counterfeit fridge water filters.

[JustinH]

Bought an Amana branded fridge from Lowes about 6 years back. Whirlpool has a pretty good $$$ game going for owners of these and other fridges. It takes a sealed cartridge filter that needs to be replaced every six months. Said cartridge filter costs $49 from all local retailers. Water dispenser and ice maker will not work without a filter installed in the fridge (it will leak on the floor). Anyways, I have had terrible luck with aftermarket filters for this thing. They sometimes clog and never work, or they spit black charcoal all over the place. I found a vendor on ebay who is selling the "whirlpool every drop 1" filters for $13 each. I purchased one, and installed it today. Sure enough it clogged instantly and would not flow any water, then a bunch of black charcoal shot through my system. Got a refund from the seller, no questions asked. Went up to Home Depot and spent $54 including tax for a genuine filter. There are some differences. The genuine filter now has a hologram on it. Also the wording on the filter and packaging is different. The counterfeit filter is sealed in shrink wrap, the genuine one is in a plastic clam shell package. Link to the item I purchased on ebay. [Link Removed]

 

[dishdude]

They're all like that. I just buy the genuine one (Frigidaire) every 6 mos, $50 isn't going to break the bank. Bottled water is a bigger scam! I know GE makes a bypass you can install, but why would you? The filter does make the water taste better.

 

[RamFan]

I have a GE which takes a GE MWF filter . It's $44.99 from Meijer for one. I decided to take a leap of faith and bought a 3-pack of Waterdrop MWF filters for $26 (they're $33 now) and it's worked great. I'm still on the first filter but the water doesn't taste any different, flow rate is good and I'm not having any additional sediment or junk floating around in the water, to be honest I think these may filter BETTER than the GE branded filter. With the GE filters the water would hazy every so often, haven't seen that happen with this one.

 

[KD0AXS]

Originally Posted By: dishdude

I know GE makes a bypass you can install, but why would you?

We have a whole house water filter, so having a filter on the fridge is kind of redundant.

 

[Linctex]

I have the same set-up... but I use really nice filters inline before the water ever makes it to the fridge.... So I never ever change the expensive cartridge in the bottom. Just flick the lever a few times to turn the filter light green again for another 6 months or so.

 

[ZeeOSix]

I've had good luck buying refrigerator filters on Amazon. You just need to read all the reviews and make a decision on user's comments. Typically they are about 25%~30% of the OEM brand filters. Of course, all probably made in China. Paying $50 a pop every 6 months for a refrigerator filter is a bit expensive for what you get.

 

[PimTac]

EBay is full of fakes and counterfeit products.

 

[CKN]

Many of those refrigerators also tell you to replace the filter with so many hours on it verses how many gallons of water that has been filtered. Just a heads up.

 

[Rolla07]

I change mine once a year if that. After a year is when i notice the taste changes.

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: ZeeOSix

I've had good luck buying refrigerator filters on Amazon. You just need to read all the reviews and make a decision on user's comments. Typically they are about 25%~30% of the OEM brand filters. Of course, all probably made in China. Paying $50 a pop every 6 months for a refrigerator filter is a bit expensive for what you get.

We got some that were counterfeit from amazon... and the purchase was fulfilled by amazon, not shipped from some third party...

 

[ZeeOSix]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2

Originally Posted By: ZeeOSix

I've had good luck buying refrigerator filters on Amazon. You just need to read all the reviews and make a decision on user's comments. Typically they are about 25%~30% of the OEM brand filters. Of course, all probably made in China. Paying $50 a pop every 6 months for a refrigerator filter is a bit expensive for what you get.

We got some that were counterfeit from amazon... and the purchase was fulfilled by amazon, not shipped from some third party...

What are you considering "counterfeit" ... ones that have the OEM name and look like OEM? I'm talking about aftermarket filters that are not OEM brand name - so therefore not really "counterfeit". There are some out there that work fine. You have to read all the Amazon comments to make a decision if they are worth a try or not.

 

[knerml]

This is not a counterfeit filter. Just an after market brand. When buying on eBay, you need to visually compare the item being sold to the original item. The listings' wording can be misleading at times. And I agree, you have to buy original refrigerator water filters, regardless of the refrigerator brand. After market filters are worthless, regardless of where you buy them.

 

[knerml]

Originally Posted By: ZeeOSix

You have to read all the Amazon comments to make a decision if they are worth a try or not.

Agree about reading all of the comments. Sometimes an item gets reasonably good ratings, and yet the negative comments can expose critical product flaws.

 

[Andrew1972]

I can only imagine how dirty and dangerous the "filter" material is. Fridge filters are a dangerous thing to fake. I just buy the real ones.

 

[rshaw125]

I change mine about once a year. Which is twice as long as the Fridge tells me to. I hit the buttons that tell it I have put in a new filter when I have not. Zero complaints. I bought a 6 pack of replacement filters from Amazon.

 

[Cujet]

I've purchased the aftermarket brand sold at Homeless Depot. Trouble free.

 

[Rat407]

I change ours once a year as well. If you are on municipal water it shouldn't be an issue to go a year without changing the filter. Our town has high iron. When I change the filter under our kitchen sink, it is filled up with dark reddish brown stuff, basically iron. Good to know the filter on the fridge is keeping that stuff out of the ice maker.

 

[OneEyeJack]

Be sure you check connections for leaks when messing with these filters or you'll be testing your homeowner's insurance. The agent with an office across the parking lot said they are a real problem with lots of claims. He said insurance adjusters really go after denying claims related to water damage from these filters both at the fridge and under the sink because there are so many claims and a non-OEM filter or an insured's bypass installation is a possible out for them.

 

[bubbatime]

Buy the buypass device so you can run the fridge without a filter. Then put a filter on the water line before it gets to the fridge. Those filters last longer, and are cheaper.

 

[knerml]

Regarding changing filter just once year. It seems that filters collect bacteria. So, extending filter change intervals may cause health issues.