REVIEW: *Whole House Wine Filtering*

[vacuumpumpman]

I was at a friends house today and he mentioned about having problems with the whole house filtration system. It got me thinking how could I definitely prove what is going wrong ??
Well first I tightened the housing and put a black mark on the housing and the filter body so they line up evenly. See pic

I then installed a new filter and noticed that the line was way off – causing air to be pulled in thru the housing and o ring.

The 3rd pic is a used filter that was cranked on as you can see the filter media crushed and still the lines do not match up – they are closer

Please no comment on the brass fittings as he was nice enough for me to take the pics and hopefully find the correct filter setup

Hopefully others can do the same technique and between us - we can find the proper set-up !!

 

[Boatboy24]

I think that may be one of the 'kinks' I mentioned in my previous post. I was getting air in somewhere. The line from the sending carboy to the filter was nice and clean. Smooth flow and no bubbles. Going from the filter to the receiving carboy, I had bubbles. At first, I thought that maybe I just hadn't fully degassed the Sauvignon Blanc. But the peach, that is 8 months old, has been degassed a few times, and has time on its side, had the same result. Both got a dose of sulfite after filtering, so hopefully I'm safe.

One thing I noticed on the McMaster-Carr site is that some filters are listed as 10", some at 9 7/8, and others at 9 3/4.

 

[vacuumpumpman]

I did notice that most of the people having problems are using the 158116 housings - I will contact filterfast again - they say they are both 10'' filters. but If I am a betting man - I believe the 1 of those housings is a little shorter - like the 158116 I will let you know my findings - please Pm me if you are having problems with a certain housing so we can correct this

 

[Boatboy24]

I did notice that most of the people having problems are using the 158116 housings - I will contact filterfast again - they say they are both 10'' filters. but If I am a betting man - I believe the 1 of those housings is a little shorter - like the 158116 I will let you know my findings - please Pm me if you are having problems with a certain housing so we can correct this

You might be right. Just went to FiltersFast to try and order a 158326, but they are out of stock. I'd like to see them side by side.

Hopefully, Danger Dave can chime in. I think he's using a 158116 with the pentek PD-x-934 (x being a 1 or a 5, based on micron size). Maybe there's a trick to it. Or maybe ther is a defective batch do 158116's out there.

 

[dangerdave]

I am working today---Easter Sunday---but I will definately check mine when I get home tomorrow and see if things match up. I'll let you guys know.

 

[Chiumanfu]

I did some testing with my 158326 housing.

The filter will not line up if I try to close it in a horizontal position. The filter sealing lip digs into the filters plastic ring and not the filter material as it should.

If I try to close it in a vertical position, it lines up everytime.

If the filter sealing lip does not line up when you close the housing, it still should not cause an air leak. The only possible source of air leaks is the barb fittings or the main seal between the lid and the housing. Even if you completely remove the filter, it will not cause an air leak. There is an oring in the housing just after the threads that I would be more suspicious of. Look at the oring itself and the wall of the lid that the oring seals to.

Maybe the misaligned (or too long) filter is making it so that you can't screw down the housing enough for the oring to seal properly, but then you would definitely see air bubbles rising up past the oring and through the threads if you turn the assembly upside down during a rack.

Maybe I'm just misunderstanding the root issue.

 

[vacuumpumpman]

I did some testing with my 158326 housing.

Maybe the misaligned (or too long) filter is making it so that you can't screw down the housing enough for the oring to seal properly, but then you would definitely see air bubbles rising up past the oring and through the threads if you turn the assembly upside down during a rack.

Maybe I'm just misunderstanding the root issue.

The above post describe that there may be a problem of the filter height being too long causing the o ring not being fully seated properly - see my pics

I do not believe you would see it leaking - because of the location of the oring and housing. I believe the best way is to do a dry run , refer to my above post indicating the mark treatment

 

[Chiumanfu]

Did the mark treatment on my 158326 housing with Pentek PD-5-934 filter and it closes to the same point with and without filter installed.

 

[vacuumpumpman]

Did the mark treatment on my 158326 housing with Pentek PD-5-934 filter and it closes to the same point with and without filter installed.

Do you recall the date you purchase it ?
I do believe that we may have a defective batch of housings or filters

If you don't mind me asking what size is your filter ?

 

[Chiumanfu]

Beginning of 2012. The filter is exactly 25cm long.

