Ice Maker Saddle Valve

Hooking up an ice maker can be a simple task if you have all the right stuff to do the job and that is where this lesson will come in. we will describe to you how to properly install an ice maker line and how to hook it up to your existing household plumbing and how to also connect it to the actual refrigerator.
Step One:

The first step will to be to pull your refrigerator away from the way so that you have room to work behind it, and once you do so you will notice a section in the back of it that will say “ice maker connections” or something to that degree.

Now depending on the brand of the refrigerator will depend on what type and fitting you will need to connect the tubing to the hook up on the fridge itself, so the good news is that your ice maker kit should contain a couple of different fittings to connect. Most units these days now have the fitting in the unit, so that you can just connect the line. So at this point you will either have the fitting in the unit or you will need to take a fitting from the ice maker kit and thread that into the female threads, The fittings that come with the ice maker kit will be male threads on one side and a compression fitting on the other side.

Step Two:

Now that you have you have got the fitting in the back, you are now ready to take your ice maker tubing and connect it to the fitting. What you will want to do now is to loosen the compression nut on the fitting a few turns and make sure the Ferrell is also lined up inside and you can now stick one end of your ice maker tubing into the fitting, and making sure that the tubing goes all the way down to the bottom and then you can tighten the compression nut.

If you are using a plastic tubing you will want to make sure that the Ferrell inserts you are using are not metal, you will want to use plastic Ferrell’s and if you are using copper ice maker line you will want to use brass inserts. This is very important because if you don’t use the right type you will have leaks and can damage the tubing.

Step Three:

Once you have the tubing connected to the back of your refrigerator you will now have to make a game plan on where your going to get your water supply from. The ice maker kits comes with a saddle valve which makes taping into a water supply very easy, But you will need about 6 inches of space on a half inch water copper line. The saddle valve can only be used on copper water lines and can not be used on pex.

If you have a space behind your cabinets or you have a basement then you could drill holes through your cabinets or a small hole in your floor that would get the tubing into the basement, and either way would work. So the game plan is for you to find a way to get the tubing to a 1/2 copper line and hidden if possible. Once you find a place to run the ice maker water line and have the other end at the water supply then you can continue to the next step.

Step Four:

Now that you have successfully got your ice maker tubing to your water supply you going to need to hook the tap into the water supply with your saddle valve. Your saddle valve will have a clamp with two parts and two screw you will have to tighten. So what you will want to do is place the one side of the saddle valve on the pipe and then place the back part on the other side of the pipe and then insert and tighten the two screws on each side to clamp the saddle valve to the pipe. Once the saddle valve is secured and tightened move on to the next step, do not turn the valve handle yet.

Step Five:

Now that the saddle valve is connect to the pipe you will need to connect your other end of the ice maker tubing to the valve and this is done the same way as you did earlier when you connected the other end, but as a refresher you will want to loosen the compression nut and slide the tubing in and then tighten the nut with your open end wrench.

Step Six:

This is now the time you will want to turn on your saddle valve so that you can have water to the ice maker. To turn on the saddle valve simply turn the handle all the way in and the needle point will pierce the copper pipe and you will now have water.

Step Seven:

Now that your water is on and your all hooked up, it would be a good time to inspect all your fitting and connections to make sure you don’t have any leaks. If you have no leaks you have successfully hooked up your ice maker. Enjoy your ice!

The Tools:

You will need a few tools to install your new ice maker line and here is what tools you will need:

-Flat Head Screwdriver

-Open End Adjustable Wrench

-Pair Of Channel Lock Pliers

One Ice Maker Kit To Include The Following:

-Ice Maker water tubing

-Ice Maker saddle valve

-Ice Maker compression fittings and adapts