# New icemaker hose leaves bad taste in my mouth



## tripower (Nov 16, 2006)

I just bought a new icemaker/water hose for my fridge and when getting water from the fridge it leaves a distinct taste of rubber or plastic. What can I do to get rid of this taste and is it at all harmful?


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## rjordan392 (Apr 28, 2005)

Was this tubing specifically marked for refrigerator use? Look for a indication mark of PW on it. It may or may not have it. If its made of rubber, then thats not OEM and you should not use it.
If it came from China, then it may have been manufactured below OEM specifications. Maybe all it needs is a good flushing of 2 gallons of water.

Another possibility only occurs if you have a single lever faucet, the seals of which are worn and cause a backflow of hot water to the cold water side and it travels back through the cold water pipe where it can reach the the refrigerators plumbing tap and gets into the 1/4 inch feed line for the fridge. The hot water side has a slight higher pressure then the cold water side and thats how this occurs. 

For a long time I had this problem, and just stopped drinking water from the fridge. Then when I read on a forum about "hotwater backflow" and worn seals on single lever faucets is when I decided to remove the faucet and install a double handle faucet. After which, the water from the fridge was 90% better with a slight plastic taste which is normal.

But look at your replacement product first, because at this time I feel its just the fault of the replacement product as it seemed that the bad taste happen suddenly.


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## tripower (Nov 16, 2006)

rjordan392 said:


> Was this tubing specifically marked for refrigerator use? Look for a indication mark of PW on it. It may or may not have it. If its made of rubber, then thats not OEM and you should not use it.
> If it came from China, then it may have been manufactured below OEM specifications. Maybe all it needs is a good flushing of 2 gallons of water.
> 
> Another possibility only occurs if you have a single lever faucet, the seals of which are worn and cause a backflow of hot water to the cold water side and it travels back through the cold water pipe where it can reach the the refrigerators plumbing tap and gets into the 1/4 inch feed line for the fridge. The hot water side has a slight higher pressure then the cold water side and thats how this occurs.
> ...


 
You through a lot of stuff out there bud. It's a simple icemaker hose like this:
http://www.filtersfast.com/braided-ice-maker-fridge-water-line-filter.asp
Made by Goodyear, in the USA, model 6268A. Not rubber.


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## Mike Swearingen (Mar 15, 2005)

Tripower,
You can probably clear this taste thing up by running 2-3 gallons through it.
Our refrigerator has an ice water/ice maker water filter that I change about twice a year, and it says to run 2-3 gallons through it each time that it's changed. No problem.
Mike


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## rjordan392 (Apr 28, 2005)

The water line is ok. But did you notice this bad taste immediantly after installing the new line or was it noticeable a few days later. 

1. The line just may have some type of residue in it from the mfg process and just needs to be flush out with a few gallons of water.

2. Or the line pick up some type of bacterial contamination and you need to disconnect it and run some strong bleach water through it and then flush it out well.

3. If you have a filter (internal or external) it may have become anaerobic which means that the oxygen in the water was removed and then was taken over by anaerobic bacteria which will give the water a bad taste. This can occur if the water sits in the line too long without anyone using it.

Now if you noticed it immediantly, then #1 is suspect. Hopefully you tasted the water immediantly.
If it was ok then and tasted terrible later, then #2 is suspect.
If #2 is suspect and you have a filter, remove the cartridge and clean the filter with some bleach water and flush this out well, then replace the cartridge with a new one. Then flush this out too because all cartridges when new, will release fines and flushing removes them. Let us know what happens.


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