[tstex]

I change filter cores when the seasons change... easier to keep track of that way.

If you have a filter and never change it when you are supposed to, the story is it's worse than no filter at all. Supposedly the core element can rupture from old age and you could get a concentrated dose of whatever the filter has protected you from. I'm not so sure I believe that, but nonetheless I change the core element on schedule.

If you decide to use a whole house filter like I have pictured, be sure to mount it solidly, since it takes a good pull on the housing tool to loosen it up when changing cores. I had mine mounted in the void above the drop ceiling in the basement originally and the housing stuck down through the ceiling tile. It was lots of fun changing the core while on a ladder and holding a bucket to catch the water. I moved it down to the wall the first chance I got.

Tip: It has an "O" ring gasket, so don't over tighten it... hand tight and very little more will work. Tip #2: Buy the name brand filter cores... they have their reputation at stake as well as their deep pockets... the foreign cheapies have neither and I don't trust them. The premium ones go for $14.99/pr. so you can't safe much there anyway.

Surfer, can you pls provide an example of a "premium" filter for $15 bucks? thanks

 

[tstex]

I would agree. Much depends on how much gunk is in the water coming in to the filter. I was just that the internal filters in all the refrigerators I've dealt with seem to be on a schedule that assumes really horrible water quality, that is very conservative for most people's water. This would be especially true if you have an inline or whole-house filter before the internal filter in the fridge. The fridge is still going to tell you that the filter needs changed after the same 3000 gallons, or whatever, even though it's filtering almost nothing.

Hot, most fridges allow you to press-down and hold the reset button and it will reset from red-light to green/good to go light and you never have to touch the old/current filter.

On bypassed the filter inside the fridge, most of the manufacturers really love that residual revenue and if you pull the filter or it becomes truly clogged, there's a sensor that will prohibit anymore water flow..so, no water or ice until you change it...

 

[tstex]

While I can buy that some form of bacteria may form in the media of an old filter, if the sources water doesn't contain E Coli or Fecal Coliform, how would it form in the filter?

Most fridge water filters will prohibit a lot of xxxx from passing to your usable water. Nothing forms inside the filter it it first did not come from somewhere else. But, if you never change a primary fridge filter, it will either clog and stop flow or stop filtering and allow what's both inside the filter and inside your inbound water line to flow into your outbound fridge water or into your ice.