Saddle valve
A saddle valve is a valve used to supply liquid where a low volume, low pressure stream is required. The name is derived from the fact that it is mounted in such a way that it “saddles” the line, mounting it from both sides.
They are typically used for suppling cold water, via a 3/8 in. tube, to:
* humidifiers and
* ice makers in freezers.
A saddle valve is mounted directly on to a pipe which is usually 1/2 in. copper tubing. Saddle valves are self-tapping devices. Once mounted on a line, with the included rubber seal in place, all that is required is to turn the valve clockwise until it pierces the water line. When the valve handle can no longer be turned, it is done tapping the pipe. Turning the handle counter-clockwise opens the valve. These valves can be installed without shutting off the main water supply.
Plumbing codes, local or international, often do not allow use of a saddle valve; instead a tee and a conventional globe, gate, or ball valve is to be installed. However, where allowed, saddle valves are low cost and easy to install.
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May 4th, 2008 at 11:11 pm
Be sure the pipe you choose is a cold water pipe, and be doubly sure it is not a pipe from your hot water heating system! Do a little detective work and trace the pipe back to a known cold water source, such as the main coming into your home or a nearby plumbing fixture, like a sink or toilet. (Though connection to a hot water pipe can be done, the hot water will cause the rubber gaskets on the valve to deteriorate more quickly.)
If you can’t determine the origin of the most temptingly situated pipe, turn on the heat and run the hot water throughout the house to heat up all the pipes. If the one you want to use stays cold, you’ve struck paydirt… oil… uh… water!
Don’t connect the saddle valve to a pipe run for an outdoor faucet or sprinkler system that you turn off seasonally. Unless you don’t want ice this winter!
The actual location of the valve on the cold water pipe should be as near to the appliance to which it will be mated as possible. Choose a location that is easily accessible for both installing the saddle valve now, and possible maintenance in the future. These valves are good, but not immortal. You may have to replace it at some point due to corrosion or other failure. OK… your plumbing may not give you the greatest location choices, but do your best!
You can install a saddle valve on a pipe under the kitchen sink! I would not recommend attaching the valve to the 3/8″ faucet inlet tubes, because they are thin walled and may bend excessively or even crush when you clamp on the valve! Instead, attach the saddle valve to the cold water supply line before the shutoff. If there is not enough room to do this, put the valve in the basement or in an alternate location.
Clean the pipe… Remove any corrosion, dirt, or other yucky stuff from the section of pipe where the valve is going to be installed. You can use steelwool or fine sandpaper, followed by a wipe with a soapy sponge and rinse. Cleaning will improve the seal of the gasket, and will lessen the amount of debris you will introduce into the valve and pipe.
Prepare the saddle valve… The valve assembly consists of the shutoff valve itself and the mounting base which clamps to the pipe (these factory-assembled, but may need just a little attention… read on). The following checks are to be sure that you will have no surprises… such as the famous Niagara Falls effect… when you pierce the pipe!
* Be sure that the valve body is tightly attached to its base. Turn the body of the valve (not the packing nut) clockwise until it is firmly attached. Don’t force it! If the factory did its job, you will not need to do this. But, we know better than to take that for granted, don’t we?
* Check the tightness of the packing nut. It should be a half turn beyond hand tight… to start. If you cannot turn the nut by hand in either direction as the valve comes “out of the box”, leave it alone for now. If there is a slight amount of leakage around the valve stem when you turn the water on, tighten the packing nut 1/2 turn (clockwise), which should stop the seepage. Tighten more only if really necessary.
* Look at the bottom of the valve. You will see the piercing point on the end of the valve stem. Place the rubber gasket over the piercing point, and align it so its natural curve matches the curve of the mounting base. The piercing point should not extend beyond the surface of the gasket. If it does, turn the valve stem out (counterclockwise) until the point is at least a sixteenth of an inch or so below the surface of the gasket.
Clamp the valve onto the pipe… Now the fun starts. Place the valve in position on the pipe. Be sure the rubber gasket is in the proper position. Sandwich the base around the pipe and tighten the bolts down evenly until the gasket is slightly compressed, and stop. DON’T OVERTIGHTEN!! Trust me… you can crush the pipe. The valve assembly should be firmly seated, and immoveable. If a slight leak occurs at the gasket later, you can always tighten the bolts down a little more later.
