Factory water filter plumbed backwards

[Spaceball]

Changed out my drinking water filters today and noticed they were darker toward the center rather than outer portion of the filter. Any canister type filter should flow from the outside inward, dirt on outside cleaner on inside.

Upon further inspection it seems the factory-installed 2 canister filtration is plumbed in the wrong direction LOL I hadn't really noticed before as I change often and normally not very dark to tell.

Not a huge deal, they technically still function this way, but work better when the flow is correct as in reverse they tend plug up quicker. I guess I'll make a project of disassembling, cleaning and reversing so flow is correct in the future.

Makes me wonder how many coaches left the factory this way heh

[Amen]

I just changed mine out and noticed darker in middle? And water flow slower. How did you know it was backwards? We have a 2008 Camelot 42PDQ

[Spaceball]

The darker in the center is the sign that it's flowing backwards. It shows the water is flowing from the center of filter outward, rather than inward. Thus the gunk is collecting in that tiny area in the center of the filter rather than the outside and in the canister where there's more surface area and room for accumulation.

The other telltale sign on mine was the canister was cleaner than the center pipe, and I had some algae buildup in the center and in it's pipe.


Edit: I guess the for sure check would be to turn water on with filter removed and see which hole in the housing it comes out of. I'll do this next time I change when I'm prepared to reverse flow if needed.

[Amen]

There should be arrows on it showing flow direction? I’ll have look tomorrow to see which way mine is going. Here is a pic of my filter I just changed out.

[Spaceball]

Yeah they should have flow arrows on the assembly so one knows which way to plumb it, the one in my coach is a watts and no visible arrows anywhere on it that I can see with it installed. But I'm going to manually check the flow next time I change them.

Yours would be hard to tell. My second filter looks like the one in your pic and mine is black to start with. It's one of those multilayered half micron that filters out dissolved metals.

Here's a pic of my sediment filter compared to a new one, lots of hard water the last couple months heh But that bit of algae should be on the outside and not the inside if water was flowing correctly, at least in my thinking. I fulltime so it's not like the system sat stagnant and stuff started to grow.

[Amen]

Wow! That’s a lot of iron in the water!

We just bought the coach and I’m not sure when the filter was replaced so I figured I would replace it to be safe. I got the one that says chemicals on it ..not just drinking water ... so that might be why it’s slow too. It’s filtering more. I’m ok with that. It’s just that the flow changed and not sure why except for the filter maybe filters more

[Winemaker2]

The other benefit of the correct direction of flow is that the vrlocity drops in the larger outer chamber and any sediment falls to the bottom. Also filtration more efficient w slower velocity flow which it is with the larger area of outside.
I'm guessing the hose / tube routing wouldn't be as neat w the vorrect installation???

[MSHappyCampers]

Never knew that!

[Spaceball]

Originally Posted by Amen

Wow! That’s a lot of iron in the water!

We just bought the coach and I’m not sure when the filter was replaced so I figured I would replace it to be safe. I got the one that says chemicals on it ..not just drinking water ... so that might be why it’s slow too. It’s filtering more. I’m ok with that. It’s just that the flow changed and not sure why except for the filter maybe filters more

Yeah it's either iron or Missouri limestone, or probably both (been on well water). The filter is doing it's job though, I have no staining in my sinks.

The sediment filter is first stage, 1 micron, second stage is half micron which does dissolved metals, chemicals, etc. Probably the same as the one you use, it looks similar. The flow is decent when they are fresh, but sure slow down quick recently. I even use one of those blue hose filters in combination with everything heh.

Originally Posted by Winemaker2

The other benefit of the correct direction of flow is that the vrlocity drops in the larger outer chamber and any sediment falls to the bottom. Also filtration more efficient w slower velocity flow which it is with the larger area of outside.
I'm guessing the hose / tube routing wouldn't be as neat w the vorrect installation???

That's a very good point too, now it's going to bug me until I change them again LOL I have a bit of OCD when it comes to fixing things.

Yes the pipes will not reach if simply reversing the hookups. Fortunately these canister systems can be disassembled rather easy, I'll just rotate 180 degrees in the mounting plate if needed, that way the pipes don't have to be relocated.

[Winemaker2]

Originally Posted by Spaceball

That's a very good point too, now it's going to bug me until I change them again LOL I have a bit of OCD when it comes to fixing things.

No need to fret too much... it appears that you are getting enough filtering.
You should get more life and better performance when corrected.
I like OCD folks... I relate well to them.

[Moondaddy]

Spaceball
I have same rig as you, just changed filters today. My filter unit is from Watts. Would guess that you have same set up as mine, prefilter and #5 secondary filter. I did check the top of inlet and it is marked In and out to second filter and all markings are correct on mine. If you do have the Watts set up in the pump bay and they are backwards it shouldn't be much trouble to change them around. Had forgot to change filters until you posted. Another job finished, waiting for November to pass then on to Arizona.

[Amen]

So interesting now when I run the sink water it diminishes the toilet water? I thought the toilet water did not go through the filter?

[Arch Hoagland]

You change them every 12 years whether they need it or not?

[Spaceball]

Originally Posted by Moondaddy

Spaceball
I have same rig as you, just changed filters today. My filter unit is from Watts. Would guess that you have same set up as mine, prefilter and #5 secondary filter. I did check the top of inlet and it is marked In and out to second filter and all markings are correct on mine. If you do have the Watts set up in the pump bay and they are backwards it shouldn't be much trouble to change them around. Had forgot to change filters until you posted. Another job finished, waiting for November to pass then on to Arizona.

Thank you, very good info. We do have the same setup. There is a dirt devil installed right above my filters making it difficult to see the top of the filtration assembly, but with an inspection mirror I was able to see the in/out markings, and it is indeed plumbed correctly. So I'll have to eat crow on thinking they were backwards.

Now I just have to figure out what the black gunk is on the inside of the sediment filter. I have a hunch that is algae but is odd because lack of light, I'm certainly not a algae expert so LOL The center portion of the bottom of the canister is stained green, but the gunk on the media is black. The gunk is not making it past the second filter though, TDS is good inside the coach and no other issues otherwise.

Whatever is growing between the two filters is probably whats causing the second filter to clog up so fast. I do dose my fresh tank with chlorine when on well water, maybe I need to up the dosage. My fresh tank and pump are all clean too. Whatever it is, it prefers the stage 1 filtered water better than the raw tank/city side as none of this gunk exists on the outside of the that filter or anywhere before it. That bay does stay pretty warm however with the aqua-hot being right there.

Originally Posted by Amen

So interesting now when I run the sink water it diminishes the toilet water? I thought the toilet water did not go through the filter?

If it's anything like my setup, the filter is a whole house filter, everything is tapped from that source.

Originally Posted by Arch Hoagland

You change them every 12 years whether they need it or not?

Not sure what you mean, I change my filters every few months or more. The assembly however is factory installed.