I bought the unit with the UV lamp and after a month the water started havind a bad taste and odor like there is iron in it. Reading some reviews that seems due to the UV lamp. Does anyone know why ? Does anyone know if removing the UV lamp is the only fix ? I bought the unit with the UV lamp and after a month the water started havind a bad taste and odor like there is iron in it. Reading some reviews that seems due to the UV lamp. Does anyone know why... » Read More I bought the unit with the UV lamp and after a month the water started havind a bad taste and odor like there is iron in it. Reading some reviews that seems due to the UV lamp. Does anyone know why ? Does anyone know if removing the UV lamp is the only fix ? « Show Less
70599
I had a similar problem but noticed it right away. I unplugged the UV and drained the storage. It tasted better right after. I was told that if you have city water that is chlorinated it somehow effects the inert chlorine molecules and can effect the taste. UV would be better on a well or rain water system. I kept my UV wired in just in case there is a biological contamination in the water supply and I would plug it in and deal with the taste :)
70600
My system had that same bad taste and odor. I even flushed the system many times and unplugged the UV lamp and still had the same outcome. The water tasted fine after many flushes, but returned to the same bad taste/smell after a few days EVERY time. Even with the UV lamp unplugged. I believe there is something toxic in the tank and have gotten rid of this system. Good luck.
1226554
In 20 years, I have replaced my unit 5 times. They do not seem to have much longevity. I suspect that minerals in the water may come into play, as the heated water acquires a distinctive smell shortly before it stops heating.
46930
ill check with my husband if he knows, but another issue is that we r not sure that the water is actually going thru the vitamin c casing. ours may be malfunctioning. we've used it about 3 or so weeks.
2146423
Hello, I found out when I called the company, that their filter when "old" builds up a bacteria (that is no harmful but tastes awful) They told me to change the filter more often. However I found that after only a week it would smell bad. To bad, because I love the idea of this filter, but they haven't perfected it... So I went back to Britta filter and no bad tasting water anymore ;)
1960820
Could be mineral buildup. It happened to mine along the seams at the bottom, but it took took two years rather than two months for it to happen. You might have particularly hard water. We have one of those filters at the sink, so the water is less mineral laden. You'll have to get a cleaning kit from Simplex since just about every other product on the market messes with the tin. I wasn't happy about paying an additional $40, but Simplex customer service told me I'd get more than 20 cleanses out of it. And it worked like a charm.
1872169
I've had the unit for a while now--the plastic smell has gone away with use. We run it pretty much all the time--in the meantime, we would put the water through a Brita system to get rid of the smell/plastic taste. The reason why the glass bottle doesn't work is for some reason, I think the reservoir is what's also contributing to the smell. I tried the same thing and it still smelled and tasted like plastic...give it a few weeks of running it.
1775139
1. I have not experienced bad smell in filtered water. 2. It was easy enough for me to install or replace a new filter. 3. Replace the filter only when the light turns red, otherwise you are wasting money.
1839995
I used to feel the need to replace it earlier than recommended ( once per 4-6 weeks) but the water in me area is pretty hard. ( i could definitely tell the difference as far as taste of the water and hair fall is concerned when I replaced it. I'm not sure about the iron...
1557594
We have a Kinetico water softener system. We have a LOT of iron in our well water. We must use the Iron Out salts. The 5 micron filter works well for us. We used to use a 50 or 30 micron. If anything the 5 micron just filters better, finer particles. We change it every 6 months or so. It gets red with the iron, unless you are losing water pressure it is OK to use continue to use, we have gone 9 months without changing it before. I don't know what kind of sediment your trying to filter or how much is in your well water so I can't say how it would work in your system. I would recommend trying one of the filters for six months and see how it goes. If no problems then I'd buy the bulk package. We own our system so we can do as we like with it. I don't know what Kinetico would say about it. Good luck. Let us know if it works out for you OK. We were paying much more for our filters before we found this steal of a deal.
1018746
I've been using it for about a month and haven't noticed a change in taste. Although I'm also no water connoisseur. If. It only occurs while in your fridge, possible it's due to other food odors.
600133
I also have a rust problem and found the best method is to install a prefilter upstream of this one. Use one of the white string wound type filters. It helps this filter last longer. Otherwise, you get about a month or so of use.
2146420
Ours did the same thing. If you start googling reviews on it, you will see that this is a common problem. It is almost impossible to get rid of. The company says that it is because you live in an area with REALLY bad water. Therefor you need to change the filter every 1-2 weeks. A scam in my opinion.
314693
The uv lamp kills microbes that might be in the water. That may or may not affect the smell and taste. I don't have that particular problem, but I have a catchment water supply that probably needs the uv treatment.
192885
Hmm... no, I don't have this problem. Maybe you can clean it? Run a water and baking soda solution thru the machine a couple times? Maybe a squeeze of real lemon juice to rid it of any smells.... Also, make sure to use bottled water or filtered water instead of tap if you can, that metallic taste may be coming from the tap water/coffee combo. I didn't do either of these things and my coffee is just fine. Best of luck.
443977
My unit stopped working after only a month. I tried to follow all the steps to fix it, but none of them worked. You may want to see if you have some hard water deposits. I decided to use distilled water to keep the deposits from building up. It worked...until the unit itself stopped working altogether.
1872167
Rbaby, just to double-check: did it take a few weeks of non-stop use to get rid of the plastic smell/taste? I've been running it for a couple of days now, pouring the distilled water down the sink, just to get rid of the smell, and it's still there. My concern is that maybe there is something wrong with their design. Even if it doesn't smell a few weeks down the road, the glue (it's the glue according to Westinghouse) might still be in the water. Not sure how healthy that particular glue is for every day consumption :-)
1143010
We live in an area with a great amount of minerals in the water. I am suspect that it is your water that is creating your problem here, not the coffee maker. The reason I say that is because it has happened to my coffee maker also, and I do not have a Bunn. I was constantly cleaning up the "crud" after a few brews. We were going through coffee makers like a kid in a candy store. Heat seems to make the minerals gather together fast. Just an observation on my part....I am no scientist. I began to use bottled distilled or spring water in my coffee maker and no more mineral deposit problem. Actually, the coffee did taste fresher. I appreciate reading your response, because I know that I am not the only one with this water problem, and I will keep using bottled spring or distilled water for my coffee! Oh.....and I am going to buy a Bunn!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for your input.