SPECIAL NOTE FOR PLASTIC OR IRON PIPE INSTALLATIONS:
* Turn off the water supply and relieve pressure in the line by momentarily turning on a nearby faucet.
* You may want to drain the pipe, though this is a judgment call on your part. Since the hole is very small, the leakage from it will be minimal as long as no one opens up any faucets or flushes any toilets on the line while you are working on it. Have a small bucket or some towels at the ready, just in case!!
* Determine the final location of the valve, and drill a small hole into the pipe at the approximate location of the piercing point on the valve stem. The hole should be slightly larger than the diameter of the piercing point.
* If you drill upwards, you may have some water leaking into your drill (even if you drain the pipe), so if at all possible locate the valve so that you can drill downwards or horizontally. Use a battery powered drill or, if you must use an electric drill, plug into a GFCI protected outlet for shock protection. Click HERE to find out about GFCI outlets if you are not familiar with them.
Turn the valve stem inward until the piercing point extends at least 1/8″ past the surface of the rubber gasket. Place the saddle valve in position with the piercing point seated into the newly drilled hole, and clamp the valve into place as described above. Turn the valve fully off (clockwise), skip the next step (Pierce the pipe… you just did it!!) and proceed to Turn the water supply back on below.
Pierce the pipe… Most of the instruction leaflets that come with saddle valves tell you that turning off the water supply is unnecessary. Turn the water off anyway, just in case. Murphy’s Law and all. Now… nail biting time… turn the valve stem clockwise until it is bottomed out. There will be some resistance as it pierces the pipe. The shutoff is now in the FULL OFF position.
Turn the water supply back on… I know some you probably didn’t turn the water off, so if you had a little… shall-we-say… “dampness problem”, you know now why I told you do to it!! Anyway, for the rest of you, turn the water on and check for leaks around the base gasket and the valve stem. So far so good!
Test the valve… Get a small pail or cat bowl, hold it under the valve, and open the valve slightly to flush out any debris. Be patient… you will be rotating the handle roughly a billion turns before the valve opens! If, after the 999.9 millionth turn, no water comes out, you may not have turned the piercing valve stem far enough in to fully penetrate the pipe. Attempt that step again. Oh… did you turn the main water supply back on?
Attach the inlet tubing from the appliance… The 1/4″ tubing commonly used today is available in both flexible plastic and copper. I have no preference. For the novice, the plastic tubing has the advantage of being the easiest to cut… sharp knife or scissors will do it! There is a metal sleeve that must be installed inside of the plastic tubing before attaching it to the appliance. See the documentation with the plastic tubing kit for more details.
Some hardware stores sell refrigerator inlet supply kits, with the saddle valve, tubing, and other accessories included… making this an even easier job. These kits will work with other 1/4″ tubing appliances, also, such as built-in humidifiers, provided the tubing length is adequate.
May 4th, 2008 at 11:12 pm
I have a saddle valve for my furnace’s humidifier, but the valve drips when I turn it on? How do I repair or… gulp… replace it?
If the valve has slight leakage around the valve stem, simply tightening the packing nut may solve it.
If the packing nut will not tighten, if the valve handle does not turn easily, or if the valve has corrosion around the stem due to prior seepage, the best course to take is to replace it. You can actually remove the old valve and install the new one in its place. Just follow this procedure:
Turn off the water supply. Disconnect any tubing from the valve. Open the valve or another fixture on the line for a second to relieve pressure in the line. You may want to drain the pipe, though this is a judgement call on your part. Since the hole in the pipe is very small, the leakage from it will be minimal as long as no one opens up any faucets or flushes any toilets on the line while you are working on it. Have a small bucket or some towels at the ready, just in case!!
Prepare the new valve for installation (see the first question above). However, turn the piercing valve in so that the point extends about 1/8″ beyond the rubber gasket.
Position the slightly extended piercing valve over the hole made by the previous valve, press it into place and tighten the clamping bolts