# How to seal off water line to refrigerator ice-maker when moving it

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-seal-off-water-line-to-refrigerator-ice-maker-when-moving-it/618588>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 12, 2012, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-seal-off-water-line-to-refrigerator-ice-maker-when-moving-it/618588 "2012-04-12T18:49:24Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\
**Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-seal-off-water-line-to-refrigerator-ice-maker-when-moving-it/618588/1 "2012-04-12T18:49:24Z")

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Getting rid of dead fridge and getting new one. Old fridge has water line from the ice maker in back of fridge running to a water pipe. How am I going to cap off the water line when I move the fridge?

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**Author:** ![Baracus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2bfe46/32.png) [@Baracus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baracus)\
**Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-seal-off-water-line-to-refrigerator-ice-maker-when-moving-it/618588/2 "2012-04-12T18:57:59Z")

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Isn’t there a valve at the pipe? Frequently a self-piercing, “saddle valve” is used when the plumbing wasn’t originally installed with a ice-maker in mind.

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**Author:** ![Mithras](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mithras](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mithras)\
**Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-seal-off-water-line-to-refrigerator-ice-maker-when-moving-it/618588/3 "2012-04-12T19:37:45Z")

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And worst case scenario, there should be a valve to shut off your house’s entire water supply.

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**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\
**Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-seal-off-water-line-to-refrigerator-ice-maker-when-moving-it/618588/4 "2012-04-12T20:18:07Z")

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> [@Mithras](#):
>
> And worst case scenario, there should be a valve to shut off your house’s entire water supply.

And if does require you to shut off the whole house’s water, use this opportunity to install a proper shut-off valve for the ice maker.

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**Author:** ![Al\_Bundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@Al\_Bundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al_Bundy)\
**Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-seal-off-water-line-to-refrigerator-ice-maker-when-moving-it/618588/5 "2012-04-12T21:46:18Z")

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Trace the line back to the source. Shut the valve off there. If the valve won’t shut off, turn off the main water feed and remove the valve and cap it if it is one of those saddle valves. They make a patch kit to do that.

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**Author:** ![Snnipe\_70E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@Snnipe\_70E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snnipe_70E)\
**Post date:** [April 13, 2012, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-seal-off-water-line-to-refrigerator-ice-maker-when-moving-it/618588/6 "2012-04-13T16:00:11Z")

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Locate the valve shut it. When you remove the fridge copp the line do not just depend on a valve to hold. Most water lines are connected by a 1/4 inch tubing so for a quick cap job get a 1/4 tubing cap.