Question about well filter

[Bratan]

My water well system has some kind of filter before it goes thru softener. Sediment preFilter or something like that. I have no idea what this thing is called and what kind of filter I need to buy to replace.
Can someone help me out? It doesn't actually say anything on it other than Jumbo Valve-in-head filter housing. I have no idea when previous owner changed it. Or maybe it's something that can be just cleaned?
Bonus question How do I take it off without flooding my basement?


filter

 

[Reach4]

That may take a standard 4.5 by 10 inch filter. That would be very good. Look at the other side with a mirror and flashlight to see if there is a model number.

Get some silicone grease. Always lube the O-ring when putting back together. I suggest getting an O-ring in advanced. If your old O-ring is swollen, and you cannot put it back, you would have to do some emergency plumbing. This will be trickiest. You can gamble. I might, or I might get an O-ring for a similar sized filter and hope it would fit. You could also have a 4.5 by 10 filter standing by. They are not so expensive. I wonder how long since the filter element was changed. That does not look that bad.

Turn off the well pump. Close the valve to your water heater. Open your lowest cold faucet, and let he water drain.

Put a bucket or tub under the filter; you will spill a bit. Unscrew. It looks to me as if you would unscrew the bottom blue part.

Drop the housing and empty the water. Measure the filter or compare against the new filter you bought.

Lube the O-ring with silicone grease. I would wear nitrile gloves for that. Never use petroleum on the O-ring. That would almost guarantee that you could not re-use the O-ring next time.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Bratan]

Thank you! Good point on o-ring I'll get one in advance! It does look like filter's height is about 10".
I have a bottle of Hayward Jack multi-lube which I used my my pool filter's o-ring, would it work?
Do I need to worry about air getting in the system or something like that?

 

[Reach4]

I don't know Jack multi-lube. It seems to be made for pools, and I don't see indications that it would be suitable for drinking water systems. The stuff I got is food grade. You can probably go to where you get your plumbing supplies and get some silicone plumbers grease. I got Dow Corning Molykote 111, which is very thick. Others like a thinner lube. If I were getting more, I might consider Molykote 316 Silicone Release Spray. It would be handy I think. Those would nearly be at the opposite ends of the viscosity scale for this kind of thing. Actually there is a thicker stuff called vacuum grease.

No worry about air, except turn faucets on slowly the first time afterwards-- think small air blast. For those of us who use old-style non-piston water hammer arrestors, it is good to do that occasionally to drain the water out of those.

Edit: Note that blue thing at the top of your wide-view picture. That is a wrench to loosen the filter. Usually you don't want to use the wrench to tighten the filter, but it is very useful for loosening.

I also note that you have a Well-X-Trol pressure tank. That is top notch, and it is probable that the rest of your system is good stuff too.

 

[Bratan]

I don't know Jack multi-lube. It seems to be made for pools, and I don't see indications that it would be suitable for drinking water systems. The stuff I got is food grade. You can probably go to where you get your plumbing supplies and get some silicone plumbers grease. I got Dow Corning Molykote 111, which is very thick. Others like a thinner lube. If I were getting more, I might consider Molykote 316 Silicone Release Spray. It would be handy I think. Those would nearly be at the opposite ends of the viscosity scale for this kind of thing. Actually there is a thicker stuff called vacuum grease.

No worry about air, except turn faucets on slowly the first time afterwards-- think small air blast. For those of us who use old-style non-piston water hammer arrestors, it is good to do that occasionally to drain the water out of those.

Edit: Note that blue thing at the top of your wide-view picture. That is a wrench to loosen the filter. Usually you don't want to use the wrench to tighten the filter, but it is very useful for loosening.

I also note that you have a Well-X-Trol pressure tank. That is top notch, and it is probable that the rest of your system is good stuff too.

Thanks for the info! I finally figured out that filter housing is made by "Hydro Systems International" (from logo on the filter wrench). Their website however sux, but I was able to figure out my model number and filter size (you are right it's 4.5"x10"). No idea about o-ring size (PDF just mentions that it's Buna-N material). I ordered 5 micron and o-ring from "frequently bought with" list (Pentair Water 151122 Big Blue O-Ring Buna-N ). It's 5-3/2" so I'm not sure if it's right or not, keeping my fingers crossed Oh and they were out of stock on Molykote 111, so I got instead...

 

[Bratan]

Just an update. Filter arrived and I was able to replace it successfully. I think I don't really need to drain system, since filter housing has bypass valve. It took me some effort to remove the bottom housing tho. After I unscrewed it was stuck. After wiggling it a bit and pressing pressure release button it finally fell off. O-ring that I bought seems to be right diameter but was 3x thinner so I didn't use it. Old one seemed to be in good shape so I just cleaned and lubricated it. System works, so far no leaks. There was hissing sound coming out of filter head for a while and water had tiny air bubbles (appears to be cloudy when first poured from faucet, but then clears up).

 

[Reach4]

Glad it's working!

I don't have a drain system either, and my housings are the 20 inch long ones. Fortunately a little spilled water is not a big deal.

I am surprised that Pentek 151122 O-rings were thinner than yours. I measure 0.1785 inches across through the bag and 0.0035 through an empty area of bag, for a net 0.175 inches cross section. You can usually re-use the O-ring if you previously lubed it with silicone grease. If you had used Vaseline, it would have swollen and it would have been too long to stay in the groove while you tightened the housing.

Because you have a bypass, not having the right O-ring available would not have been so bad. I don't have a bypass, so I must have the O-rings handy if I change, or even inspect, filters.

On this plastic thread, as with most other threads, I like to turn CCW when reinstalling, until I feel a tick or drop. If not sure, I will note the position of the housing, and then turn another 360 degrees feeling for the next tick to be at the same position. Then I turn CW with more confidence that I will not cross-thread.

 

[Craigpump]

When you change the filter, put a cap full of bleach into the housing to kill any bacteria that may get transferred onto the filter & housing

 

[Bratan]

Yup my o-ring was almost 6mm thick (about 0.24") measured with calipers. Maybe it was swollen, that would explain why it was so hard to remove housing. However it looked very solid to me, and usable. No leaks so far. I have no idea where to find right o-ring tho, as I searched all over... Bleach is a good idea! I'll do it next time, filter did stink a little...

 

[Reach4]

Your filter is different from mine. So it would not be surprising if it use a different O-ring. I may have missed that point.

Do not use cellulose filters on non-chlorinated water. Polypropylene filters are good for wells.

 

[SneakyJN]

I know this thread is old, but the product catalog for your filter housing is here: (page 4)
http://www.hsiusa.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Hydro-Systems-International-NY-web-2020.pdf

it’s a HSI Model # 136-3255

the filter you want is a Hydronix SDC-45-1001:
https://hydronixwater.com/sediment-depth-cartridges/#1528038837972-fb0c8310-130d

The bypass and pressure relief button are so handy for changing the filter. Clear housing to visually inspect (vs BigBlue guessing)

 

[Bratan]

I know this thread is old, but

This thread is so old that I don't even live in that house anymore lol Hopefully it will be helpful to someone else tho...