Dec 15, 2016
Simple tools are all you need to work with plastic pipe.
The plastic tubing included with some factory-installed ice makers is frequently too short to make a connection much beyond the back of the refrigerator. The solution is an ice maker installation kit, which comes with plenty of extra tubing and a compression fitting to join the two lines together. The fitting consists of a brass compression body, two brass compression nuts, a set of ring-shaped brass or nylon connectors called ferrules and a pair of small brass inserts that are used to stiffen the plastic tubing. Compression fittings are designed with the amateur plumber in mind and are installed with basic tools.
Trim the ends of the plastic water supply and ice maker inlet lines with a utility knife so that they are clean and square.
Disassemble the compression fitting to separate the compression nuts, ferrules and tube stiffeners from the fitting body. Select the nylon ferrules from the kit if it contains them. Brass ferrules are normally used on copper tubing and can cut into the soft plastic supply line.
Slip a compression nut onto the supply side of the water line, followed by a ferrule. Insert one of the small brass tube stiffeners into the end of the line, pressing it in until the flare on the stiffener touches the end of the plastic tubing. Install the other nut, ferrule and tube stiffener onto the plastic line connected to the ice maker water valve.
Insert the supply line fully into one side of the compression body and the ice maker line fully into the other side. Slide the compression nuts down against the ferrules and thread them onto the compression body on both sides.
Hold the compression body with one adjustable wrench and securely tighten the supply line compression nut with another wrench. Tighten the compression nut on the ice maker line in the same manner.
Turn on the water supply to the ice maker and check for leaks.
Utility knife
Adjustable wrenches
Compression nut
Nylon ferrule
Tube stiffener
On some ice makers, the water supply tubing attaches directly to the ice maker water valve rather than to a line attached to the valve at the factory. In this case, the threaded fitting on the valve serves as the compression body. Use the compression nut, ferrule and tube stiffener supplied with the ice maker to attach the supply line to the valve.
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