Braided Steel Ice Maker Line?

[Pat Germain]

For many years I had a copper line connecting my refrigerator ice maker. What I didn't know was Mrs. Pat had been pulling the refer out occasionally to clean behind it. I learned this when a puddle suddenly appeared around the refer several weeks ago. The copper line had fractured from too much movement.

I went to buy a new supply line. I figured I'd get the plastic kind. When I got to the hardware store, I didn't see any copper or plastic line kits. But there were lots of steel braided lines clearly marked as ice maker supply lines. "Sweet!" I thought. "Steel braided lines are almost indestructable!"

After installing the steel braided line, I noticed the water and ice from the refer had a funny taste. I assumed it was from the rubber lining in the new supply line. I filled multiple, two quart pitchers of water trying to flush it out. And the taste was still there.

Here we are several weeks and many trays of ice later. The taste has diminshed, but it's still there. Do you folks think this will eventually go away? Or, is using a steel braided line for a ice maker supply just a bad idea? If it is a bad idea, I think I'm going to have a hard time finding another copper or plastic supply line kit.

[John Fricke]

I'd try running some vinegar through it........then some hot soapy water.......then hot fresh water of course to rinse........Might speed up the process

[Pat Germain]

^^ Hey, that's a good idea. Thanks, John.

[David G Baker]

Plastic supply line can get melted by an area of the compressor that is close to the supply connection in a friends refrigerator. I don't know if this is common or just her set up. I touched the area and found it to be very hot.
I used the stainless mesh lines to the hot and cold water lines to and from my hot water heater. The lines had rubber on the inside that the water flowed through. The type of chlorination that was used in the city water caused the rubber to break down. The way I caught it was black things were showing up in the bath water. I called the city and was informed that the rubber lined stainless mesh lines were not compatible with the local water. I had to go back to the semi flexible copper lines. Don't know if something like this is causing the taste problem with your ice cubes

[Paul Atkins]

Carbon filters are pretty cheap - and they work. You could go back to the copper again and coil up a few feet to have a flexible supply.

[Pat Germain]

Thanks for the tips, guys.

FYI, I had plenty of extra copper line. But the stress of moving the refer in and out caused a split where the copper bolted to the water spicket.

I suppose I could install an in-line charcoal filter - after the steel braided line. That should filter out any chemical taste from the supply line.

[Matt Meiser]

I'd check on what David says. Our local hardware has a sign up about them not carrying those auto-shutoff supply lines because they are incompatible with the local water supply. I'd assume that's a similar issue. You don't want to find out too late that all you've got left is the steel braid because that's not very waterproof.

[Jason Roehl]

What Paul said works. With copper, there has to be quite a bit extra, and it has to be coiled so that it acts somewhat like a spring when the fridge is pulled out.

I had a copper line break on me once when I pulled out the fridge in an apartment to paint behind. At least the shutoff was under the sink, and my wife was with me so I could keep a finger on the line while she shut it off (after finding out from the maintenance guy that's where it was...). There was no coil.

[Jim O'Dell]

I've got the plastic flex line on my fridge. Haven't noticed any taste problems. I do have the stainless steel flex on the dishwasher. Jim.