 

[dralarms]

OK,

I'm going to try and lend a hand here.

I am using the -26 housing, I have just had a lengthy talk with Steve,

This is what I am seeing.

The filters I am using are 10 1/8" and are spun type filters, they have no plastic end caps.

I do get a complete seal and no air.

They do crush just a bit but there is no damage, its just where the housing and lid come in contact with the housing.

They are 1 micron filters and if you want the info just pm me.

I also have some 5 micron filters from culligan, they are 9 3/4 and they fit tight and no damage. But they are only 5 micron.

I can't post pictures since my camera is out of commission.

 

[Boatboy24]

158116 housing here. Tonight, I tried Steve's pen test with a Pentech P5 and a PD-5-934. I couldn't get the mark close with either one of them, though the P5 (without the plastic core) got much closer than the other one.

Edit: On a future attempt, I was able to get things lined up with the P5 - see pics in vacuumpumpman's post.

 

[vacuumpumpman]

158116 housing here. Tonight, I tried Steve's pen test with a Pentech P5 and a PD-5-934. I couldn't get the mark close with either one of them, though the P5 (without the plastic core) got much closer than the other one.

I have been on the phone for an extended period of time with filterfast (5th try so far ) and she mentioned that there is a good possibility that the housing and the filter are incompatible - the housing being a slim line and the filter being regular, or possible that some have some defective housings ?

I hope to have this straightened out as quick as possible -

Thanks Steve

 

[Boatboy24]

Steve: You've been a tremendous asset through all of this! Thanks!

 

[JimC]

Dang I ordered the 158117 as the other was not in stock when i ordered, sadly the 158117 has a release valve on top which I assume willl cause an issue. I guess I will run some test runs tonight with it and the PD-1-934 filter as it looks shorter than the PD-5-934 filter. Or even run tests without a filter at all.

 

[JimC]

okay I did mine without a filter and it seals good but pumps a ALOT of air out into the recieving carboy. It appears the filter keeps a layer of oxegen at the top that keeps sucking through the hole but never goes away. Is this because i did not use a filter at all? If i tip teh filter over it just fills up with more and more air in it like it has a leak but no water comes out... wierd...

 

[vacuumpumpman]

I am planning on making a tutorial on the whole house filters and the mistakes made during the process. I would like to say thank you to everyone - especially boatboy24 - for gathering all this information up. I have been on the phone with a technical support with pentek the manufacture to get to the bottom of this.

I would recommend the following ( recommended by the manufacturer for wine filtration )

FILTER HOUSING - 158116 - considering they are typically out of the 158326
WRENCH- SW-1A
BRACKET - 244047
FILTER - 1 MICRON = P1
FILTER - 5 MICRON = P5

all can be found at filtersfast.com

It has been recommended to defintley mount the housing to something solid in order to properly tighten it down.

Next index your housing top and bottom after hand tight (with a marker or paint pen - see above post for pics at this time ) Install filter till the index marks align up properly. That will tell you that your housing to O ring is properly sealed.

Teflon tape the barb fittings that screw into the housing - do not over tighten

The difference between the P-5 and the PD-5-934 is the 934 has a rubber bottom and top and it is much harder to align up the marks - the P5 has an open ends on both sides and that is what creates your seal as the housing is tightened down it will literally makes its own seal in the cartridge itself.

I hope this clarifies any problems with the use of the whole house filtration system - there will be a better tutorial latter - I just wanted to get the information out there as quick as possible.

Here are some pics the top one is the cartridge with no filter - hand tightened and indexed

The 2nd picture shows a P5 filter that is tightened with wrench ( notice the index marks )

The 3rd picture is the pd-5-934 filter that is tightened with wrench (notice the index marks )
The 3rd one will defintley pull air in the housing that could not be seen by the naked eye.

I would like to thank Boatboy24 again for the great pics !!

 

[Dend78]

thanks for tracking this all down this is probably what was wrong on my end as well

 

[Chiumanfu]

Yes, thank you very much Steve for sorting this out. Do you mind if I update my article with this new information?

 

[vacuumpumpman]

Yes, thank you very much Steve for sorting this out. Do you mind if I update my article with this new information?

I will have time this weekend to update this topic - it will be a sticky soon and you can have a hyperlink to it. I literally have invested hours of time in this - in order to come to a final conclusion.
This is my contribution to all who use the whole house filtration ststem