Any plumbers awake?

September 6, 2013 10:23 PM

We need to disconnect our refrigerator's water line (going to the ice maker) ASAP. Like, tonight, or before 8am tomorrow. (It's a long story.) There is a copper line that runs from the fridge to a hole in the floor. There are no valves. What do we do?

I don't know what else to say. That's the situation - we need to fix it. We have some basic tools. We do not know anything about anything. Family tension is running high and Mr. BlahLaLa has been doing some cursing. Can you help?

posted by BlahLaLa to Home & Garden (11 answers total)

Can you turn off the main water valve for the residence? Inconvenient, but less so than running a bucket brigade all night.
posted by Kyol at 10:32 PM on September 6, 2013

Response by poster: (It's not actually leaking at this moment - it's just that we have a switcheroo happening first thing tomorrow morning and we need to get this fridge pulled out of the kitchen.)
posted by BlahLaLa at 10:34 PM on September 6, 2013

You really need to identify some valve, somewhere, that will shut off the water flow to that line, even if it also cuts water to the whole house. There's no other way around it.
posted by Behemoth at 10:45 PM on September 6, 2013 [1 favorite]

When I installed the line to the fridge in our old house, it was attached to the sink cold water line. Just a tap screw that fit over the incoming cold water pipe, when the screw was tightened it created a small hole in the pipe, to allow water to run through the copper tube to the fridge; the tube was run through the floorboards. Check under the sink. Also check under the flooring if you have access to the basement or crawl space. Should be a small saddle valve. It may or may not have a shutoff valve. If not, you may quite likely have to shut off water for the entire kitchen if there is no shutoff valve on the pipe itself before this valve, because it's a one-time thing - once the hole is punctured there is no shutoff valve for the copper tube unless someone plumbed one in during the install. But at least if you find the saddle valve you know which water line to turn off.
posted by caution live frogs at 10:59 PM on September 6, 2013 [1 favorite]

The hole in the floor almost certainly follows the line into your basement. I had a setup like this, and the on/off valve was where the copper tube joined with my regular water line. It was quite small--maybe a two inch handle that was only about as thick as a pencil lead. Head downstairs and see if you can find it.

Also, as a heads up, I've turned off water lines a bunch of times, and the connectors to icemakers are consistently amazingly difficult to turn--you may end up having to apply a lot more force than you'd think for such a small valve.
posted by MeghanC at 11:26 PM on September 6, 2013 [2 favorites]

Find out where the other end of that copper tube goes. In my house it goes into the wall, down into the crawlspace, up under the sink, where it attaches to a valve connected to the cold water pipe under there. That's where I'd look first.
posted by notyou at 12:18 AM on September 7, 2013

This is one of those thin, relatively flexible pieces of copper tubing? If I couldn't cut the house water, or trace out the line and find the valve that feeds it, I'd squeeze it closed with some pliers, or pound it closed with a hammer, cut it, downstream of the closed spot, then roll the flattened section over itself a few times with plier and squeeze it tight to make sure it didn't leak. But if I did that, I'd still have to shut off the supply at some point so I can splice in something to replace what I'd sacrificed and hook up the new fridge.
posted by Good Brain at 12:25 AM on September 7, 2013

Should be a small saddle valve. It may or may not have a shutoff valve. If not, you may quite likely have to shut off water for the entire kitchen if there is no shutoff valve on the pipe itself before this valve, because it's a one-time thing - once the hole is punctured there is no shutoff valve for the copper tube unless someone plumbed one in during the install.

Contrary to this, every saddle valve I've seen continues to be useful as an on/off valve for the flexible line attached to it. When it is installed, a sharp round spike inside it is driven through the wall of the larger pipe, then backed out (by turning the handle counterclockwise) to allow water through. To shut off the water again, just spin the handle clockwise again until it's tight, like a hose spigot. No extra valve is needed.

We do not know anything about anything.

Okay, then let me give you an anti-disaster warning. While an ice maker line is really simple to connect, it is possible to screw it up if you're not very mechanical, and screwing it up can be *really* problematic. It's just a compression fitting that grips the tubing and holds tight, and to work properly it's important to get it tight enough. If you don't have a good feel for how tight is tight enough, it's entirely possible to have it work at first, and then break completely free and start spraying water everywhere while nobody is home. At 60 PSI or so of pressure, that little 1/4" line can deliver a lot of water and ruin a lot of floor, wall, cabinet, etc. in a short time. Use a second wrench (or at least pliers) to support the part on the fridge that the compression nut tightens onto, so you don't break your shiny new appliance.
posted by jon1270 at 1:33 AM on September 7, 2013 [3 favorites]

My shut off valve for the ice maker water line is just inside the wall behind the fridge.
posted by COD at 6:16 AM on September 7, 2013

Response by poster: Thank you all. We did crawl under the house last night and find the (ancient) valve that's connecting the copper fridge line to the house's water pipe. Mr. BlahLaLa is going to attempt to manipulate that valve now in the manner suggested by Jon1270.
posted by BlahLaLa at 7:13 AM on September 7, 2013

Response by poster: Okay, so the problem with that saddle valve is that it seems like it's already as tight as it can get. I guess we have to involve real plumber. Thanks for suggestions.
posted by BlahLaLa at 7:28 AM on September 7, 2013