We recently moved into a 10 year old home and purchased a new refrigerator with a water filter and ice maker, only to find that when we hooked it up to the single water line behind the fridge, it dispenses hot water. I don't think the line has been used before now and was wondering if anyone has ever heard of something like this where the line is attached to the water heater instead of the cold water line. What will need to be done to fix this?

iamgrowler

You might be surprised to find out just how many people do not bother to flush their H/W tanks, Tom.

>shrugs<

It's not something most folks even think about until problems begin to arise.

speedball1

Never had a problem with connecting a ice maker to the hot water and my company has installed hundreds of new units. Not a single complaint. NOT ONE!!! Over the years. I thin growler's focusing on what possibly might happen but it's never happened in any of our installations. regards, Tom

commonsense

It seems to me that by utilizing hot water you are making ice from water that has been sitting in a sometimes filthy water tank instead of the relatively pristine cold water. Why else is it recommended that you drain your hot water tank regularly? To get rid of the sediment and crud that's why. Not very smart to use hot water especially in houses over 50 years old that might have used lead in the copper line solder especially for the sake of good looking ice!!! TRY AGAIN!!!

speedball1

Let's see if I ncan make some sense outta your statement. The water in a water heater is drawn off the top of the heater not offthe bottom where minerals c an build up.
Are you suggesting we used different solder for the cold water lines in a home over 50 years of age? That the cold water lines have less lead in the solder joints then the hot water lines? You can't be serious!!
Bottom line! if you think that ice cubes taken off the hot water supply will poison you then hook the ice maker line upto the cold watrer supply. I'm just telling you how we pipe our ice maker lines in our new construction. Customer complaints over the years of installing them off the hot water supply?? ZERO!! regards, Tom

commonsense

What I am suggesting is that some plumbers DID use lead solder years ago and that authorities suggest running your water for three minutes if you know or suspect that your pipes were joined with solder containing lead. I am also suggesting that a hot water tank might accumulate at least a modicum amount of that lead, but certainly is tainted at any rate. The suggestion that water comes from the top of the tank is equally ludicrous and is like saying that you can pour mercury in a reservoir and still drink water from the top. All this for the sake of PRETTY ICE!!!

Milo Dolezal

It may be that the original plumber didn't pay too much attention to what he was doing and ran hot water line to the fridge..

commonsense

Someone on this thread stated that using the Hot Water line is common practice to make clearer ice. Then someone stated that lead was not used but it WAS especially before 1986.The point is that I believe the hot water supply from the tank to the icemaker is less hygienic than the cold water supply due to sediment, etc. all seemingly to make more appealing ice.

Article - Drinking Water: Lead-Pipe and Lead-Solder Concerns - HealthyHouseInstitute.com

According to one source you can run your cold water line for several minutes to purge any water that MIGHT have made contact with solder containing lead but the same, of course, is not true of the hot water supply. But lead was NOT my point to start with. Cruddy sediment-containing hot water WAS. After all, the cold water line cannot be flushed from lead unless you want to stand there and flush it before the refrigerator timer calls for more water.

I ask this question: Would you tap water from your 15 year old hot water tank and drink it? That is what you are doing when the hot water line is tapped to make ice.

commonsense

commonsense

The reply above that there were no customer complaints in years and years of tapping hot water lines is almost amusing. IN THE FIRST PLACE, THE CUSTOMERS ARE NOT AWARE THAT THEIR HOT WATER TANKS HAVE BEEN TAPPED FOR DRINKING ICE!!! OF COUSE THEY DON'T COMPLAIN!! And even if they were aware of it, techicians that have no idea what they are doing would convince them that it is perfectly safe and sanitary. PROVE that the hot water tank supply is safe to drink and THEN tap the hot water line!!!
Hot water tanks contain anodes inserted into them that deteriorate, plastic dip tubes that slowly disintegrate, brass fittings that may contain lead, years and years of accumulated crud, with who knows what chemical composition.

speedball1

Gee whizz!! I didn't mean to start a fire storm when I mentioned we pipe from the hot water side for clearer ice cubes. I wasn't aware until commonsense informed me I was piping poison into our customers icemakers.
Not only that but our solder joints have been adding more poisen in our installations for the last 30 years. We have a epidemic here in Sarasota. The hospitals are overrun with half the population suffering from lead posing and the other half with a new disease called " Icecubeitus". You see they didn't know they were sick until comonsense told them that they were.
I guess this puts a death watch on clear ice cubes. And we have comonsense to thank for this. Plumbers from all over the nation are converging on Sarasota to replace all the copper water pipes with plastic and to make supplying ice makers with hot water a capital offense.
I would like at this time to nominate comonsense to head up a new department called, The Ice Cube Police or Cube Cops for short. His job will be to inspect all ice cubes and condemn any that he finds clear and not milky like they should be.
Comon! Loosen up. Nobodys got sick yet from their ice cubes or from the homes we piped using 50/50 solder. The points you make are most likely valid ones but we haven't experienced the fallout that you say will happen and there are thousands of homes in my area that are piped with 50/50 solder and Ice makers piped from the hot water supply. Your input's
appreciated and noted but what do you suggest that we do for the installations that we've already built? Regards, Tom