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ideamom_gw

HELP! My New Refrigerator's Water/Ice taste like Plastic!

ideamom
14 years ago

We were all excited when our new Whirlpool refrigerator arrived last week. This one had a water filter unlike our old fridge. Too bad that water tastes yucky! We can't even drink the water or use the ice because it tastes & smells like plastic. I called Whirlpool and they said to flush the system by filling up several cups of water & ice & pouring it out. Well did that and the plastic taste is still here! Anyone else have this problem?

Comments (168)

  • Maria Carli
    last year

    @David Boclair Thank you!


    We recently bought the LG 36-in Insta-view with Craft Ice Maker, Door within Door fridge.


    Since the start - we had a plastic taste coming out of the water and the ice tasted the same.


    We contacted LG, and after having very simplistic questions answered for them, they sent out a repair company to take a look.


    The guy replaced not only the lines but even the front left door where the ice and water dispenser is located. All of that, and nothing improved. Same as before.


    Yesterday - I saw this post and it has (so far) fixed the problem. I even sent the fix to the repair guy since he was saying he has seen a lot

    of these cases. LOL


    Photos of the before and after are below.


    Thanks again!


    BEFORE






    AFTER



  • david k
    last year

    Maria, you're lucky you have a visible arrow. I don't think mine does, but if it is there, I can't see it.

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  • david k
    last year

    I am back for a second time here because I wanted to add more info about this. When I first got the fridge 7 months ago, I had the same problem as everyone else here, and after I turned the filter a bit more, I felt it go a bit further and everything was ok. Then 6 months later I had to replace the filter. I tried a non-OEM filter to save some money but I never got it to fit properly. Then I got an OEM filter and I still couldn't get it to go in properly. The water tasted like crap again, but I didn't know for certain whether the filter was in or not. I removed the filter and turned it upside down, and no water leaked out of it, which tells me no water had ever passed through it. If you have a kitchen scale, one way to tell is to weigh the filter when brand new, and again after trying to use it. If it weighs exactly the same, then no water ever went thru it. Anyway, I called LG and experienced mostly bad customer service. One lady finally asked me to take a couple of photos of the fridge where the filter fits into it. She told me that there were three grooves that are supposed to line up, and mine weren't. See my attachment, where the one circled in red is shifted about 40 degrees clockwise from the two grooves marked in blue. She said I can try to twist it myself, but there's no way I can grip that inside ring with my fingers, and I didn't want to use pliers and crack the plastic, so I asked LG to send a repair person since it's still under warranty. They told me I would have to PAY for the service call! I said that was unacceptable and asked to speak to a supervisor. I waited for 20 minutes and was told he was too busy now but will call me back. He NEVER did. I complained on the LG Facebook page


    https://www.facebook.com/LGUSA/


    and I see a LOT of complaints about their refrigerators and their bad customer service. Well, some rep did get back to me to try to schedule a visit, but in the meantime, I somehow figured out again how to get the filter to click in properly. I wish the process was easy to describe. I thought about installing it incorrectly on purpose to make them come out and look at it, but after installing it correctly 10 times in a row, I think i have it pretty much down now. It involves the right combination of pushing in while twisting at the same time, but not stopping after you feel the first bit of resistance, you just keep twisting and then you feel it snap into place much more firmly.


  • Penny Jacoby
    last year
    last modified: last year

    We had the same problem over a year ago & only had a short warranty & they wouldn't extend to send a serviceman, so could not risk it & returned the fridge. I was def disappointed because it took me forever to pick that one & I really wanted. At the time we also found many posts with this complaint We tried numerous times to adjust the filter. You would think by now they would have resolved this design flaw or be able to assist customers. Oh well, own a GE now, but still like the look & layout of the LG Think

  • Rick Page
    last year

    Another thanks to David for his post on this water taste issue. New LG fridge delivered as replacement due to cooling issue. Previous fridge had no water taste issue. The water dispensed from new one had a plastic taste. I found David’s post and checked the filter. Sure enough, the filter was not properly seated. Turned it that last bit and flushed another 3 gallons. Water is now much better. Thanks again.

  • Charlie C
    last year

    David, you saved the day. I had called LG only for them to tell me my brand new braided hose needed to be replaced with copper or Plex. I called Best Buy and they offered to replace the filter, replace the fridge with the same model, or if that didn't work, I could return it or buy another model or brand. I actually have a Geek Squad appointment which I will cancel tomorrow. I just did your "trick", flushed it for the 4th time and voila, nice tasteless water. I want to make sure it's still good in the morning and then I'll cancel the appointment (which is in 3 days). Thanks Again!

