CODE guidelines for 1/4″ poly supply????
First, I am a building contractor and not a licensed plumber. This may seem like a dumb question to a licensed plumber.
Is there a code requirement or manufacturer recommendation for the use of plastic ferrules and sleeve inserts for 1/4″ poly tubing used to connect an icemaker or other appliance to a stop valve? I had an appliance installer use a copper ferrule and no sleeve to connect a Sub-Zero Ref/Freezer to the stop valve. I was lucky enough to remove the grill the following day and discover a leak before it caused any damage to the freshly finished wood floors. It made me wonder if there was a “set in stone” code or manufacturer guideline that requires the use of plastic ferrules and sleeves over the the brass type used on copper tubing. I just want to arm myself with information so I can present it to my appliance dealer. I feel lucky to have caught a leak that could have potentially done 10’s of thousands of dollars of damage and delayed the HO’s from moving back into their new kitchen ($100K total gut job) after a 90 day job. It scares me to think that a $0.10 plastic ferrule and a more careful installer could have alleviated the potential for a disaster. I want to call the appliance dealer and forward this info to stop someone else’s disaster.
Thanks,
Scott
Replies
The codes do not cover past the cut off or for that matter any appliance . According to arguements the hot water heater is not code covered .
However the building codes address it . Many times for a BI to make a ruling it has to be manufactor specs . However your proplem is not covered in the codes it can be adressed by man specs. Still its unlisensed area thats sitting in a grey area. Its hard to do any thing about it except tell someone to correct it .
Tim
I'd not use that poly tubing at all. It tends to split after a while.
I am surprised.
When I bought a new refigerator last year and asked about deliver a dozen different places said that they deliver (some for a fee) and will hook up the ice make ONLY IF IT HAS A COPPER TUBING SUPPLY.
That they would not touch anything with poly.
One said that if I had a wrench handy and could tighten it up in a couple of minutes then they would wait and push the refigerator back afterwards.
That is how "scared" they are of being liable for a water leak from poly.
I took over a 42 story hotel/condo--- 185 units.
The superintendent before me had the guys installing 1/4" poly on all the icemakers.
I didn't find out untill I got called into a unit that had some water damage.
Water & laminated floors do not mix well.
I put an immediate stop to this & ordered 200 no-burst¯ ss braided connectors.
The general did not want to pull out any of the fridges for us to change the lines.
I told them we will not take any responsibilty for any water damage from a faulty line, only if it was not put in correctly would we eat the cost of any water damage.
After 7 leaks found & 7 new kitchen floors , they decided to remove all the fridges so we could change the lines.
I do like copper, but at the current prices of copper it's pretty expensive & does require more labor verses using a ss braided line.
& to answer your question---- the codes does not say about what type of ferrul----- It does say that you must meet maunfacturers guidlines.
"can you cross your legs were short a nail" Pontius Pilate
Where do you get one of those no-burst lines for a fridge? I've seen them for everything else but not small diameter and long enough for a refrigerator....
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http://www.fluidmaster.com/ice_maker.html"can you cross your legs were short a nail" Pontius Pilate
Thanks, Bill.
The different types of plastic and different fittings have different requirements, but unless the tubing is something special or the fitting contains an integral sleeve, there should be a sleeve inside the tubing.
And I can't believe that anyone would drop the bucks for a SubZero freezer and then install it with plastic tubing. Just plain stupid.