Whole house water filter is stuck --Success

Sleipnir

Sleipnir

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I customarily change this filter ever 90 days, but I was sick and time passed. Went to change it and I cannot loosen the housing. Usually I use a strap wrench to loosen it but I broke it trying to get it to budge. I bought a new, stronger wrench and it still resists my efforts. Any advice on how to loosen this. BTW it in my crawl space and room is a tad limited.

image.jpg
 
Cursing helps.

I have a solid blue plastic wrench that I use on a filter of mine that looks like that. It has a short handle like a strap wrench so you don't get a lot of leverage though you could always through a cheater tube on it if you have space. It fits the grooves on the body of the filter so it doesn't want to slip like a strap wrench.
 
Try a hair dryer (not a heat gun). It’s so cold, that clear plastic may have shrunk a little more than the black material it’s screwed onto, plus cold = more brittle, more likely to crack.
 
Jerzsubbie said:
Try a hair dryer (not a heat gun). It’s so cold, that clear plastic may have shrunk a little more than the black material it’s screwed onto, plus cold = more brittle, more likely to crack.
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This has worked best for me. I sometimes find that with a really dirty filter, the pressure relief valve doesn't bleed off enough pressure and I have to open a faucet.

If you have room, it also helps to put two wrenches at 180 degrees from each other and push one side while pulling the other. I would try heat first though.
 
Last edited:
Moylan said:
Cursing helps.

I have a solid blue plastic wrench that I use on a filter of mine that looks like that. It has a short handle like a strap wrench so you don't get a lot of leverage though you could always through a cheater tube on it if you have space. It fits the grooves on the body of the filter so it doesn't want to slip like a strap wrench.
Click to expand...
Mine broke the second time I used it.
 
I second the hair dryer or space heater idea.
Before you put it back together, coat the threads with a cooking oil to assist in future removal
 
Cut the water off and replace the housing with a heavier duty housing and wrench combo.
I replaced mine with a couple Culligan heavy duty filter housings.
 
When the shop at work writes something up like this, I generally tell them "You've gotta WANT it!"


I'm betting it's stuck where the clear part comes into contact with the base. Looks like it to me. (Good picture, by the way.)

My son recently had the joy of discovering the need to destructively remove an oil filter that the oil change place my sister-in-law last took her Cherokee to had torqued down HARD to metal-to-metal.


If you get it off, go ahead and change the O-ring in it, then silicone it and the threads again. Maybe the flat edge where it might come into contact with the base as well. And then only tighten it down enough for the O-ring to seal, and maybe a bit more for good measure. Don't go plastic-on-plastic. That O-ring is what provides the seal and if it's doing its job right, you don't need to gronk the bejeebers out of it.


To get it off, release the water pressure, try again. Then maybe apply some heat with a hair dryer and try again. Make sure you apply counter torque to the base while you're doing this.

If you can't get it off while it's installed, disconnect it and work on it in the shop where you can more easily clamp the base into immobility and try again. Then go from there.

If it's too much of a pain, replace the whole shebang and be done with it. It'll cost you for a new one, to be sure, but at this point you need to ask yourself how much your time and effort is worth to you. If you have to replace it, then I'd see what else it out there which might be easier to work with overall.
 
Is the filter base just hanging unsupported with nothing more than the pipe holding it in place? If so you are twisting the pipes along with the filter when you attempt to service it. I'd secure the base first before you break something that requires a major repair effort.

That said I have a 20" Watts filter at work and it has never needed anything other than the supplied crappy molded plastic wrench to remove it after bleeding off all the water pressure. I use silicone grease on the o-ring only but ensure the threads are clean.
 
Clicker said:
I use silicone grease on the o-ring only but ensure the threads are clean.
Click to expand...

Which reminds me...

There's nothing wrong with lubing threads, especially if you notice they're kinda galling up or otherwise getting tight.

But lube attracts dirt, which gets fixed in place with the lube. So definitely be sure to inspect/clean the threads, lube or not.
 
I have a similar filter that likes to stick. Replace and silicone just the O-ring. I use the plastic ring they call a wrench, apply force with one hand, while tapping on the handle with a piece of 2"x2" to shock it loose.
 
From the scratches, it looks as if maybe you’re using the strap wrench down low. Can you get it much closer to the top?
 
Thanks to everyone for the advice. I do believe that the cold likely caused shrinkage. Today I tried again and it came right off. I didn't try the hair dryer, I waited for warmer weather. Now back to my customary schedule of changing every ninety days. Thanks again.
 
Good deal.

Admittedly I'm disappointed the thread didn't come to this...

s_torch2.jpg
 
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