  • Lisa A
    last year

    It took me forever decide on a new fridge but I knew it had to have an Ice/water dispenser in the door. I too chose an LG - took delivery on 11.30 and I LOVE every thing about it except for -yep, you guessed it-crappy tasting water…we were so frustrated and disappointed…I searched the internet for solutions and praise 🙌🏻 found David’s solution…THANK YOU!! After twisting the filter a little further and purging 5 more gallons of water…it tastes as good as the water we filtered through our PUR filter pitcher!! Thanks again, David! You made my day!!!

  • P K
    last year

    I follow this thread ever since I commented over a year ago. It is insane how much you've helped us David! If someone makes a gofundme page in his honor I will gladly pitch in for $10.

  • David Boclair
    last year

    LOL
    Maybe LG could toss me a couple free filters for preventing 200 returned fridges

  • sharilyn1
    last year

    David' s instructions did not help me. My fridge was an LG with the cool round ice cubes. We never got to use them because they tasted so bitter. Like rubber. The repair techs were out 5 or 6 times over several months and replaced every part that they thought could possibly cause the problem. I bought a water purifier/ so I wouldn't have to buy and carry drinking water home, as the water was undrinkable. This came with a water tester. The fridge was actually adding solids to the water. I bought 4 different LG filters. I ran gallons and gallons of water through them. I tested the water from sink and water from fridge in front of tech to show him that the LG filters took out absolutely no solids and asked him to taste it. He politely refused. The filter blew off on two different occasions and flooded my floor. Luckily I was home and heard the explosions. In the end, LG refunded my money and had me remove the serial number. I spent so many hours on phone and taking work off to meet techs at my house; every time hoping they could fix it. It was very stressful!!!

  • culinarystew
    last year

    THANK YOU! THANK YOU!! THANK YOU, DAVID!!! THOUGHT I GOT A LEMON. WORKS LIKE A CHARM. NOW OFF TO SEE HOW LONG IT TAKES TO GET THE TASTE OUT OF MY ICE!

  • Tracey Hill
    last year

    David - please have LG pay you 🤣 You are a miracle worker!

  • Lisa A
    last year

    Has anyone with the LG fridge found the bad tasted return after a few days of good tasting water? It seems like every few days, the taste returns-not as bad as the very first time when we discovered the filter wasn’t installed correctly, but bad enough that we go and check the filter again! Anyone have any suggestions or is this the new normal?

  • Nate Riggins
    last year
    last modified: last year

    Lisa A, I had to replace the hose on the back of the fridge and that did the trick. The installers used the black wire banded rubber hose. This was leaving the bad taste in the water. I replaced it with a cheap clear hose from Amazon and problem solved.

  • Lisa A
    last year

    Nate-thanks! We’ll give that a try! My plumber had to make some adjustments to my waterline in the basement before we could connect and he was surprised that the supplier provided the the black braided hose line…maybe he was on to something!! 🤣

  • Nate Riggins
    last year

    Yep thats probably the issue!

  • HU-203254649
    last year
    last modified: last year

    Good call David! I wondered why I didn't get that initial burst of air out of the water dispenser when I started flushing the system. I read your post and checked the filter and it was cold, but bone dry. I removed the filter and reseated it and twisted just like you recommended. Then I flushed and got the air purge. Thank you for the detailed post. EDIT: The delivery guys installed the filter the first time. Nice guys but they did not twist it hard enough to seat properly.

  • Ron McNinch
    last year

    David,

    Perfect advice!

    Our filter was dry when I took it out! After putting it under water and letting all the bubbles get out, then putting the filter in and turning it to the final stop, and running several gallons of water through it, we have great water!!

    Thank you for your research and post!!

    Ron in Salem

  • HU-603224670
    last year

    David, your solution worked on our new LG fridge! The water had been tasting horrible - like plastic. We soaked and then reattached the filter, screwing it in tightly. Now the water is fresh and clean tasting. Thank you!

  • Lisa A
    last year

    Nate & David - replaced the black rubber braided hose provided by Home Depot with the clear PEX tubing preferred from Amazon and voila! Fresh, clean tasting water for over a week now!! Thanks guys!!

  • John Bowker
    last year

    Anyone hsve an issuecwith LG water filter leaking after changing it?

  • iamwebel
    last year

    Thank you so much! Twisting the filter worked. So thankful you posted this!!!

  • Luis Caro
    last year

    @David Boclair I can't being to tell you how thankful I am for your post. I think it's been the most helpful one I have come across trying to solve any of the homeowner challenges I've dealt with. Reach out anytime if you need help with software :) Thanks!

