Need hep with whole coach water filteration system - RV-Dreams Community Forum

crmfghtr · RV-Dreams Family Member

Need hep with whole coach water filteration system

Jack Mayer · RV-Dreams Family Member

Mark Bruss had his filters in a tote at one time...that is probably who you are thinking of. I believe he moved them inside.

Having them inside is the best idea. You do not want them in the sun, because not only will it break down the canisters (the plastic) over time, but it will also encourage the growth of Algea and other undesireable stuff in the canisters.

I use the whole house standard size dual filters. Primarily because the filters are commodity products able to be found anywhere. The jumbo filters are special order. They last longer, but take up far more space. It is a tradeoff. I come down on the side of less space and more convenience. I change my filters about every 6 months.

I use a sedimentation filter first, then a charcol block filter. Both are easily found in any home store or hardware. That supplies the entire house. Then for drinking water and my residential refrigerator water supply, it goes through a reverse osmosis system under the sink, with a 3 gallon storage tank. There is a sink faucet just for this.

-- Edited by Jack Mayer on Thursday 13th of September 2012 08:57:36 AM

GENECOP · RV-Dreams Family Member

Maybe I am missing something , you said the whole house filter is not a "HIGH VOLUME WATER FLOW FILTER" What situation would a filter like that be desirable? This makes me think something is faulty, maybe try a replacement filter before scrapping the whole system.You seem to have done everything correctly, is the flow going in the proper direction?

GENECOP · RV-Dreams Family Member

I just googled your problem, not sure if this is applicable but I found this

I solved the problem! The system's manifold (the plastic base you put the filter in) has small black conical shape button. When you tight the filter in, one of the two small triangle-shaped cams (located close to the filter's central hole) pushes the manifold's button, and this opens the water flow. The problem is that the cams are too low and do not push the button all the way in. Take a pliers and squeeze (not too much!) the cams, so they will raise a little: it will be enough to push the button to open the flow completely.

crmfghtr · RV-Dreams Family Member

Hi Gene,

Thanks for your input. Actually the water filter I have after further research is NOT a Whole house type but was only designed for UNDER-THE COUNTER (Model GX1S01R) I should have done more research before plopping out the bucks for this filter. It only has a max rated flow of 2 gpm. There is NO cam in this filter that is exposed. So I have already decided to scrap this filter in addition to my previous post, water weeps from the INLET side of the filter with the 5'ver faucets shut off. I guess when the faucet's are off the pressure builds up and causes the INLET side to leak water. Apparently this is an ongoing issue with this filter according to the reviews from other users.

So I visited the RV Water Filter Store and I'm now trying to find a system (either single or dual) that will work for me. I wanted to be able to have the filter in the UDC to help keep it from theft and ease of use. I don't know if that is going to work. I really don't want to have to crawl under the 5'ver to change filters or attach water hoses. I'm trying to keep the installation as simple as possible.

Gary · RV-Dreams Family Member

I read someplace where someone placed built a 2 or 3 stage filtration system in one of those plastic totes. The three filter types were connected together in the tote, the water hose from the park water went in one side then out the other side, a hose to the rig. Also had a pressure regulator in there.

I wish I remember where I saw that but, unfortunately, I can't.

Hope that helps somewhat. Maybe someone else has done/heard of this or the description can help you visualize.

crmfghtr · RV-Dreams Family Member

Jack Mayer wrote:
Mark Bruss had his filters in a tote at one time...that is probably who you are thinking of. I believe he moved them inside.
Having them inside is the best idea. You do not want them in the sun, because not only will it break down the canisters (the plastic) over time, but it will also encourage the growth of Algea and other undesireable stuff in the canisters.

I use the whole house standard size dual filters. Primarily because the filters are commodity products able to be found anywhere. The jumbo filters are special order. They last longer, but take up far more space. It is a tradeoff. I come down on the side of less space and more convenience. I change my filters about every 6 months.
I use a sedimentation filter first, then a charcol block filter. Both are easily found in any home store or hardware. That supplies the entire house. Then for drinking water and my residential refrigerator water supply, it goes through a reverse osmosis system under the sink, with a 3 gallon storage tank. There is a sink faucet just for this.

-- Edited by Jack Mayer on Thursday 13th of September 2012 08:57:36 AM

Hi Jack,

Did you hard plumb your system or is it portable ? meaning can you connect and disconnect the filter system from the coach.

