Winterize

[alaska6580]

Have a 2010 Solera 24S. Does anyone have a suggestion on how to remove the water filter without spilling water all over. Is there a special wrench for removing the canister.

Thanks
alaskas6580

[DaveJordan]

A couple of things...

1. There is a special wrench for removing the filter.
2. Be sure to depressurize the system before removing the filter (ie., turn off the pump, unhook from city water, and open (and the close) a faucet.)
3. I still spill water, so I spread a towel around and try to catch the water as best I can.

Good luck!

Dave

[alaska6580]

Thanks for the info Dave. I'll try not to spill any.

[Phinias]

I removed and bypassed the filter. They're a potential disaster on hold

[Eric99]

To not spill any water just blow out the system with air with the filter in place. Almost all water will be out of the filter housing. Remove the filter then blow out the system again. I did this last time and did not spill any water.

[ChooChooMan74]

Originally Posted by Eric99

To not spill any water just blow out the system with air with the filter in place. Almost all water will be out of the filter housing. Remove the filter then blow out the system again. I did this last time and did not spill any water.

X2 on blowong it out.

[dukeboone]

Just recently did mine and depressurized the system first. Then took a full size bath towel, folded, and placed it under the water filter housing. Using the wrench I easily loosened it up and only spilled a minimal amount of water which was easily managed by the towel. I removed the filter, replaced the canister, blew the lines and having left the towel in place I was able to empty the canister a second time (I think I might have run the pump) and also empty the sediment filter and using the towel to prevent water from going into unwanted places. HTH

[MNtraveler]

With all this good talk about winterizing the MHs, no one is talking about winterizing the chassis. I asked our dealer if the windshield washer fluid was suitable for below zero temps and apparently nobody asked before. (We had one freeze up in the family with a required light bulb heated thaw out in a garage - fortunately caught before any serious damage happened.) The service counter guy said they use fluid good to -35 and brought out a gallon, but it was purple. The fluid in our (new) MH is a typical blue, although quite dark at that. Not having any other testing system handy, I've siphoned out a small amount and put it into the deep freezer for testing. Results later. 😴

"Tropicana blue Orange" Don't worry it's labeled per ISO 9001 now!

[Petersb]

I used a kitchen garbage bag. Loosened the filter slightly and put the garbage bag over the filter and finished unscrewing it didn't spill a drop.


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[jdyson]

Originally Posted by Phinias

I removed and bypassed the filter. They're a potential disaster on hold

I, too, removed and bypassed mine with a 6" length of brass pipe that I bought at Home Depot. I didn't like the fact that it is behind the water pump, forcing that pump to push water thru that filter media, etc and decreasing my water pressure when using the pump. I prefer a design where the filter is after the city water inlet, but before the water tank fill. So, in my MBS I use an external filter and some quick connect fittings with a water tank filler (along with a small battery powered water meter so I can measure how much water I'm putting into the tank) and fill my water tank with filtered water. Some of the water I've gotten at campgrounds I'd never want to go straight into my tank. I know some people hook up the city water and then use the outside (Forest River 'coiled') hose to fill the water tank using the factory filter as installed by FR, too. That factory filter was too hard to work with on my 2401R, and since we had room in the basement model, I carry the external one.

[MNtraveler]

Originally Posted by MNtraveler

With all this good talk about winterizing the MHs, no one is talking about winterizing the chassis. I asked our dealer if the windshield washer fluid was suitable for below zero temps and apparently nobody asked before. (We had one freeze up in the family with a required light bulb heated thaw out in a garage - fortunately caught before any serious damage happened.) The service counter guy said they use fluid good to -35 and brought out a gallon, but it was purple. The fluid in our (new) MH is a typical blue, although quite dark at that. Not having any other testing system handy, I've siphoned out a small amount and put it into the deep freezer for testing. Results later. 😴

"Tropicana blue Orange" Don't worry it's labeled per ISO 9001 now!
Attachment 93602

At 0 degrees that windshield fluid was still fully liquid so seems good there. (We use fluid good to -20 to -35 once cold weather is approaching.)

[nusslejj]

I like your ideas. I have a 24R so the filter is under the rear bed. So three things are bad with the 24R filter design. 1) as you say the pump has to push through it - reducing pressure and making it harder on pump. 2) filter is after Potable Water tank, so you are potentially dumping bad water into your tank, then cleaning it up before it gets to spigots. 3) the filter is in a terrible location.

Mine is installed with PEX, so easy squeazy to take it out and install two PEX couplers. I'll just use an outside filter I already have between the campground hose and the Solera.

[MNtraveler]

Originally Posted by nusslejj

I like your ideas. I have a 24R so the filter is under the rear bed. So three things are bad with the 24R filter design. 1) as you say the pump has to push through it - reducing pressure and making it harder on pump. 2) filter is after Potable Water tank, so you are potentially dumping bad water into your tank, then cleaning it up before it gets to spigots. 3) the filter is in a terrible location.

Mine is installed with PEX, so easy squeazy to take it out and install two PEX couplers. I'll just use an outside filter I already have between the campground hose and the Solera.

Hold on a minute. If the water pump is pushing through it (and not sure why that's a problem...), then you are drawing from the fresh water tank. If you don't use that, you will not filter water from the tank. Of course you can filter water from the outside before it goes into the tank, but that will not filter any dirt, sand or debris coming out of the tank, nor any mold or bacteria that might be in the tank.

If you are using an external filter with a campground hose then I would assume you are running city water and filtering that, not tank water, unless you are talking about filling up at the camp water fill site. Also if running city water then you are filtering everything including water going into the commode. Whereas I would assume (but have not confirmed) that the internal filter only filters what is needed which is presumably the sink lines, refrig/freezer if applicable and hot water tank feed line therefore including the shower hot water as well as cold.

Thoughts?