Advice for unscrewing a whole house filter attached to rope and CPVC

[darnskewered]

I need to replace our whole house string water filter. I made an attempt to unscrew it the other day. I first turned off water to the whole house, let some faucets run, and turned the knob on the filter 180 to "off" and pressed the depressurizing red button.

I could not budge the housing of the filter.

Note it is hung from the ceiling by rope and is attached to flexible CPVC pipe.

Any recommendations for a tool which could help me unscrew this without breaking the surrounding pipe etc?

Thanks!

 

[Terry]

You will need to cut at least one side of the CPVC to spin that filter off. The easy fix would be to use a Sharkbite to reconnect, or you can also pick up a CPVC coupling and glue for that.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Stuff]

The rope is classic!

I assume you bought a new filter and want to replace what you have. What about a large strap wrench to unscrew?

 

[Treeman]

LOL. This is what the pros laugh at when us shadetree plumbers hack something together..

You're going to need a strong helper to secure the 2 ends of the cpvc and then use a giant groove joint pliar to unscrew the filter housing off.

https://www.harborfreight.com/16-in-Professional-Groove-Joint-Pliers-63831.html

 

[Stuff]

I wouldn't use pliers unless you are throwing away the housing. I forgot they call them sump wrenches. You need the version that matches your unit. e.g. https://www.filtersfast.com/Wrenches-cat.asp - see they include a strap wrench as an option.

 

[Reach4]

There is a purpose-made wrench to grab the clear housing. Get the brand and model info to help identify the wrench.

Have your friend hold both pipes. You hold the blue with one hand, and turn the wrench handle to the left with the other.

Of course you will release the pressure.

Maybe you can figure a good way to mount that filter.

After you replace the cartridge, lube the o-ring with silicone grease before trying to reuse the o-ring. Also have a spare o-ring standing by, in case it does not go back in.