Thanks for sharing! I’ve always wondered how important the filters and scheduled filter changes were in these water dispensers and also in shower heads.
One reason to replace them when the indicator turns on is bacterial buildup. Using an old filter for a long time can be harmful because of that. The water flows through everything but kinda just sits in the filter indefinitely which is what causes the bacterial growth.
I agree that it's mostly based off of where you get your water source. Most of these refrigerator water line filters just are made of activated carbon and potentially some other filters. It's primary job is to remove the chlorine and the sulfur odor, and not much more.
I never understand why Mom replaced her pretty new Samsung refrigerator with a GE, which was bought by Haiar, a Chinese company, in 2016. For the Samsung, I always bought a 2-pack of HDX filters for $50 at Home Depot, but they didn't have those for Mom's GE, they didn't even have the GE filter, so I ordered some on-line, which didn't work, and apparently that is common. They are the XWFE (Ex-wife?!) filter, which is the same as the old XWF filter, but now it has a little chip that deactivates the filter after 6 months--and is sometimes defective, so if your $50 doesn't work, everyone says "You got a bad one and need to replace it" as if throwing out brand-new $50 filters is acceptable. First of all, exchange it for a good one. Second, filtered water is now a subscription service. Lots of places will deliver a new filter every 180 days--or less. People keep telling me to install a whole house filter, but we rent. You can put a filter in the water line, it costs less, and it is supposed to last 5 years, but it only advertises removing some chlorine and bad taste. Other people tell me to hack the fridge, which you can do with a free bypass plug, or by cutting the chip from the original filter, but why would I buy Chinese filters?
@@HomeRapidRepairWould be an impressively broad scam, if true. I suspect more likely it’s a matter of the HUGE differences in water quality and content across the country.
@@jimtalbott9535 I agree with you. I’m not saying it’s a scam at all. I’m just saying in some situations you won’t even notice a difference in the taste with a filter or without a filter.
Our water source is rain water collection, quadruple german filtered and UV treatment, we don't need these, but still get the warning and have to unplug and plug back in. Any way to bypass it entirely?
I’m not sure on your model. On my model, I simply can hold in the filter button for like three seconds and it will reset and not annoy me for a few more months… Good luck 👍🏼
what you wrote doesn't mean anything. if you want gold standard of water quality then use a reverse osmosis system prior to entering the system you have (of filter, UV, and filter again). you may have missed the memo, rain water all over the world is now officially contaminated. double distillation of rain water is what I use in my mountain cabin. but for most people the best system to acquire and use practically will be an RO system, followed by HQ carbon filter, UV treatment, and a final carbon filter.
Cut open the old filter and look at what has built up inside. Based on the water flow reduction you reported, I predict you'll find a lot of "gunk" in there. Is that gunk actually harmful? Probably not. But do you really want to drink it?
We have too much chlorine in our water, like when you get a glass from the faucet you can smell it. I don't know if it's a bad idea, but I'm basing my fridge filter replacement on smell. I've already reset my filter light once, so I'm over 6 months on this filter, and when i just tested a glass side by side, i can't smell chlorine from the fridge water.
Hey, I don’t know if it’s scientific but if it works for you, I think that’s fine. As far as the chlorine you can get a reverse osmosis system for your kitchen faucet.
I have a 2016 LG fridge and the water flow in the door has always been extremely slow. Has anyone experienced this and found a fix? I feel like there has to be a kink in an internal line, but it's almost all inaccessible. Smh
I would be Surprised if the kink was in the interior. This happened to me and I pulled the refrigerator out and the kinked waterline in the back was cutting off almost all of the water flow. Have you checked behind your refrigerator yet? If that line looks good the next thing to check would be the water filter. And then, after that, maybe check the shut off valve, if any, underneath or behind the refrigerator for sediment clog.
@@HomeRapidRepair Thanks for the ideas. I know it's not a kink on my external line, but I probably should look a little closer at the tubing around the solenoid and such, just to make sure it's not an accessible kink that I'm missing. 👊
Thank you for watching and sharing. It sounds like you first hand experience with water quality. I have not had my personal Well water tested for safety in over 10 years… I’m behind.
My old filter on my whirlpool needed replacing. So i bought a new one to replace it. I have a zero water filter system I use to use and it came with a particle meter. I measured the old filter and the new filter and they both read pretty high at 44. Interestingly enough i measure just the tap water and it exactly the same at 44! Basically the filters do nothing. Youre straight up drinking tap water. I set up my zero water filter system and filtered the water. I measured the water and it read 0. I stopped drinking water from the fridge.
