On the subject of refrigerator ice makers...

[NYCkaren]

I moved into a new (rental) building with new appliances three years ago. The refrigerator has an ice maker. But these days the ice tastes off. It didn't at first. Is there anything I can do about it?

[lergnom]

If you google the brand and your question, you'll probably get the answer. My first thought was to wonder if it uses a filter.

[ccbweb]

You might look to see if there's a filter and if so, change it. If there's no filter on the water line that feeds the ice maker you might think about installing something like one of these Culligan in-line filters. They cost about less than $20 and take about 15 minutes to put in. We used it for drinking water at our tap but it's the same plumbing for that as for the ice maker. It's at Amazon, here.
http://tinyurl.com/cd2rk8

[RShea78]

A filter (replacement/addition) can help only if the off flavor is in the water supply. Being a rental, heaven knows what could contribute to an off flavor if it was something that died, spoiled, or was something that contained a strong odor. You may want to locate the defrost drip pan, if it contains one. I make up sachets of baking soda using coffee filters, that works wonders in mine.

[monku]

I got one from Home Depot for $16.
Generic in line filter you splice into the existing water line-hopefully the water line is plastic, otherwise if its copper tubing you got to know how to cut that, but the filter is good for both.

Then again it could be stuff in your freezer and refrigerator.
You might try making ice cubes with water from your sink (cover with plastic wrap) and compare it with the ice from the ice maker to see if it tastes bad too. Some charcoal briquettes in your refrigerator or freezer will absorb odor like baking soda.

[RShea78]

>>I got one from Home Depot for $16. Generic in line filter you splice into the existing water line-...<<

Being that cheap, I wonder if that filter contains activated carbon that helps in removing the off flavors in the water supply?

>>Some charcoal briquettes in your refrigerator or freezer will absorb odor like baking soda.<<

One has to make sure that they are not the "starter treated" charcoal briquettes. Last summer I could not find the plain old fashioned (non-petrochemical flavored) charcoal briquettes.

[monku]

Yes, the $16 Home Depot filter has activated carbon because the purpose of all those filters is to remove any off taste in the water.

Of course, plain charcoal briquettes.

[RShea78]

>>Yes, the $16 Home Depot filter has activated carbon because the purpose of all those filters is to remove any off taste in the water.<<

Thanks for the clarification, but not all of those filters are of the activated carbon filtration type (charcoal granules). Cheap ones use some proprietary tricking, like spun carbon filaments, of which luckily may be good for a month. Perhaps in a change out, you can dissect to find out like I did.

[monku]

I threw the box out, but I believe it said it was good for 300 gallons of water....that's a lot of ice cubes. Made for ice makers. I got it because like the OP, I thought there may have been an off taste to the ice cubes. It was a brand new refrigerator and ice maker. It may not have been the water and could have been the water line which was never used until I got the ice maker.

Of course there are more expensive ones that are have a higher capacity and better suited for refrigerators that have water and ice dispensers.

[RShea78]

Ones like that, that state 300 gal will generally also state 6 months, whichever comes first.

To be honest, I am not a fan of home refrigeration ice makers. Where I live chlorine and fish water off flavors are the norm unless one has a reverse osmosis system or a dedicated ice maker.

[monku]

Not to worry. I live in Los Angeles and supposedly they have the top tasting water.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industr...

Thought chlorine in water is supposed to dissipate into the air after 12-24 hours?

I got the $100 icemaker for free because I complained after it took them 3 times before they could deliver it. Its convenient and I love it.