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TIL there's a right way and a wrong way to pull a fridge water line

Overheard a plumber at the supply house yesterday telling a guy he sees more crushed water lines from appliance guys than actual plumbers. Said we yank them too tight or don't leave a service loop. Been doing this 10 years and never thought about it. How many of you actually leave slack behind the fridge?
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3 Comments
derek_coleman
Dude, same here. Did my own fridge install a few years back and yanked that line tight as a guitar string because I thought it looked cleaner. First time the icemaker acted up I couldnt figure out why. Turns out the line was kinked behind the compressor where nobody would ever see it. Had to pull the whole fridge out, cut the damaged section, and splice in a new coupler. Now I leave a full service loop, almost like a garden hose coil back there. Makes sliding the fridge out for cleaning way less of a headache too.
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jamiew83
jamiew8315d ago
And who here has actually taken the time to measure out exactly how much slack to leave for that service loop? I do the same thing now with a nice big coil, but I found adding a zip tie to keep it loosely bundled keeps it from snagging on stuff when you slide the fridge back. Learned that one the hard way when the loop caught on a floor vent and pulled the water line straight off the valve. Now I make it a habit to leave about two feet of extra line coiled up, and I always test the slide out before I push it all the way back. Makes a huge difference when you're trying to vacuum under there too.
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kelly.emma
kelly.emma15d ago
@derek_coleman nailed it, that service loop saves you every time.
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