# Pentek House Filter Woes



## TomC (Jan 31, 2013)

Recently, I purchased the Pentek filter package from FiltersFast that was recommended by some other posters. The filter housing I got was the Pentek #158326, two filters, the wrench, and the mounting bracket.

I was not satisfied with the performance. The filter housing would not seal and it created a lot of foam in the wine. I took it apart and discovered that the sealing ring on the inside of the cap was scoured and the top of the filter was gouged. On my filter housing, there is no self centering ability of the cap to seat the filter. Consequently, the filter went in crooked and damaged the lid.

I contacted FiltersFast and informed them of the issue. I was offered a replacement filter and a refund of the cost of the housing. On its face, that seems fair; however, I now have 2 filters, a wrench and, a mounting bracket without a usable housing. They do not expect to get any more of these filter housings until April. They could not suggest a satisfactory replacement in the same size/type. 

The first picture shows the scouring of the sealing ring. Later, I added the bung and pipe as my version of the modification to cut down on excessive foaming. And, it’s easy to remove.

The second picture shows the gouging of the filter top.

This housing cap does not have filter centering ability and the seat is larger than the tube of the filter which seems to be a manufacturing defect. If you read the upside down letters in the cap, that probably sums up the issue.

Any suggestions for a better filter housing?


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## btom2004 (Jan 31, 2013)

I just purchased a whole house from Valley Venters and I purchased two filters from the place you got yours from. I think they should work together. 
http://valleyvintner.com/Merchant2/...e=TVV&Product_Code=WE-30-4850&Category_Code=A

Hmmm...I'll have to go inspect my filters to see if they are defective like your above.


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## TomC (Feb 1, 2013)

Thanks for the link; but, it's my understanding that a pressure relief valve on the housing is not recommended due to the possibiity of air leaking past the valve. Also, I don't think the filters caused the problem as much as the housings inability to center the filter.


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## Rampage4all (Feb 1, 2013)

https://www.gvc.net/p/5062/38-inout-connection
I believe I'm going to try these slimline


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## ibglowin (Feb 1, 2013)

I bought the same filter housing from Valley Vintner. It worked great for almost 2 years then the KMETA must have gotten to the valve on top and all of a sudden it was not sealing tight anymore. The last time I used it I went ahead and filtered my wine which was a mistake. Even though it was crystal clear there was some dust in the bottom that normally would never had made it through the filter but since it wasn't 100% sealed the dust went right through and of course into the bottle. You only see it after a month or so. Every bottle has a thin worm like trail of dust on the bottom. 

I bought one of the Valveless ones last month from Filters Fast as well. It looks like the very same housing only without the Valve. There is even a plastic knob where the valve would go. I have not used the new one yet but looks like I better use caution when assembling the new unit.


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## winemaker_3352 (Feb 1, 2013)

I am looking at getting this one:

http://www.mcmaster.com/#44195K11

It does not have a pressure release value...


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## TomC (Feb 1, 2013)

Rampage4all said:


> https://www.gvc.net/p/5062/38-inout-connection
> I believe I'm going to try these slimline


I would be interested in the 1/4" in/out (158116). Don't seem to be able to get an estimate on shipping before ordering. So, let us know how you make out with them. I wasn't real impressed with FiltersFast but their shipping rates are reasonable.


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## TomC (Feb 1, 2013)

Admittedly, this filter housing was inexpensive. Do the more expensive models have a different sealing area inside the cap? Most appear to be the same except for size/colors/relief valves. Can anybody enlighten us on the differences in the housings and what we should look for? I would think that the filter housing is as important as the filters. If the housing lets wine bypass the filter, it does more harm than good. How about some pics of the different models ya all are using; especially, the inside.


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## tripletrouble (Feb 10, 2013)

I had this same problem and called pentek. They had no idea what I was talking about. So, I went to home depot to check their filters and housings. They were all the same, but their filters didn't have the plastic core like the pentek so the ring just crushed into the filter material. I just purchased #15 o-rings and put 2 on either end of the housing (see pictures). This works perfect! I imagine without them it would probably work but, would allow wine to flow through the edge of the filter defeating the purpose of filtering. I also had a lot of bubbles when testing with water and couldn't track it down until I pressurized with a small pump. I dipped the whole housing under water while pressurized and found the hose barbs leaking around the threads. I had put teflon tape but apparently not enough. Now that that's solved my filter works great.


