I discovered this when I put a reverse osmosis system in and wanted to bypass the filter. I needed a $50 plastic plug with an RFID tag in it or else the fridge refused to dispense.
For anyone with one of these GE fridges. If you read the fine print in the owner’s manual, they will send you a bypass plug for free (just once) if you call and ask for one. You will need to provide the serial number of the fridge.
It’s just a hunk of plastic with some o-rings in the rough shape of a water filter. It would be used in place of the water filter. It has a special rfid in it that the fridge just says ‘bypassed’ on it for the filter life.
There are many sites that show people extracting said rfid from the bypass and dismantling the water filter holder and taping the rfid right onto the reader. Then using whatever the heck filter they want for as long as they want.
My fridge came with a bypass right out of the box. Didn’t know any of the rfid junk existed until it just wouldn’t dispense water anymore a few months later. It probably never dispensed more than a gallon or two. So the filter was absolutely fine. The fridge does it purely off time and nothing else. Mind you the fridge has a precision pour feature and counts the dispensed ounces every time you use it. So it could absolutely do it by actual water filtered but that wouldn’t be as profitable.
I already had an RO system under my sink. Just ended up plumbing that into the fridge water line and using the bypass. Been several years now, no issues.
I’m moving to a place with well water, how difficult was it to install reverse osmosis and hook it up to the fridge? Does yours just provide for the fridge or the whole house?
It’s just a small under-counter system that’s only running to the fridge and a separate spigot at the sink to fill pots with, etc. it was simple to install since my existing tap had enough pressure to push through all of the filters. I’ve never heard of whole-house RO, I think that would use a TON of water and you would definitely need a pump (in addition to a large storage tank).
I have an RO system that feeds a separate spigot at my kitchen sink and my refrigerator. Installing it is really simple because it just uses sharkbite connectors that just push to connect. Later on, I added a water heater so that I could have on demand hot water at the spigot which is also nice.
I have a separate filter that takes care of my whole house but that is just a carbon filter meant to scrub out the chlorine (I’m on city water) . Installation for that took a lot more effort and planning.
I discovered this when I put a reverse osmosis system in and wanted to bypass the filter. I needed a $50 plastic plug with an RFID tag in it or else the fridge refused to dispense.
For anyone with one of these GE fridges. If you read the fine print in the owner’s manual, they will send you a bypass plug for free (just once) if you call and ask for one. You will need to provide the serial number of the fridge.
What is the bypass plug? Does it contain an RFID chip or can these be mass produced?
It’s just a hunk of plastic with some o-rings in the rough shape of a water filter. It would be used in place of the water filter. It has a special rfid in it that the fridge just says ‘bypassed’ on it for the filter life.
There are many sites that show people extracting said rfid from the bypass and dismantling the water filter holder and taping the rfid right onto the reader. Then using whatever the heck filter they want for as long as they want.
My fridge came with a bypass right out of the box. Didn’t know any of the rfid junk existed until it just wouldn’t dispense water anymore a few months later. It probably never dispensed more than a gallon or two. So the filter was absolutely fine. The fridge does it purely off time and nothing else. Mind you the fridge has a precision pour feature and counts the dispensed ounces every time you use it. So it could absolutely do it by actual water filtered but that wouldn’t be as profitable.
I already had an RO system under my sink. Just ended up plumbing that into the fridge water line and using the bypass. Been several years now, no issues.
Damn. TIL.
I’m moving to a place with well water, how difficult was it to install reverse osmosis and hook it up to the fridge? Does yours just provide for the fridge or the whole house?
It’s just a small under-counter system that’s only running to the fridge and a separate spigot at the sink to fill pots with, etc. it was simple to install since my existing tap had enough pressure to push through all of the filters. I’ve never heard of whole-house RO, I think that would use a TON of water and you would definitely need a pump (in addition to a large storage tank).
I have an RO system that feeds a separate spigot at my kitchen sink and my refrigerator. Installing it is really simple because it just uses sharkbite connectors that just push to connect. Later on, I added a water heater so that I could have on demand hot water at the spigot which is also nice.
I have a separate filter that takes care of my whole house but that is just a carbon filter meant to scrub out the chlorine (I’m on city water) . Installation for that took a lot more effort and planning.