The Wet Spot: Leaking Ice Maker

[seajaycecil@yahoo.com]

Here is a bit of information that I got the ''hard way.''

We have a 2000 Pace Arrow 'A' class. It has the side by side refrigerator with the built in ice maker. This is very handy because if you plug into shore power it will ''make ice''. (really handy for certain beverages if you dont add too much water). Anyhow,,,,, Willa noticed that our ice maker had stopped making ice. Hummmm ... I checked everything I could find and all seemed to be in order. Hummmmmmmmm ... Willa also noticed that there was a ''wet spot'' on the floor in front of the refrigerator.

I said ''Shux'' and started looking for a water line leak. Hummmmmmm I could not find a leak anywhere. I said ''Shux'' again. Some time later we noticed another ''wet spot'' on the floor right in front of the refrigerator freezer door again. It only got 'wet there'' when we were on shore power with the ice maker on. (it still wasnt producing ice cubes) Hummmmmmm I said ''Shux'' again and looked for a leak in a water line.

Willa suggested that the ''wet spot'' could be associated with the ice maker in some fashion and I told her how silly it was to think that the ''Wet spot'' came from the now inoperable ice maker.

By a process of elimination I turned on the ice maker and VOILAAAAAAAAAA. A WET SPOT APPEARED gosh I Am so ''snart." I went outside and took the back of the refrigerator and, to my surprise, there was a plastic tube about the thickness of a soda straw going up the back of the unit. This ''tube'' was split about 6 inches from the opening in the floor where it came thru. When the ice maker made a ''demand'' for water, an electric valve opens and allows water to flow to the tray or on to the floor as the case may be.

Needless to say our hardwood floor got wet underneath and we had a ''water stain'' in the flooring which prompted Willa to suggest that we needed to replace the carpet and the hardwood flooring in the coach because the ''wet spot''' had just ruined the appearance of our nine year old coach and she simply could not stand for our friends to come in the coach and see ''That

Ugly Old Water Stain'' on our floor.

Three thousand dollars later we have all hardwood floors in the coach and I did not replace the ''soda straw thick'' water line from the electric valve up to the ice maker. We now have 4 ice trays and we make our ice the ''hard way."

Moral of the story:

If you have an icemaker on your coach and you dont want to spend about three grand for all hardwood flooring ... keep an eye on the ''plastic tube'' and if it breaks turn off your ice maker.

Seajay the sailor man

[Guest Wayne77590]

That was your opportunity for a new coach!!!

Love your title.

[tbutler]

SEAJAY,

I recently replaced my thin plastic tube for the second time. Fortunately mine is located in a place where the leak goes outside, not in. I went to Lowe's and they have an ice maker tube which is thick rubber covered by a stainless steel mesh! It fits right on where the fittings that held the thin plastic tube were. I got a one foot tube for less than $3.00 and now I have an ice maker and expect that I will have no further problems. If you need a longer tube they also have 5 foot, 10 foot and 20 foot tubes! You could probably get a threaded piece to string together two one foot tubes if you needed more than a foot but less than five feet!

[seajaycecil@yahoo.com]

I will take another look at the plastic tube. I am not sure but I believe I may have to remove the refrigerator

to get to the connections but I cant remember.

Anyhow, thanks for the info and I guess if I charge a dime for info it would be only

fair to ''pay a dime for info''...

I O U ten cents and I will pay you the next time I see you.

Seajay the sailor man

[tbutler]

SEAJAY,

You are probably correct, we had a 1994 Dynasty and it had a four door refrigerator with an ice maker. When it started to leak we were told that the refrigerator had to be removed to fix the leak --- so we traded it for a new 2004 Windsor which doesn't have that problem. We agree with Wayne, you should have baught a new coach!!

[charman2@earthlink.net]

Greetings from your Coastal Carolna Cousins!

We just replaced the plastic supply line for the second time in one year. Bad stuff as it splits and develops pinholes. Replaced with 1/4" copper supply tubing. Sprayd "KILZ" under the reefer where the wood was water stained. So far, so good.

Wamest Regards,

H.M.Harman

[jjgnn@yahoo.com]

My icemaker worked fine, until I turned it off for a few weeks (ice dropping into an empty bucket at 3 AM can cause a heart attack). Now one of the switches in the operating mechanism is a little over enthusiastic (in that it serves three rounds of water instead of one per operation) - probably sticking a little. Result is two measures of water in ice tray, covering and solidifying properly manufactured ice already in the bin. I fiddled with it for a few weeks, and finally last night removed it from the fridg and put it in the basement.

I also bought three ice trays at Wally world, and found they are just about half an inch too long for my Dometic freezer section. Hack saw will fix that.

I do not use ice that much, but wanted it for guests. Besides, a gadget that does not work is an affront to my view of the universe, but I try to not be stupid about it. Some things are just not worth the effort.

Is the icemaker mechanism a "generic" unit, or is it Dometic specific? (I could do my own research on that, but someone here will know.)

I will check that little plastic hose too, and if I do get a new icemaker, I will replace it with a copper or tougher type.