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## TomC (Feb 10, 2013)

Thanks 3xtrouble for the input. I tried the orings and did find that they do help to center the top of the filter. I haven't run any wine through it yet. In my case, the housing is damaged, so I don't know if the filtering ability will be compromised. I'll keep u posted when I use it again.


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## Hokapsig (Feb 10, 2013)

well that explains why my order with the whole house filter has not arrived yet.


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## tonyt (Feb 10, 2013)

+1 on the teflon tape, must use.


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## rob (Feb 11, 2013)

What am I missing here, I just went to Home Depot and bought a regular whole house filter and it works perfect...I think like 25.00


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## btom2004 (Feb 11, 2013)

TomC said:


> Thanks for the link; but, it's my understanding that a pressure relief valve on the housing is not recommended due to the possibiity of air leaking past the valve. Also, I don't think the filters caused the problem as much as the housings inability to center the filter.



I didn't know that. It's the same one I see used in most videos.



ibglowin said:


> I bought the same filter housing from Valley Vintner. It worked great for almost 2 years then the KMETA must have gotten to the valve on top and all of a sudden it was not sealing tight anymore. The last time I used it I went ahead and filtered my wine which was a mistake. Even though it was crystal clear there was some dust in the bottom that normally would never had made it through the filter but since it wasn't 100% sealed the dust went right through and of course into the bottle. You only see it after a month or so. Every bottle has a thin worm like trail of dust on the bottom.
> 
> I bought one of the Valveless ones last month from Filters Fast as well. It looks like the very same housing only without the Valve. There is even a plastic knob where the valve would go. I have not used the new one yet but looks like I better use caution when assembling the new unit.


K-meta does a job on metal. I'll use starsand.


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## ibglowin (Feb 11, 2013)

I just looked at both my filter housings and tops. They are close but "no cigar" as they say for any sort of clone. The threads don't match to begin with. You cant switch tops with the other bottom. The body of the new one is about 1/4" shorter than my old one. Hold tops side by side they are different heights as well. Have not tried to insert a filter just yet but maybe thats what going on here. Made in China, what can you expect I guess.


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## Sudz (Feb 23, 2013)

i just got my set up together using the correct Pentek housing without the valve and 1 micron filters. The dry run, uh... wet run, using water revealed a great deal of air was present during the start up and of course during the end. 

I've managed to clear air in the feed tube by removing the vacuum after the filter (upside down) begins to fill. This permits the incoming liquid to siphon back toward the source carboy and take line bubbles with it. Once the bubbles are gone vacuum is re-established and the input line remains clear for the duration. I managed to get the filter output tube to the receiving carboy clear by laying the filter on it's side once it was full. Any air trapped in the filter floats to the top of the side and no longer interferes with the flow. I do have the added pickup tube in my housing for draining the maximum amount of wine from the filter.

Now for the fun stuff. I can't seem to identify a good method for terminating the filter flow without huge amounts of air being entrained in the final wine. It seems as though as soon as air enters the filter from the empty pick up tube, the output becomes mixed preventing a clear draining of the filter.

Basically I'm a little bummed out by the difficulty I'm having with keeping air out of the process from start to end. I'm confident my filter isn't leaking since it does run the bulk of the carboy liquid without any air in the system. Starting and stopping however, is another story.

How do you guys do this without blasting your liquid gold with air???


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## TomC (Feb 23, 2013)

Sudz,
I'm still pretty new to this process so FWIW. Try installing a hose clamp between the filter and receiving carboy. That should allow you to control/cut down on the amount of flow and slow the whole process down so you can gain better control. From what I've read, some people have a regulated pressure gauge that allows better control of the wine flow. I'm not to clear on the benefit of turning the filter on it's side or upside down; but, if you can control the vacuum/flow that should help. Slower is better.


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