Refrigerator (ice maker/door water) connection advice wanted

[flossy21]

I have a 4 year old Maytag refrigerator (fridge) with ice maker, ice & water in the door. One day last week the wife noticed water on the floor by the fridge. I pull her out and sure enough we have a leak. It's a tile floor kitchen but the leak was going for a while (drip by drip) and ran back under the floor and wall behind the fridge into our living room where it warped some oak hardwood floor under a couch. The frustrating part is that the leak was in the Maytag factory fitting. Coming out of the fridge is a 5/16" diameter clear plastic line which terminates in a threaded fitting. The leak was dripping from the back side of this fitting. I had attached a stainless braided line to the valve in the wall of the house when we got the fridge. None of that appears to have leaked. Here's a pic...

You can see that I have cut the 5/16" plastic pipe which used to attached to the fridge (see the blue arrows where I cut it). The brass colored ring was crimped around the plastic pipe at the fitting to hold them together. This is where he leak was. So now I have this coming out of the back of my fridge...

I went to Lowe's with all my parts, described my problem to the guy and he tells me this is what I need to get a fitting on the end of this plastic line attached to my fridge...

Unfortunately my new friend at Lowe's is incorrect. The compression fitting/ferrule combo does not clamp down tightly on the plastic pipe at all.

So, keeping in mind that I don't want another leak ever again, what kind of fitting can I buy to connect my 5/16" plastic line to my braided stainless tubing?

Thanks in advance for your help with this.

 

[Jimbo]

I have seen refrigerator lines which are "non standard". You may need to buy that item from Whirlpool ( who makes maytag). You might also just call in a Whirlpool factory authorized service tech who probably has the right parts. You really don't want another leak! If you post the model number of the frig, we can look to see if that line is a stocked part.

 

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[flossy21]

Maytag model# MFI2568AEB

The Maytag fridge model number is MFI2568AEB

I really would rather not trust a Chinese made Maytag part again. After all it is the factory made fitting that got me in trouble the first time.

Thanks for any help you can offer.

 

[Terry]

Something like this used an inside sleeve inside the plastic tubing. It pushs in on the end, and that's what keeps the plastic tubing from crushing.

 

[flossy21]

Inside sleeve

Something like this used an inside sleeve inside the plastic tubing. It pushs in on the end, and that's what keeps the plastic tubing from crushing.

Yes -- the compression union I bought at Lowe's (pictured above) has a little inner sleeve that is flared on the end that you stick inside the ID of the tube. I see that this gives the ferrel something to clamp to when you tighten the fitting. Unfortunately the size of the tube appears to be non-standard?

I wonder how hard it would be just to replace the whole line in the fridge from the icemaker/water valve down with a stainless line and be done with this plastic mess?

 

[Jimbo]

The diagrams do not show clearly how all the parts go together. You may need this water tank part:
https://www.repairclinic.com/PartDe...01909?replacedManufacturerPartNumber=67006323

Again, I think you may need to go to an appliance parts supply house. Take all your information and the tube with you.

 

[Ckaine45069]

What was the solution to this issue? I have the same failed fitting on a 10 year old Maytag Fridge