Well the wife pulled the fridge out earlier tonight cause she dropped something behind it and in the process managed to run over the plastic ice maker hose and puncture it real good. I didn't know water could squirt out of a tiny hose so hard! I tried crimping it with a couple pairs of vice grips on it and it didn't do anything... The supply is a saddle valve coming off a copper pipe in the basement below the kitchen, and of course there is no shutoff valve for it whatsoever. The entire supply for the house is currently shutoff. For the long term fix, I'm going to cut the saddle section out and sweat in a copper tee with a shutoff, and probably replace the plastic line with a braided one. The problem is that I have a 6 day business trip and my plane leaves at 9 am tomorrow morning, so I have to make a quick fix to it for now (or more likely when the orange box opens in the morning). Can I buy something from Home Depot (or better yet, Walmart since they are 24 hours) to crimp the plastic tube with? Or somehow disconnect the saddle valve and seal up the hole in the copper? Wifey will just have to go without an ice maker while I am away! Thanks for your help.

This problem has been going on for a few months (if not longer). I really noticed it when I turned on my outside tap and filled a white bucket. I was horrified, I went in the house and turned on the tap in the kitchen. It is right above the outside tap. Water seemed fine although I had probably flushed the line by that time. I realized the stain in the tub that my wife has been griping about is sort of like rust. I never gave it a lot of thought because it can be very easily wiped off, real rust stains doesn't it?? I called the water authority and they came and flushed the hydrant in front of my house. They said, nope no rust here. I wasn't right there with my white bucket when he opened it though, so I'm not so sure. The water looks clear, [I][U]even at the outside tap.[/U][/I] It's not until you put it in something that you see it. I know what your going to say, water line. It's pretty much all copper, from the main line throughout the whole house. The only place it's not copper is 3 connectors that were put in because they broke the line. There are 3 because they had to add a section of copper because they broke it in 2 spots within a couple feet of each other. The jerk with the shovel was a real piece of work. The first line he broke was the main line out at the street, . Water company had to come out and shut off the whole street while they fixed it. Certainly made me a popular guy, it was off for hours, not minutes. They had to bring a pump in to drain the hole so they could fix the pipe. They put on some kind of what I'd call a quick connect fitting. All three places have this same kind of fitting. They said it was a legal fitting for this type of repair. The town inspector passed it, but I should also add that the guy responsible for the whole mess knew the inspector. They spent more time talking than he did inspecting. Before I could say anything they were shoveling dirt over them. So, I guess my question is (after all that rambling) Is this a common way if fixing a broken pipe on an incoming water line that is buried underground?? I have a sharkbyte connector on one pipe inside the house, but the guy at the hardware told me they are made for that purpose, he didn't think they were ok for underground connections though. :confused: Are there any of you that do this kind of repair, and is that the source of my problem?? If those things are rusting I need to know because the line they fixed is within a foot of the house foundation. If it breaks it'll flood that wall, then I'll have a real mess.