A contractor installed a large diameter Omni brand wholehouse filter in my daughter's house. The plumbing going to it, and then out is the newer blue flexible line. The bracket on this particular model is a piece of crap. It basically bolts to the wall and has openings for the plum ing to pass through, thus the filter basically just hangs there. I've tried using my strap wrench instead of the one furnished, I took my heat gun to the blue top section thinking maybe it might expand just enough so the canister might break loose, didn't happen. I've used the hard style PVC in plumbing projects so I know what abuse it can withstand. Afraid of moving this around too much for fear of breaking the blue pipe or causing a leak. Looking for any tricks of the trade here on getting this canister loose to change the filter. Thinking I should go to the hard PVC and solidly mount it to the wall. This bracket Omni furnished is an embarrassment to the manufa turer.Thanks. Appreciate any help here.
Can't break loose the filter canister on whole house filter
- Thread starter mtyakker
- Start date
Help Support House Repair Talk:
Jeff Handy
Well-Known Member
Post a few pics of the whole setup.
Hard pvc piping will not solve your problem, it will crack or leak from too much twisting force.
When you do finally get the canister loose, apply a very light coating of plumbers’ silicone grease to the o ring and the plastic parts that it contacts.
And a little grease on the plastic screw threads of the canister.
Otherwise, those o rings really are a bitch to bust free when they dry out.
The big plastic loop wrench that came with it should work.
Sometimes you need to apply strong pressure for ten or twenty seconds, as the housing is actually turning a very tiny bit, but you can’t feel it or see it.
There is also usually a need to vent the water pressure inside the filter first.
Sometimes there is a button on top to push in, it will dribble until pressure is released.
That is after you shut off the incoming water pressure.
Sometimes you have to open some faucets in the house to release more of the pressure in the filter housing.
You might need to uninstall everything and take the whole filter off the wall, to get enough leverage to unscrew it with a helper holding the rest of it, on the ground.
Hard pvc piping will not solve your problem, it will crack or leak from too much twisting force.
When you do finally get the canister loose, apply a very light coating of plumbers’ silicone grease to the o ring and the plastic parts that it contacts.
And a little grease on the plastic screw threads of the canister.
Otherwise, those o rings really are a bitch to bust free when they dry out.
The big plastic loop wrench that came with it should work.
Sometimes you need to apply strong pressure for ten or twenty seconds, as the housing is actually turning a very tiny bit, but you can’t feel it or see it.
There is also usually a need to vent the water pressure inside the filter first.
Sometimes there is a button on top to push in, it will dribble until pressure is released.
That is after you shut off the incoming water pressure.
Sometimes you have to open some faucets in the house to release more of the pressure in the filter housing.
You might need to uninstall everything and take the whole filter off the wall, to get enough leverage to unscrew it with a helper holding the rest of it, on the ground.
joecaption
Well-Known Member
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Jeff made a good point about making sure all the pressures off.
Under pressure it will not come off.
I've found that a hard tap on the tool used to undo it instead of just steady pressure will often times work better.
Under pressure it will not come off.
I've found that a hard tap on the tool used to undo it instead of just steady pressure will often times work better.