  • HU-625548218
    last year

    This guy is an absolute genius. I’ve been pissing and moaning about this for months and all it was the filter all along. God do I feel stupid right now

  • E. S.
    last year

    I have a bad taste in the CRAFT ice only. Water and ice CUBES both taste fine. Anyone know why/how that might be? I've tried re-seating the filter, and it seemed like maybe it wasn't seated properly, but I'm having trouble imagining how that would affect *only* the craft ice. I guess I'll give it a few days and see!

  • David Boclair
    last year

    Sorry but my model doesn’t do craft ice, but perhaps there’s a separate filter for craft ice? Sorry I can’t be of more help

  • Tony Frazee
    11 months ago
    last modified: 11 months ago

    David, your recommendation worked perfectly. After having our new fridge and stainless steel water line installed- water tasted of plastic!. I went to the filter and found I was still able to turn it about another 1/4 turn from the seller install. Took out the filter, submerged in water, re-installed to a FULL tighten, ran 2 gallons of water through and perfect! Thank you.

  • Jeff Lupo
    11 months ago
    last modified: 11 months ago

    My filter was dry and iI submerged it until full. Ran a few gallons through and no more chemical taste Thanks David!

  • gregbooras
    10 months ago

    David,

    You are the man, this fixed my problem, no more skunk water. The install person only installed it until it clicked, you can almost make another turn. Funny my wife and I thought when we first used it, wow lots of water pressure, that is because the water was not being filtered!

    Best, Greg

  • Jennifer Stengel
    10 months ago

    David, yes!!!! Thank you!!

  • Marie Almy
    10 months ago

    These comments have been a godsend to me. I waited 8 months for my replacement refrigerator, and then to have the water taste like chlorine. When I checked how the filter was installed by delivery, it looked okay, but, it needed that extra twist. THEN...when I dispensed, air came out, and I heard othe noises within the fridge. There was no whoosh of air when the water was first turned on, and I thought that was unusual. Thank you...thank you... thank you.

  • HU-642645084
    10 months ago
    last modified: 9 months ago

    @David Boclair, Thank you so much for posting your solution of turning the water filter to the second click when installing to solve our toxic water taste in our LG refrigerator!!! We purchased the refrigerator in December 2022 and the store we bought it from took it back to their shop in February to check the plastic water taste, which they said they could never taste, and they finally agreed to replace the water basin and the tubing. We didn't get the fridge back from them until May 26--thankfully they gave us a loaner during that time. However, it still had the toxic plastic taste. I found your post last night and turned the filter another click to the right--I had a hard time gripping the filter to turn it because you have to really twist it hard, so I used a rubber thing you would use to help open jars--and that solved the toxic plastic taste!!! Long story, but after getting the filter in the correct position, I took it out and submerged it in water, just to make sure the air was out of it (as was also suggested). Anyway, I found that the filter was much easier to twist to the correct position after submerging it in water. So, it may be a helpful tip to submerge the filter in water first until it stops bubbling and then install it in the fridge. Thank you again for helping so many people with this horrible, but easy to solve, issue!!!

  • Bryan Jacobs
    8 months ago

    Brand new LG fridge and David’s solution worked for us as well. the water filter was not properly installed. I did not need to use that much force. Easy fix. Thanks David!

  • Kelly D
    8 months ago

    Brand new craft ice LG fridge arrived Saturday. Thanks to David's details and Maria's before and after photos in the comments I was able to immediately ask the installer to turn the filter just a smidge more. When I opened the panel the guy said, Oh I already installed it. :-) Ha! Thanks to the photo showing the arrows I knew ours was not yet fully installed. Flushed the filter per the fridge instructions and great tasting water. Sometimes the internet brings good things!

  • Randall Rushing
    7 months ago
    last modified: 7 months ago

    Hello David I just bought a new LG Refrigerator and the delivery person who's pants were sagging and my wife was embarrassed by the guys butt crack, but he put the filter in and apparently he did not turn it far enough to engage the filter so we have been drinking unfiltered water. After turning it until it stopped and pressing the water dispenser the flow started out weak but then after it got rid of the air inside the filter the water got cloudy until I ran enough water to get it cleared up so I also dumped all the ice out to start over. I feel that this cleared up my problem so I wanted to say thanks for the info and say good work

  • Lisa Wilhoit
    7 months ago

    My refidgerator was installed by a professional and I hadn't considered that the water filter wasn't installed poperly. This was exactly the fix to my chlorine/plastic tasting water. I have been searching the interenet looking for help and finally stumbled across this post. Thank you for posting this!!