I do own an in-ground swimming pool and I use a lot of test strips. These water quality strips in this video are for drinking water quality. Thanks for watching.
Great question. I know in this house the kitchen faucet goes through a water softener. Where as this refrigerator waterline does not. 😊 Thank you for watching.
@@HomeRapidRepair not to mention, and even though the test is not perfect, that is a more flawed testing methodology than controlling for where the lines flow. Even if the other lines didn't run through a softener, the conditions of the test would no longer be the same, making the testing sample even less valid.
I replaced my refrigirator filter with that one. The water tasted terrible. Iodine taste after standing for a while.. I checked a number of times to make sure the filerter was inserted properly. Had to buy the original. Everydrop by whirlpool. Now the water tastes great.
Ok thanks for sharing your experience. I may be getting old, but I don’t taste much of a difference with filter in or filter out🤦🏻♂️. I used to buy the brand name water filters, but now at like $50+ each it just seems like a waste of money.
Honestly, considering the price of them (I have an LG with a water filter too), a whole home filter would be a far better investment. Combine it with a water softener and really, it would be far better money spent compared to those foolish cartridges. I have to make some plumbing changes to get a bigger, high flow filter into my main line (I have a less than ideal one now) but once that is done, I am done with these silly things. That is for sure.
Not sure that I agree as, yes, the price per filtered unit is much lower, you are also filtering 99% of the water that isn't even bing consumed. 99% if the filtered water is quite literally going down the drains. The BEST value is a pitcher filter like ZEROWATER. Superior filtering AND value per filtered unit.
I’ve considered that idea. One thing I’m thinking of is to attach an “RV” water filter to the line headed to the fridge. Some are designed to last 5-10 years, and primarily improve flavor. But it would likely reduce the “work” the pricier filter in the fridge is doing.
Why didn't you check fluoride? Why not buy a filter that filters out flouride? Everyone who drinks a gallon of water or more and takes showers and baths, look up the side effects of fluoride and buy a filter. There are several that fit all fridges.
I guarantee you it varies significantly by municipality because you WILL need a filter for the Augusta areas or else youd be drinkjng moldy sh*t water 100%
@@HomeRapidRepair Due to a ground water contamination issue water is heavily chlorinated. Supposedly the water around here once won contests for taste quality
I believe you. I think this water tester manufacturer wanted to make their testing strips look more fancy. However could they affect taste like if someone was a coffee snob?
@@chrisrobinson5413 that was a good video, thanks. I usually run my filters at least three or four cycles of the warning light. I've never noticed any difference. Probably a good observation with the flow. I'll have to check that next time I replace it. The filter definitely does its job because my water smells like city pool without it.
your research is flawed you don't forget you have about a gallon of water in line from the filter to the dispenser through the coil plastic coil... you have to run it at least 3 minutes to get all that water circulated out....
I know this response is a little old, but I don't believe all refrigerators have that coil anymore. My old Kenmore had the 10 or 20 ft of plastic coiling in the fridge to cool the water. My new LG has about an 11 oz reservoir. So it just has tubing coming in, goes to the reservoir to get chilled and then out the spigot. So I guess it depends on what type of refrigerator you have as to how long you need to run the water.
Another consideration is the longevity of the filter. The generics might only last half the time or maybe longer who knows. I understand that would take a long time to do and wouldn’t be practical. That said it’s nice to know that they work.
You should have tested the third non filtered water straight from your spigot not from the fridge, that fridge has a huge reservoir, I suspect that the "unfiltered" water you tested last was still coming from the filtered reservoir
We did run a little bit of water not shown in the video. But you still may be right. I do happen to know my kitchen faucet is on a water softener however, the refrigerator water is not…. Thank you for watching. I do want to redo this video in the future with more scientific methods.
Just a reminder that the water coming into your house is already safe for human consumption. The filter on a refrigerator is just to get that remaining stuff out that isn't harmful to humans but can make the water sometimes taste better depending on the water in your area. My water taste the same out of the tap and fridge. I kind it all of a marketing ploy to spend more money on something you don't really need in the first place. I replace my filter yearly and reset it at 6 months, the water pressure does improve but meh.
Thanks for sharing. I think you bring up some good points for our viewers. In my case I’m on a private well, so there is no regular testing of the water. But yes, I agree with you. An annoying light turning on telling you to change your filter, prematurely, is a total marketing and salesmanship ploy.
