Really low water pressure from fridge dispenser... ideas? - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

96C220 · #1 03-04-2006, 08:21 PM

Greetings,

Okay I just spent the day putting a flex line from the basement piping up to my new fridge basically through the subfloor, and the wall. (which has water / ice in the door). I tried the flex line before i hooked it up to the fridge and water pressure seemed to be decent. (Made a mess in my basement lol). Now, I hooked it up to the fridge, and put the filter in the fridge, but the water at the dispenser can barely manage a trickle. I mean like 4 mins to fill up a glass....

AM i missing something? There are no leaks in any of the plumbing. Could I have just really poor water pressure here? Or does the fridge need time to pressurize its water dispensing system (I couldnt find much about this in the manual, simply where the connection goes).

The rest of the house seems to have decent water pressure....nothing spectacular but acceptable for daily use.

Any ideas - I know its not a big deal but its driving me nuts. My old fridge just had an icemaker which seemed to work ok when we used it, but in the process of putting new ceramic tiles in the kitchen the old line was disconnected.

The line does have a couple of loops in the basement (I used a generic home depot 10' line), but nothing that I can see that can adversely affect pressure.

Both of the supply valves are also all the way open.

Thanks in advance,

George

#2 03-04-2006, 08:59 PM

Disconnect the hose from the fridge and see what kind of stream you have, if it does shoot a nice post 12 pack type stream you have a problem with the fridge.

vwbuge · #3 03-04-2006, 09:34 PM

You may have to prime the fridge's system somehow. Have you read the owner's manual?

I know there is an internal filter. This may need time to suck up water. There is also a resevoir inside the fridge. This may need time to fill. Check it out and get back to us.

96C220 · #4 03-04-2006, 09:43 PM

Well, the fridge (hotpoint branded) but clearly made by GE offered nothing in terms of priming instructions. Yes there was a new filter which came with it installed, which looks like a mason jar that screws into the top of the cold storage section.

I'm thinking there has to be air in all these lines, esp since the line that was connected was new, the fridge has never had an active water supply etc.... I let the water dispenser run for about 4 mins straight thinking that this would purge the system of air, but like i said earlier all I really managed to do was fill a glass. I'm going to give it a day to sit, and see if the water flow has become acceptable. I also read in the fridge manual that the ice maker will take approx 24hrs to become operational because it has to reach the proper temp etc.

I don't know how the fridge distributes water internally, so maybe the ice maker and water dispenser are fighting for the available water supply until the ice maker comes fully online?

Take care and thanks for the advice,

George

Brian Carlton · #5 03-04-2006, 10:27 PM

What's the diameter of the plastic tubing? From some old units with just the icemaker, I recall the tubing is not larger than 1/4". The I.D. is less. Such a tube would flow at approximately the rate you mentioned with typical water pressure.

Maybe the fridge has an internal tank and pressurization for the water in the door??

If not, I would think that you would need a minumum of 3/8" supply tubing for an adequate flow.

Jim H · #6 03-05-2006, 08:52 AM

I HATE WORKING WITH COMPESSION TYPE FITTINGS!!!!

Get a supply of spare compression ferrules, the ring-like piece.

Shut off the water and look at the ferrule at the tap and refrigerator. If the ferrule is tilted when installed, it shuts the water down to about nothing.

Did I mention that I hate this type of fitting????

MikeTangas · #7 03-05-2006, 11:48 AM

As I recall with our icebox I had to run the water from the icebox door for something like 5 gallons total output to prime the system. I remember standing there holding in the lever and filling up giant glasses for what seemed like an eternity. By the end of the exercise the water flowed good. Now when delivery pressure drops off I know it is time to change the filter.

#8 03-05-2006, 12:46 PM

I had a GE profile and it didn't take much time to prime and when it was priming it blew a good amount of air. Check your supply, if you used a piercing fitting you may not have penetrated the pipe enough.

iwrock · #9 03-05-2006, 12:49 PM

That happened yo us, and it turned out we needed a new valve inside the fridge. It was the valve that distributed the water between the ice maker and the tap on the front. It took the guy about an hour to fix, as it was pretty small inside the back of the unit. But now, all works well. Try to purge it as said before, and if worse comes to worse, replace the line with one of a bigger diameter.

96C220 · #10 03-05-2006, 03:24 PM

Well, as far as plumbing issues....

1) The house has a valve with a T fitting on the cold water line, which is designed to supply the fridge. This is soldered in, and is not one of the puncture type saddle valves. It has a bunch of reducers and a 1/4" compression type fitting on it. The Line I used was not the tiny pvc 1/4" OD flex line, but a thicker PEX line made by watts:
It looks similar to this:

http://www.watts.com/prod_images/hi-res/CIC-P-CC.jpg

I used the 10 foot length, I probably could have gotten by with 6ft, but I didn't realize that until after it was all assembled.

There is a bit of slack at the valve, and the line makes a couple loops, similar to a garden hose, I dont know if this is affecting anything.

Now, here is where it gets a bit interesting. The water supply pipe is in the basement. I had to come through the subfloor into the wall behind the fridge. The Fridge itself has this thinner line, that goes from the bottom of the fridge, all the way up to the top, and has the compression fitting at the bottom. So the water has to travel about 15 feet or so, from the valve to the top of the fridge. Then it appears that the water line goes UP from the bottom of the door, to the water dispenser. It seems like there is a long way for the water to travel, and if the house pressure is on the low side, this may be a concern.

2) The fridge's Input water supply line is TINY in comparison, probably the typical 1/4 OD pipe, in what looks like a grey pvc material. So that in itself may be a bottleneck.

3) The fridge is brand new, now trying to prime air out, as Mike Tangas said, may prove to be a challenge, but may have some merit.

First the flow is strongest when first initiated, then slows sometimes even to a dribble, and will eventually resume, almost like the fridge is running out of water. I don't think there is any sort of pressurization system involved. But trying to get 5 gallons out of it appears that that may take the better part of a day lol....

Take care,

George

#11 03-05-2006, 07:39 PM

How is the unimpeaded stream coming from the tube before it connects to the fridge, this is a tell all here it will eliminate the plumbing problem if you have good pressure going to the fridge. The fridge does not have a pump.