Thanks,

Jack Mayer · RV-Dreams Family Member

Originally I had a dual filter system outside. That proved to be inconvenient for a number of reasons. A couple of "rigs ago" I started plumbing them inside. Way better way to go and working with PEX plumbing is simple. Just use Sharkbite or equivalent fittings.

Delaine and Lindy · RV-Dreams Family Member

I also had the outside filter system, and that was with the Landmark, but both of our Mobile Suites was whole house systems and works great.... Must better than a outside system. I change filters once a year, very easy to change.. Good Luck.. Happy Trails...

crmfghtr · RV-Dreams Family Member

Just purchased the dual Jumbo filter system and parts from the rv water filter store. I installed it in the front of the 5'ver along side the Generator Prep area. Cut a 22"x28"x3/4" plywood board, installed 4 carriage bolts, and covered it in trunk linning. When I mounted it to the right side of the Gen Prep box, it sure stiffened up the right side of the metal gen prep box. Ran the hoses between an opening in the frame (covered in foam pipe wrap) which routed perfectly without having to drill or cut, to a bulk head connection. From the bulk head, you can hook the water source and also connect the hose which goes to the water regulator (which is kept inside the UDC) then to the city water connection on the coach. Looking to test / Run the system tomorrow I need to run the water without connection to the rv for about 5 minutes before I connect it so the black carbon water doesn't get into the rv. This way everything is out of sight and protected from the elements, and can be connected in minutes to the bulk head.

Hamshog · RV-Dreams Family Member

Hey Robert,

Been out for a few days, so I just saw your delema. My 3M Whole House Filter works flawless!! Change the filter once a year for 15000gals of great water. Hope you get the new one up and running with good results.

Regards, Howard

crmfghtr · RV-Dreams Family Member

Well I got everything working perfect. I had to order 2 more (special size) water hoses, in order to make this easy. I have 3.2 gal per min. at 40 PSI. When the water is not running have 60 PSI. Sure works better than before. I probably didn't need the Jumbo system, but as my brother always says "go big or go home" I also wanted my bride to have a good shower.
Thanks everybody for your input, that's why I like this site everybody has some past or present experience they are willing to share.

Here are some pictures of the finished results. I wraped the hoses in Foam pipe wrap in case of freezing. The Water hose to the source is a heated water hose which connects to the outside connection in picture 2. Note the last picture when in transit you can un-hook the water hose and it lays on top of the Black hose carrier (with a cap on the end). Everything else stays connected. When you get to a campground, you just hook up the water source and un-screw the cover at the bottom of the UDC then connect the water hose comming from the filters.

Happy Camping,

-- Edited by crmfghtr on Friday 28th of September 2012 11:53:37 AM

Wayne and Deanna · RV-Dreams Family Member

Looking for a Water Engineer out there.

OK, so we bought a Zero water pitcher for our drinking water and I also installed a GE Smar****er whole house filter with the carbon filter in it. Using the Zero water tester, we tested the water before the filter which showed 376. Then I tested the water in our 5ver which is water that has gone through the whole house filter, and the tester showed 450. Why is this reading higher after the water goes through the carbon filter?

Thanks for any advice.

Wayne

Wayne and Deanna · RV-Dreams Family Member

Some real good news on this matter: Our zero water filter is lasting much longer since the whole house filter went on. We are thinking there is a lot of chlorine in the water coming in.......

bigboomer · RV-Dreams Family Member

Wayne and Deanna,

Glad to hear your water issues have worked out. Nothing like living with bad water.

Until we put the whole rig filtration system in the water we used to bottle, etc. with a tap filter was just awful. Heavy rust and sediment. Here is a link to our pics of the system we set up.

http://s962.beta.photobucket.com/user/mybigboomer/library/RV%20Water%20Filtration%20System

When we finally decided the water needed to be filtered (after running a few of my dress shirts in the washer), we chose to go with 3 jumbo (4" x 10") cannisters from the RVwaterfilterstore.com. I mounted the entire system on the front wall opposite the convenience center and ran the lines at the top and back over the wall and thru to connect to the outside water. I went with the following set-up in the cannisters - # 1 - 1 Micron sediment, # 2 - Birm-BB (removes iron and is replacable) and # 3 - CFBC-10BB (carbon block).

This combo has worked so well that we stopped buying bottled water and my coffee tastes good again!

Les

Wayne and Deanna · RV-Dreams Family Member

Hi, Les and Sue,
Thanks for the advice and great pics. We appreciate it! We are also still waiting on those Christmas pictures, lol.

Wayne and Deanna