@@HomeRapidRepair FFS a majority of water in most cities and towns is within spec for human consumption. If you want better tasting water put in a whole home water filtration system. Stop acting like it's so bad and grow up. The data disagrees with you.
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Thanks for sharing! I’ve always wondered how important the filters and scheduled filter changes were in these water dispensers and also in shower heads.
You are so welcome!
One reason to replace them when the indicator turns on is bacterial buildup. Using an old filter for a long time can be harmful because of that. The water flows through everything but kinda just sits in the filter indefinitely which is what causes the bacterial growth.
Best comment I’ve read in some time. Thank you 👏🏼😊
I agree that it's mostly based off of where you get your water source. Most of these refrigerator water line filters just are made of activated carbon and potentially some other filters. It's primary job is to remove the chlorine and the sulfur odor, and not much more.
Thanks for your wisdom 👍🏼👍🏼
I never understand why Mom replaced her pretty new Samsung refrigerator with a GE, which was bought by Haiar, a Chinese company, in 2016. For the Samsung, I always bought a 2-pack of HDX filters for $50 at Home Depot, but they didn't have those for Mom's GE, they didn't even have the GE filter, so I ordered some on-line, which didn't work, and apparently that is common.
They are the XWFE (Ex-wife?!) filter, which is the same as the old XWF filter, but now it has a little chip that deactivates the filter after 6 months--and is sometimes defective, so if your $50 doesn't work, everyone says "You got a bad one and need to replace it" as if throwing out brand-new $50 filters is acceptable.
First of all, exchange it for a good one.
Second, filtered water is now a subscription service.
Lots of places will deliver a new filter every 180 days--or less.
People keep telling me to install a whole house filter, but we rent.
You can put a filter in the water line, it costs less, and it is supposed to last 5 years, but it only advertises removing some chlorine and bad taste.
Other people tell me to hack the fridge, which you can do with a free bypass plug, or by cutting the chip from the original filter, but why would I buy Chinese filters?
PFAS, pharmaceuticals, lead, and residual chemical outliers ... what were they before, after, and without.
Thanks for watching and taking time out of your day for responding to my video. I appreciate it.
I don't know if all but the filter reset is a timer. On our Kenmore Elite in 6 months the red light will be back on.
I’m not saying it’s a scam to sell more filters, but maybe 🤷🏻♂️😂
@@HomeRapidRepairWould be an impressively broad scam, if true. I suspect more likely it’s a matter of the HUGE differences in water quality and content across the country.
@@jimtalbott9535 I agree with you. I’m not saying it’s a scam at all. I’m just saying in some situations you won’t even notice a difference in the taste with a filter or without a filter.
Our water source is rain water collection, quadruple german filtered and UV treatment, we don't need these, but still get the warning and have to unplug and plug back in. Any way to bypass it entirely?
I’m not sure on your model. On my model, I simply can hold in the filter button for like three seconds and it will reset and not annoy me for a few more months… Good luck 👍🏼
what you wrote doesn't mean anything. if you want gold standard of water quality then use a reverse osmosis system prior to entering the system you have (of filter, UV, and filter again). you may have missed the memo, rain water all over the world is now officially contaminated. double distillation of rain water is what I use in my mountain cabin. but for most people the best system to acquire and use practically will be an RO system, followed by HQ carbon filter, UV treatment, and a final carbon filter.
Cut open the old filter and look at what has built up inside. Based on the water flow reduction you reported, I predict you'll find a lot of "gunk" in there. Is that gunk actually harmful? Probably not. But do you really want to drink it?
Great points…I do see all the nasty orange hard water residue at the top of the old filter 😳
try testing tap water from the sink and water hose
Good idea 👍🏼 Thanks
We have too much chlorine in our water, like when you get a glass from the faucet you can smell it. I don't know if it's a bad idea, but I'm basing my fridge filter replacement on smell. I've already reset my filter light once, so I'm over 6 months on this filter, and when i just tested a glass side by side, i can't smell chlorine from the fridge water.
Hey, I don’t know if it’s scientific but if it works for you, I think that’s fine. As far as the chlorine you can get a reverse osmosis system for your kitchen faucet.
Try testing with a TDS (total dissolved solids) meter.
I’ll look into this. Thank you 👍🏼😊
@@HomeRapidRepairThey’re shipped with some water filters, such as the “Zero-Water” brand.
