Is Your Ice Maker to Blame?
Causes (And fixes) for bad-tasting ice cubes from your refrigerator’s ice maker
You may sometimes notice that your ice has a bad taste. There are a few reasons why your refrigerator’s ice maker produces bad tasting ice cubes. In many cases, the food in your refrigerator transfers the smells or tastes to the ice. However, other reasons may have to do with your refrigerator. Once you uncover the source of the problem, you can take steps to fix the problem.
Old Ice Cubes
Your refrigerator produces ice cubes on an ongoing basis. If you don’t use the ice cubes in a timely manner, they becomes stale. Also, the longer the ice remains unused, the more time it has to absorb food odors. The simple fix is to throw out the old ice and only use the new ice.
Poor Water Quality
Without clean and high quality drinking water, you can’t expect the ice to taste good. If water is not properly filtered, it may have minerals, salts, sulfur or other contaminants that reduce the water quality and negatively affect the ice cubes. By installing a water filtration system in your home that services the refrigerator, you are assured of ice cubes that taste good because the water supply is good.
Old Filter
If your home already has a water filtration system, and the bad tasting ice is a recent occurrence, perhaps it is time to replace the water filter. It is important to maintain the system on a regular basis by changing the carbon filter every three to six months, depending on the manufacturer’s instructions. Once you have a new filter in place, the water supply becomes cleaner and the ice tastes better.
Open or Spilled Food
If there are open containers of food in the refrigerator, or spilled food, the odors can affect the quality of the ice. You need to clean out the refrigerator regularly by throwing out old food and cleaning away any messes. Putting a box of baking soda in the refrigerator can help to absorb odors.
Refrigerator Repair
If you have made the above fixes, and your ice cubes still taste bad, your next option is to have your refrigerator checkout out by a professional. According to Consumer Reports, refrigerators with ice makers often result in more service calls than those without icemakers.
In some cases, bad tasting ice is an easy fix you can do yourself. However, if nothing seems to help, you need a refrigerator repair service to locate and solve the ice maker problem.
