Winterizing Residentail Refer Question ??

JoeH wrote:
Thanks-- when I get back to the storage lot, I'll check out the V&L holes

Some ice makers have the VL holes in the cover, but they don't have the contacts behind the holes. My Kitchen Aid is made that way.

Thanks-- when I get back to the storage lot, I'll check out the V&L holes

I do NOT use antifreeze when I winterize residentials. I blow them out as getting rid of the pink stuff will be a headache now for you if the pink gets into the fresh water dispenser reservoir. The water filter if left in place will remove the pink from the pink stuff. Since you put the plug in that is not your problem. You DO have the doors closed when trying to dispense the water? If the interior light is ON, then the icemaker and water dispenser will not activate. I tape the door switches closed when winterizing. There are 2 holes in the end of the icemaker when you remove the white icemaker cover. V & L are the jumper holes to activate the Icemaker water valve. You insert a u shaped jumper wire to those 2 points. The water dispenser should activate normally as long as the doors are closed, UNLESS, you have the one model that has the water dispenser INSIDE the left hand door on the interior wall of the refer. Doug

Have you verified that the bypass device is installed correctly? It's easy to not turn it far enough and after installing, it might take as long as a minute for water to appear.

pulsar wrote:
Can't help but wonder why someone in Apollo Beach, FL would winterize.

I don't but antifreeze in our residential refrigerator. First, I shut off the water and let the ice maker cycle, which clears the water from that line. Then, I disconnect the water line from the refrigerator and remove the filter. With Sarah holding a container under the water dispenser and pushing the button, I use a compressor and blow air through the system, until no more water come out.

This is made easier by an outside access door to the back of the refrigerator.

Tom

I'm winterizing since I will be leaving the country for the last half of January and all of feb. While we normally don't have to winterize, in the past 30 years , there have been a couple of instances where we had hard freezes lasting a 2-3 days. One year my neighbors water pipe feeding his house burst due to freezing while he was out of town. Since I won't be around to turn the heat on if it might be needed, I'd rather go ahead and winterize than come home to freeze damaged pipes. With this being an El Nino year, the weather has been very weird and will likely be unusual for the coming months.

I have no access to the back of the refer, without unbolting it from the floor and sliding it out, so that's not going to happen. The strange thing is that while pushing the water dispenser, nothing happens, the antifreeze is not being sucked out of the jug, but it does if I open a faucet. Yes, the inline valve feeding the refer is open, so I have no idea what the issue may be.
It's a Maytag MF12269VE

Can't help but wonder why someone in Apollo Beach, FL would winterize.

I don't but antifreeze in our residential refrigerator. First, I shut off the water and let the ice maker cycle, which clears the water from that line. Then, I disconnect the water line from the refrigerator and remove the filter. With Sarah holding a container under the water dispenser and pushing the button, I use a compressor and blow air through the system, until no more water come out.

This is made easier by an outside access door to the back of the refrigerator.

Tom

Any idea how much water the dispenser tank holds? Did you manually cycle the ice maker? Worst come to worst, you could manually hot wire the 2 solenoids, but I would look for specific winterizing instructions for that model.

I took out the filter and put in the bypass so that's not it

I'm just guessing, does the refrigerator have a separate filter? Maybe the pink stuff clogged it?