Ice maker leaking? In many cases you can fix the problem yourself for just a few dollars! Get rid of that nasty puddle of water and get ice cubes again.
Step One
Turn off the water supply for the ice maker. Many homes have a water shut off behind the refrigerator. Sometimes you need to shut off the water to the entire house. In that case, open a faucet to let the water pressure bleed off. You do not want to continue until the water supply is off.
Step Two
Pull the refrigerator away from the wall. It is much easier if you remove the contents (at least the liquids, which make up most of the weight).
Step Three
Find the plastic water hose that brings water into the refrigerator. In most cases, this will be a white plastic flexible pipe about the thickness of a pencil. The hose will run from the wall or floor to the refrigerator.
Step Four
Inspect the water hose. This is almost always the source of your leak. You may need to temporarily turn the water back on to find the leak. Remember to turn the water off again before proceeding.
Step Five
Cut the water hose with a sharp knife about 1⁄2 inch (1.3 cm) on either side of the leak. Be sure that your cut is straight and there are no burrs or extra bits of plastic left behind.
Step Six
Splice the two ends of the water hose with a 5⁄16 inch (0.8 cm) “union connector” that is expressly for this purpose. The connector is available broadly. The connectors are less than two dollars before shipping. Buy extras because the water hose WILL leak again before you replace the refrigerator. The connect is a “push on” style, so you don’t need tools to make the splice.
Step Seven
Turn the water back on and be sure that your splice is watertight. This is important, because there may be more than one leak.
Step Eight
Push the refrigerator back into place.
Step Nine
Celebrate saving $100! You are done. Well done.