@@jimtalbott9535 Project Farm used one to test different filters.
Answers a question that I have always had. Thank you for sharing this!
You are so welcome! Thanks for watching 😊👍🏼
I have a 2016 LG fridge and the water flow in the door has always been extremely slow. Has anyone experienced this and found a fix? I feel like there has to be a kink in an internal line, but it's almost all inaccessible. Smh
I would be Surprised if the kink was in the interior. This happened to me and I pulled the refrigerator out and the kinked waterline in the back was cutting off almost all of the water flow. Have you checked behind your refrigerator yet? If that line looks good the next thing to check would be the water filter. And then, after that, maybe check the shut off valve, if any, underneath or behind the refrigerator for sediment clog.
@@HomeRapidRepair Thanks for the ideas. I know it's not a kink on my external line, but I probably should look a little closer at the tubing around the solenoid and such, just to make sure it's not an accessible kink that I'm missing. 👊
Activated carbon is mainly used for PFAS/PFOA removal and Organic compound removal(taste and odor). It's not gonna remove heavy metals/nitrites/ect.
Thank you for watching and sharing. It sounds like you first hand experience with water quality. I have not had my personal Well water tested for safety in over 10 years… I’m behind.
@@HomeRapidRepair Take it to your states DEQ office and they will run tests usually for free.
My old filter on my whirlpool needed replacing. So i bought a new one to replace it. I have a zero water filter system I use to use and it came with a particle meter. I measured the old filter and the new filter and they both read pretty high at 44. Interestingly enough i measure just the tap water and it exactly the same at 44! Basically the filters do nothing. Youre straight up drinking tap water. I set up my zero water filter system and filtered the water. I measured the water and it read 0. I stopped drinking water from the fridge.
Thank you for sharing your experience and confirming some of my suspicions.
Aren’t those strips for swimming pools?
I do own an in-ground swimming pool and I use a lot of test strips. These water quality strips in this video are for drinking water quality. Thanks for watching.
Can u do one on well water
Yes for sure. The refrigerator in this video is in a house on well water. Thanks for watching
Instead of taking the new filter off to get unfiltered water why didn’t you just get it from the faucet?
Great question. I know in this house the kitchen faucet goes through a water softener. Where as this refrigerator waterline does not. 😊 Thank you for watching.
@@HomeRapidRepair not to mention, and even though the test is not perfect, that is a more flawed testing methodology than controlling for where the lines flow. Even if the other lines didn't run through a softener, the conditions of the test would no longer be the same, making the testing sample even less valid.
@@IsaacLoveland thanks 😊 Great points for sure 👍🏼
I was worried you were not going to test non- filtered water.
I hear ya. Thank you for watching 💦
I replaced my refrigirator filter with that one. The water tasted terrible. Iodine taste after standing for a while.. I checked a number of times to make sure the filerter was inserted properly. Had to buy the original. Everydrop by whirlpool. Now the water tastes great.
Ok thanks for sharing your experience. I may be getting old, but I don’t taste much of a difference with filter in or filter out🤦🏻♂️. I used to buy the brand name water filters, but now at like $50+ each it just seems like a waste of money.
Honestly, considering the price of them (I have an LG with a water filter too), a whole home filter would be a far better investment. Combine it with a water softener and really, it would be far better money spent compared to those foolish cartridges.
I have to make some plumbing changes to get a bigger, high flow filter into my main line (I have a less than ideal one now) but once that is done, I am done with these silly things. That is for sure.
Yes I think all your observations are spot on. These refrigerator filters are so low total volume compared to a whole house filter.
Not sure that I agree as, yes, the price per filtered unit is much lower, you are also filtering 99% of the water that isn't even bing consumed. 99% if the filtered water is quite literally going down the drains. The BEST value is a pitcher filter like ZEROWATER. Superior filtering AND value per filtered unit.
I’ve considered that idea. One thing I’m thinking of is to attach an “RV” water filter to the line headed to the fridge. Some are designed to last 5-10 years, and primarily improve flavor. But it would likely reduce the “work” the pricier filter in the fridge is doing.
and it may filter out some things that everybody knows about but what about the heavy metals a arsenics selenium Mercury
Yes you maybe right.
Why didn't you check fluoride? Why not buy a filter that filters out flouride? Everyone who drinks a gallon of water or more and takes showers and baths, look up the side effects of fluoride and buy a filter. There are several that fit all fridges.