  • Lisa Wilhoit
    7 months ago
    last modified: 7 months ago

    My brand new LG refidgerator was installed several days ago and no matter how much flushing I did the water smelled and tasted like chlorine/plastic. I never considered that the installer didnt properly install the filter. I searched the internet several times before stumbling across this post. This completely solved the problem. Thank you!!

  • Purple Kitties
    7 months ago

    Holy Moly! How can this be? I didn't see any way twisting the filter further could possibly be a solution, but was desperate and willing to try about anything. Sure enough, I twisted the filter further than I thought was possible, thought I'd break the housing. It worked and now our water is finally drinkable. Not just drinkable, it's very good. I don't know how many hours I have spent researching reasons for the awful plastic smell and taste of water and ice from our new fridge. I'm not sure how I ended up here with an actual viable solution. You can add me to the list of people David has saved from horid tasting water. Thank you... a million times thank you!

  • Sarah Morrow
    7 months ago

    I am so glad after 3 years of owning my fridge I finally came across this page! Y'all I have googled and googled what to do about my nasty water/ice that comes out of my fridge. It is absolutely not drinkable. I have replaced filters and bought different brands, but nothing changed. Finally I went home yesterday and twisted the filter even more and then dumped a gallon of water and low and behold the next cup I got was amazing! Thank you so much for your original post on how to fix the gross water issue!

  • John Doonan
    6 months ago
    last modified: 6 months ago

    David Boclair, you're a lifesaver. I found this post by accident, searching (only for 2 months) for a difference between braided stainless and braided pex supply lines. There's nothing better than saving time and money by finding someone that has already done the research and posted the answer. Thank you!

  • HU-176555280
    5 months ago

    Wow you were right on the money. The Installer delivered and installed our fridge yesterday including the filter, i never heard the air in the lines or the water spitting out and splasing, but the water tasted horrible, so I ran into your post and thought i would check the filter, sure enough they did not have it screwed in all the way. Once I contuned to screw it in all the way, i replaced the tray and held a glass under the water dispensor it started drawing from the filter, spitting and splasing out the air, until it ran continually and no longer spit. I ran into a pitcher until the filter no longer spit. Thank you so much.


  • Danielle Garretson
    4 months ago

    We just got a new LG fridge and it's the worst tasting water and ice I've ever experienced. I have read all your posts and the filter seems to be twisted all the way. I'm going to try everything you said and hope for the best. I am so happy to have found this discussion!

  • Richard Jordine
    4 months ago

    I'm going to add my thanks to David because I also was pulling out my hair trying to figure this out. I pulled the filter and it was still dry. Replaced it and twisted as hard as I could until i felt it pop into place and just like that I have the filter working and the water has been fine ever since

  • Richard Jordine
    4 months ago

    I'll just add my thanks here...ditto to what others have said. I pulled the filter and it was dry. put it back in and twisted until i felt it seat into place and when i hit the water button I got that old familiar "air purge" ran a couple of gallons through it and the water has been fine for days.

  • Aaron Sessions
    3 months ago

    Thank you!! I just became a hero with the in-laws.

  • Frank Binnendyk
    2 months ago

    I have a new LG refigerator with craft ice. My water was fine but both door ice and craft ice taste strong of plastic. LG said the problem was the braided line to the fridge, however it has a PEX lining and should not be the problem. I thought I double checked the filter seating, however upon reading this post again, I tried again. The filter felt lite and when properly turned, I could hear water flowing in and the filter got heavy. Flushed the line and wiped out the ice tray for a clean re-start. I’ll let you know if it fixes the craft ice and door ice taste

  • Frank Binnendyk
    2 months ago

    Door ice now tastes great! Still waiting for craft ice production. I am sure my problem is resolved Thank You! 🙏

  • Frank Binnendyk
    2 months ago

    After several cycles of making ice, the craft ice still tastes strong. I need a different solution for the craft ice. I am happy the water and dooe ice are good now.

  • Alisa Kirkham
    2 months ago

    A hero in the past and a hero right now! Thanks, David, for spending the time to write up and detail how to fix this issue! No more disgusting water from my new LG! Now to address the issue that it is a quarter inch taller than advertised and shown in the owner's manual. We had to remove the front wheels to get it to fit in my space!


  • Tom T
    28 days ago

    Thanks David for your gift that keeps on giving...I lucked in to finding this thread and it helped me troubleshoot the same problem right away without going through what a lot of folks apparently did. One thing I noticed is that when the filter wasn't properly seated,, the water came out with a full stream right away. When the filter was installed properly, there was some initial sputtering when the water came out which i took as a good sign and likely air in the filter process. Cheers all!