Water filter full of antifreeze

[keeprr]

After pumping antifreeze through fresh eater system I noticed the water filter bowl was full of antifreeze. I had the WH bypassed, valve to fresh water tank closed and pumped AF in through AF connection .
Is this normal?

[Oakman]

Yes it is normal, you want the bowl filled with antifreeze. In the spring be sure to empty it.

During the winterizing process you should have taken the filter housing off and emptied it before pumping antifreeze into the system.

[ChooChooMan74]

Put a bypass on the filter.

http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...asy-95739.html

[keeprr]

Thank you. I did remove filter and empty bowl.

[bubbles]

It's a whole house filter. All water from either shore hookup or on board pump passes through the filter before reaching faucets/commode/refrigerator/water heater etc.. The only water not routed through it is from the black tank cleanout port, if you have one.

[2-B-REIL]

For All folks with whole house water filters... if you do not have a by-pass on the water filter and the canister does fill with antifreeze, once you have completed the process of winterizing, be sure to remove the canister and empty it. The canisters are of hard plastic and the antifreeze can expand during the extreme cold weather conditions. With that happening, when spring arrives and you go to de-winterize, you will find that most to all canisters will break at the neck or crack out somewhere on the canister. So would strongly recommend emptying and not leaving antifreeze in the water filter canister. We also recommend removing your low point water line drain caps, opening all faucets and letting the antifreeze drain itself out. If cracking can occur to the canister, it could happen to a small valve in a faucet of toilet valve.

[ChooChooMan74]

Originally Posted by 2-B-REIL

For All folks with whole house water filters... if you do not have a by-pass on the water filter and the canister does fill with antifreeze, once you have completed the process of winterizing, be sure to remove the canister and empty it. The canisters are of hard plastic and the antifreeze can expand during the extreme cold weather conditions. With that happening, when spring arrives and you go to de-winterize, you will find that most to all canisters will break at the neck or crack out somewhere on the canister. So would strongly recommend emptying and not leaving antifreeze in the water filter canister. We also recommend removing your low point water line drain caps, opening all faucets and letting the antifreeze drain itself out. If cracking can occur to the canister, it could happen to a small valve in a faucet of toilet valve.

My Dealer (Rousseau's RV in Lakeville Ma) warned me about the filter canister issues. Dave, the parts guy (3 Daves there) told me to empty it. The girl there (forgot her name) showed me the Camco Bypass Valve kit. As pictured, it works great. This is the 2nd camper I have done it to.

[5picker]

Originally Posted by 2-B-REIL

For All folks with whole house water filters... if you do not have a by-pass on the water filter and the canister does fill with antifreeze, once you have completed the process of winterizing, be sure to remove the canister and empty it. The canisters are of hard plastic and the antifreeze can expand during the extreme cold weather conditions. With that happening, when spring arrives and you go to de-winterize, you will find that most to all canisters will break at the neck or crack out somewhere on the canister. So would strongly recommend emptying and not leaving antifreeze in the water filter canister. We also recommend removing your low point water line drain caps, opening all faucets and letting the antifreeze drain itself out. If cracking can occur to the canister, it could happen to a small valve in a faucet of toilet valve.

Not true.
RV Antifreeze may gel up or become slushy under extreme cold conditions but the difference between RV antifreeze and water is that RV antifreeze DOES NOT expand.

The canisters break because a drop of water remained on the internal/external threads of the canister/housing once screwed back on.
Same goes for your faucet or toilet valve. One drop of water can crack them. That is why I ALWAYS add RV antifreeze to the system after blowing out with compressed air. Yes, you'll remove most of the water by blowing out but it only takes one drop (of water) at the right location to create a problem.

[Oakman]

Originally Posted by 2-B-REIL

For All folks with whole house water filters... if you do not have a by-pass on the water filter and the canister does fill with antifreeze, once you have completed the process of winterizing, be sure to remove the canister and empty it. The canisters are of hard plastic and the antifreeze can expand during the extreme cold weather conditions. With that happening, when spring arrives and you go to de-winterize, you will find that most to all canisters will break at the neck or crack out somewhere on the canister. So would strongly recommend emptying and not leaving antifreeze in the water filter canister. We also recommend removing your low point water line drain caps, opening all faucets and letting the antifreeze drain itself out. If cracking can occur to the canister, it could happen to a small valve in a faucet of toilet valve.

I completely disagree with your advice. While emptying the filter canister of anti-freeze won’t hurt anything, it is not necessary. RV anti-freeze does NOT expand when frozen. If it did then the valve on the toilet and most other valves in the RV would be damaged over the winter.

I have been winterizing my fifth wheels for 12 seasons and have yet to have any problems in the spring and that includes the whole house water filter. I’ve owned two Wildcats and now I have a Silverback.

[5picker]

If I were the ChooChooMan... I would be removing that canister again and wiping dry all those droplets of water from the canister and the threads of the canister/housing. Or better yet, since it is in bypass... remove the canister altogether for winter.

[BobHanke]

The filter will retain water and can expand when frozen so must be removed. Local repair shop confirmed that RV antifreeze actually does freeze BUT does not expand. But he did say that he often replaces the canister that holds the filter on several units each year. He said to just put it on one turn so it can collect any antifreeze that might come that away during the winter.

[robertew]

In the past, I'd remove the filter and add a water bottle, full of water to displace that much antifreeze. The down side of this method, was that the antifreeze didn't suck down as it will with a filter in place. So, it was hard to remove the canister without making a mess with it full of antifreeze. This year, I inserted a tube that fit on the inside of the filter housing that fit the inside diameter of where the filter seals. This allowed me to winterize the system-with less than a gallon, and then pump the antifreeze out of the housing.