Thanks for watching. This is a private well water house, no fluoride. No public water supply to this refrigerator.
@HomeRapidRepair I guess i missed that. I wasn't disrespecting your informative video. Thank you.
@ your good!! 👍🏼😊
Just so u know They make alkaline filters to
and did you have a RFID chip or a chipless maybe continue this is a good video continue it make it much more disciplined and include the chip
I guarantee you it varies significantly by municipality because you WILL need a filter for the Augusta areas or else youd be drinkjng moldy sh*t water 100%
I believe you. Thanks for commenting 👍🏼🛠️
Notice an immediate improvement in the taste of water when I replace the filter
That’s fantastic. I don’t think I notice a taste change…Maybe I should check again. Thanks for watching 😊
@@HomeRapidRepair Due to a ground water contamination issue water is heavily chlorinated. Supposedly the water around here once won contests for taste quality
All brands are not the same tho
The ones on Amazon are so much cheaper than the name brands 💦
@@HomeRapidRepairIndeed. There’s a whole world of videos here! :)
It seems like you had a good source of tap water to begin with so you wouldn’t even need a filter anyways.
Private well water…it is pretty hard though💦. Thanks for watching
Carbonate/alkalinity aren’t contaminants.
I believe you. I think this water tester manufacturer wanted to make their testing strips look more fancy.
However could they affect taste like if someone was a coffee snob?
Nice video
Thank you. I appreciate that. It’s always fantastic to read nice comments 😊
@@chrisrobinson5413 that was a good video, thanks. I usually run my filters at least three or four cycles of the warning light. I've never noticed any difference. Probably a good observation with the flow. I'll have to check that next time I replace it. The filter definitely does its job because my water smells like city pool without it.
I can tell a difference in taste. The filtered water is much better.
That’s great. Maybe I have dull taste buds 😂
your research is flawed you don't forget you have about a gallon of water in line from the filter to the dispenser through the coil plastic coil... you have to run it at least 3 minutes to get all that water circulated out....
@@uawsux I believe he did that, at least in the test to obtain “raw” water.
I know this response is a little old, but I don't believe all refrigerators have that coil anymore. My old Kenmore had the 10 or 20 ft of plastic coiling in the fridge to cool the water. My new LG has about an 11 oz reservoir. So it just has tubing coming in, goes to the reservoir to get chilled and then out the spigot. So I guess it depends on what type of refrigerator you have as to how long you need to run the water.
2:22 he says he is going to flush it out and cycle a couple of times bud
Another consideration is the longevity of the filter. The generics might only last half the time or maybe longer who knows. I understand that would take a long time to do and wouldn’t be practical. That said it’s nice to know that they work.
No matter what it’s better the. Tap !
Thanks 😊
You should have tested the third non filtered water straight from your spigot not from the fridge, that fridge has a huge reservoir, I suspect that the "unfiltered" water you tested last was still coming from the filtered reservoir
We did run a little bit of water not shown in the video. But you still may be right. I do happen to know my kitchen faucet is on a water softener however, the refrigerator water is not…. Thank you for watching. I do want to redo this video in the future with more scientific methods.
Bro , if you're making a youtube video atleast use a TDS indicator
Thank you. One other viewer recommended that too. Future content coming 🏠😊
Just a reminder that the water coming into your house is already safe for human consumption. The filter on a refrigerator is just to get that remaining stuff out that isn't harmful to humans but can make the water sometimes taste better depending on the water in your area. My water taste the same out of the tap and fridge. I kind it all of a marketing ploy to spend more money on something you don't really need in the first place. I replace my filter yearly and reset it at 6 months, the water pressure does improve but meh.
Thanks for sharing. I think you bring up some good points for our viewers. In my case I’m on a private well, so there is no regular testing of the water. But yes, I agree with you. An annoying light turning on telling you to change your filter, prematurely, is a total marketing and salesmanship ploy.
Yeah, unless you live in Flint....
@@ShiftyKen08 and there are many other cities that have horrible water quality in addition to Flint Michigan
@RapidRepair Of that there is no doubt.
@@HomeRapidRepair FFS a majority of water in most cities and towns is within spec for human consumption. If you want better tasting water put in a whole home water filtration system. Stop acting like it's so bad and grow up. The data disagrees with you.
at least you should’ve used glass cup for the tests
Thanks, I thought of that after I filmed. This video should be redone someday using a more scientific method. 🛠️🛠️