Forum Discussion

BigMac's avatar
BigMac
Explorer
Sep 29, 2016

Preparing a Residential Refrigerator for Winter

I am lucky enough to have a new MH, and it has a Whirlpool residential refrigerator installed with water dispenser and ice maker. We're coming to the end of the season and I'm trying to get ready for winterizing it. The old MH was easy, just the normal plumbing; but on this one, the refrigerator has me wondering. (It has a stacked washer – dryer as well, but I think I’ve got that one covered.) The Whirlpool User's Manual has nothing about winterizing, and I just got finished talking to their support line, and they were not very well versed at all in the need to, or process of RV winterizing, although they were trying very hard to help. The gist of what they told me was 1) turn off the water at the inlet supply connection, 2) continue to run the ice maker until no more ice is produced, 3) dispense water from the water dispenser until nothing more comes out and 4) remove the water filter. From your experience, if I do all that, can I be confident that all the water is purged? Or do I need to do anything else (Air?) to assure all the water is out?
Just a couple more detail points, the water supply line for the unit is at floor level, with a single waterline going from the floor to the top of the backside of the fridge to the filter. From there, two separate lines come back down the back of the fridge. One goes to the water dispenser at about mid-height on the fridge, the 2nd goes down to the ice make in the bottom freezer. That gives you a pretty good idea of how the water lines run.
I’ll appreciate your guidance. If I need to clarify anything, I’ll be glad to. Thanks.

12 Replies

  • When I do our Maytag (same unit different badge) I blow all the water out of the water dispenser. I the use the fresh water pump to pump antifreeze thru all the coach systems including the water dispenser. I leave the pump on and antifreeze in the supply bucket overnight with the fridge on making ice cubes. The cubes will not be froze hard due to the antifreeze. After I shut down the pump and release the pressure on the system, I removed the fridges water filter and marked it antifreeze for use the following winter.
  • Take the ice make and water dispenser lines off of their control solenoids and blow both out with low pressure air. Those are located at the back bottom of the fridge generally.