said that I could hook it up myself if i purchase
a water kit at any hardware store. I asked if they sold them, he said
no which I thought was unusual. He said it runs about $15. and comes
with a copper tubing. Now, my concern is if I "diy" would those copper
tubing come long enough and is it easy to connect as he said? next to
the fridge is my dishwasher which in turn is connected to my sink next
to it. I can't think how I am going to bypass the dishwasher to get it
to the sink. He said the kit comes with a gadget that when you put on
the tubing, it punctures it so as to get water flowing.

Very easy hookups. Many kits have poly tubing which is a bit easier to
work with and generally sufficiently durable.

For "bypassing" the dishwasher you just run the tubing directly under
it. Dishwashers have space under them for their own connections and a
1/4" tube to the fridge water will pass through just fine.

The gadget mentioned is a saddle valve. They are illegal under some
plumbing codes (MA comes to mind) and not the ideal solution, though
they do generally work fine and I've used them on occasion. The better
option if you have basic plumbing soldering skills is to install a "T"
and a regular shutoff valve with a 1/4" compression type output ($5 or
so).

Another thing to consider is installing a filter in line to the fridge.
The fridge probably has it's own filter setup, but I find those filter
cartridges are a fair amount more expensive than the cartridges for
inline filters. The fridge filter usually has a bypass plug that you can
install if you don't want to use the in fridge filter. If you have one
of the nice little under counter RO filter units you can readily feed
the fridge water from that and have really nice fridge water and ice.

Pete C.

Personally I never liked those poly lines. I always liked the braided
hoses a lot better.

water kit for refrigerator
 

Mikepier wrote:

On Jul 12, 11:19 am, "Pete C." wrote:
Noel wrote:

I've been thinking of buying this fridge that comes with a water
supply box that comes in the freezer compartment of a top freezer
refrig. The salesman said that I could hook it up myself if i purchase
a water kit at any hardware store. I asked if they sold them, he said
no which I thought was unusual. He said it runs about $15. and comes
with a copper tubing. Now, my concern is if I "diy" would those copper
tubing come long enough and is it easy to connect as he said? next to
the fridge is my dishwasher which in turn is connected to my sink next
to it. I can't think how I am going to bypass the dishwasher to get it
to the sink. He said the kit comes with a gadget that when you put on
the tubing, it punctures it so as to get water flowing.

Very easy hookups. Many kits have poly tubing which is a bit easier to
work with and generally sufficiently durable.

For "bypassing" the dishwasher you just run the tubing directly under
it. Dishwashers have space under them for their own connections and a
1/4" tube to the fridge water will pass through just fine.

The gadget mentioned is a saddle valve. They are illegal under some
plumbing codes (MA comes to mind) and not the ideal solution, though
they do generally work fine and I've used them on occasion. The better
option if you have basic plumbing soldering skills is to install a "T"
and a regular shutoff valve with a 1/4" compression type output ($5 or
so).

Another thing to consider is installing a filter in line to the fridge.
The fridge probably has it's own filter setup, but I find those filter
cartridges are a fair amount more expensive than the cartridges for
inline filters. The fridge filter usually has a bypass plug that you can
install if you don't want to use the in fridge filter. If you have one
of the nice little under counter RO filter units you can readily feed
the fridge water from that and have really nice fridge water and ice.

Pete C.

Personally I never liked those poly lines. I always liked the braided
hoses a lot better.

I've never seen a braided hose of any kind used to feed water to a
refrigerator, only in short hookup applications under a sink or toilet.
Refrigerator feed lines are typically at least 6' long, usually a lot
longer to get to the water supply and all the braided hoses I've seen
are less than 2' long. Also lately I've seen a lot of "bogus" braided
hoses that are a plastic hose core as you would expect, but have a
plastic outer braid masquerading as a stainless braid.

Pete C.

water kit for refrigerator
 

I've never seen a braided hose of any kind used to feed water to a
refrigerator, only in short hookup applications under a sink or toilet.
Refrigerator feed lines are typically at least 6' long, usually a lot
longer to get to the water supply and all the braided hoses I've seen
are less than 2' long. Also lately I've seen a lot of "bogus" braided
hoses that are a plastic hose core as you would expect, but have a
plastic outer braid masquerading as a stainless braid.

Pete C.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Fluidmaster, as well as other companies out there, make them as long
as 10 feet.
http://www.fluidmaster.com/icemaker_connector_intl.html

water kit for refrigerator
 

Mikepier wrote:

I've never seen a braided hose of any kind used to feed water to a
refrigerator, only in short hookup applications under a sink or toilet.
Refrigerator feed lines are typically at least 6' long, usually a lot
longer to get to the water supply and all the braided hoses I've seen
are less than 2' long. Also lately I've seen a lot of "bogus" braided
hoses that are a plastic hose core as you would expect, but have a
plastic outer braid masquerading as a stainless braid.

Pete C.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Fluidmaster, as well as other companies out there, make them as long
as 10 feet.
http://www.fluidmaster.com/icemaker_connector_intl.html

That's longer than I've seen before, but still too short for any of the
fridge water connections I've had to make. Of course if you run a "real"
water line (i.e. 1/2" copper) to the fridge location and install a
shutoff valve there with an appropriate output connection then you'd
only need a couple feet. The fridge hookup kits normally have like 20'
of tubing, expecting you'll need to fish it some distance before you
reach a water line you can tap.

Pete C.

water kit for refrigerator
 

Please read the instruction manual on how to connect up the water pipe.
Please check if a there is a warning about using self piercing saddle
valves. Most icemaker kits come with self piercing saddle valves which
usually dont allow for a big enough water flow. (saddle valves are OK but
they usually want you to use the ones where you drill a hole in the pipe).
Read the manual and use what is recommended

"Mikepier" wrote in message
oups.com...
I've never seen a braided hose of any kind used to feed water to a
refrigerator, only in short hookup applications under a sink or toilet.
Refrigerator feed lines are typically at least 6' long, usually a lot
longer to get to the water supply and all the braided hoses I've seen
are less than 2' long. Also lately I've seen a lot of "bogus" braided
hoses that are a plastic hose core as you would expect, but have a
plastic outer braid masquerading as a stainless braid.

Pete C.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Fluidmaster, as well as other companies out there, make them as long
as 10 feet.
http://www.fluidmaster.com/icemaker_connector_intl.html