Water filter replacement

[Brew49411]

I am having some trouble breaking the casings lose to replace my filters. Just 6 months ago I was able to do it as easy as 1 2 3. This time I have broken three of the plastic wrenches used to losen them. I am using the Big Boy Brand. Any suggestions??

[brewbong]

Get yourself a Channel lock 460 plyers and wrap the teeth w/electrical tape.

[doverbrewer]

Make sure you release any pressure in the canister. Any water valves open up stream could be letting water and thus pressure into the canister. Making them a real pain to open. Open all down stream of them.

[gitchegumee]

And on reassembly, apply a thin coating of Petrogel or other suitable lubricant to the threads & O-ring. You won't have this problem again. Cheers!

[Gregg]

Just curious : why do you recommend Petrogel over silicone grease?

Gregg

[gitchegumee]

No particular reason. We use Petrogel for all of our food processing needs. It's compatible with most elastomers, and it's not expensive. If you have good luck with silicone-based lubricants, then I'd stick with them. The important thing is to use it! We put it on everything: to prevent leaks through pressure relief valves, lubricate zwickles, elastomers on our DE filter, HLT manway gasket to prevent adhesion, air & water filters, keg O-rings, canning machine parts, pump mechanical seals, etc, etc. I like to take things apart without ruining parts or having to use a torch! Cheers!

[cpelz]

We've also wrapped a strap around the housing and had two guys pull on either end to twist the housing off...after we ran out of plastic wrenches.