Winterizing - Remove Water Filter?

[itat]

I'm winterizing the Roo this weekend. I just pumped antifreeze into my water lines but forgot to remove the water filter from the canister. Is there any need to remove it or can I just leave it in? I always put a brand new filter in in the Spring so I'm not concerned about reusing that filter.

[Witch Doctor]

I would say just leave it in if you used the bio pink stuff, shouldn't hurt anything and just replace it next season

[rattleNsmoke]

X 2

[jimh]

agree.
last year i unscrewed the lines from the water filter and just put a nipple in between.
i have room to play with around the filter so this is an easy way to not get antifreeze in it. the rest would be to pull the element and drain the filter housing. then put a couple of caps on the open lines on each side.

[Steeljag]

Winterizing? The season is just starting down here.....lol....

[DDC]

Thats actually a tough call because whats in the filter housing may be very weak a/freeze because it would be nearly full of water as it just drops a little when you blow the lines out.

[Windywest]

Our manual says to remove the filter, empty the canister, then winterize. RV antifreeze will freeze, it just doesn't expand. If you have water mixed with antifreeze, you could get expansion, and your canister might break if you leave it full. I'm going to bypass my filter all together, might even take it out since we never use it and all this year never had a filter in the canister. Most campsite water is so chlorinated that it's almost impossible to drink, so we always take bottled water, and water from home for coffee and cooking.

[rschoono289]

Another solution is to use a kit which blocks water/antifreeze from getting into the canister during winterization. The kit consists of an aluminum plate and a rubber gasket both circular which fit one on top of the other sealing the top of the canister. Bought this at our local RV supplier. I left it in all year as don't use the filter but one caution. You need to ensure the canister is tight or leak can develop.

[youroo]

Originally Posted by Windywest

Our manual says to remove the filter, empty the canister, then winterize. RV antifreeze will freeze, it just doesn't expand. If you have water mixed with antifreeze, you could get expansion, and your canister might break if you leave it full. I'm going to bypass my filter all together, might even take it out since we never use it and all this year never had a filter in the canister. Most campsite water is so chlorinated that it's almost impossible to drink, so we always take bottled water, and water from home for coffee and cooking.

I agree with this. The next time remove the element and place a empty( with cap on) soft drink bottle inside to take up the space,then run R/V Antifreeze thru the system. Youroo!!

[raspivey]

I accidentally left mine in on the last trailer. It plugged the filter up after sitting a few months. If you're just going to replace it, no big deal but otherwise I'd take it out.

[itat]

steeljag, it's getting down to 7 deg C here in Ontario at night and since one of my hobbies is refing (ice) hockey I'm getting too busy skating games on weekends to camp anyway. So I'm calling it the end of camping season for us. We'll have the Roo back in action again come May.

Last year we took the filter out but still filled the canister with fresh pink stuff and had no problems in the Spring. I'll probably get another jug of AF and remove the filter and refill the system, its just a pretty tight in that cabinet and can get messy if it spills. I like the plastic pop bottle idea, too.

Thanks for all your replies everyone.

[schrederman]

I left mine on last winter and when it froze it broke the canister off just below the screw threads. It landed in the floor and stood up like a glass of water until I checked it. I found that amusing, especially since I had minimal water spillage. My blow out of the lines must have worked for everything else because I had no other problems. I bought a new filter of the same size at Lowes and moved it outside. It hangs on a bracket that I made so the original mounting bracket just slips down into it. As itat said, it's too tight in the cabinet to have to deal with it. I just plumbed through the old filter location. We had the same size filter for our well water while I lived in Amarillo, so I have about 10 unused filters... I should be good for a while.

[acadianbob]

If you have a carbon/charcoal filter, take it out. I found that it removes the pink from the RV antifreeze and then you don't know visually when the line you are treating is done.