Damn plastic to plastic threaded fittings .... damn the jam

oak

Please, can anyone offer a solution to the jamming of my threaded plastic whole-house water filter bowl jamming into the threaded plastic housing? It's nuts. Even with the most expensive dielectric food-grade lubricant, and only hand tightening the unit, the plastic bowl jams so tight I literally rip it off the mount every time I have to change a filter. If there is no lubricant that can prevent this, how about a recommendation for a 3/4" feed prefilter that uses ... say .... plastic to metal, for example.

This is the same problem as PVC threaded pipe jams.

JUGHNE

For the filter bowl, you shut off the supply in and discharge out....but do you have a way to release the pressure within the bowl. Some have a button to release the pressure.

mattmia2

Mine seem to bind on the o-ring a lot more than the plastic.

HomerJSmith

Ya! it's a common problem. Silicone grease doesn't seem to help.

I haven't done this but I think I'll try it. Clean the threads, male and female with lacquer thinner. Then I would lubricate the threads with graphite power. You can get graphite in a auto parts store. Graphite is inert to plastic and a great lubricant.

pecmsg

One piece of grit, one grain of sand cuts the plastic and form's notches that grab when trying to remove. Wash both Male and Female threads well before tightening. The O-Ring is the seal, a little food grade grease on there, hand tighten, slowly turn on if leaking replace the O-Ring.

realliveplumber

HomerJSmith said:

Ya! it's a common problem. Silicone grease doesn't seem to help.

I haven't done this but I think I'll try it. Clean the threads, male and female with lacquer thinner. Then I would lubricate the threads with graphite power. You can get graphite in a auto parts store. Graphite is inert to plastic and a great lubricant.

Lacquer thinner on potable water?

Big Ed_4

Plumbers grease on the threads and drop the pressure when opening .....

JUGHNE

If you have no pressure release button/valve, you can shut off the supply valve. Leave the outlet valve open and drain some water (drop pressure on cartridge) from a sink.

At least 4 people here think this will not unscrew easily under pressure......this is true of other situations also.

hot_rod

There used to be some 1/4 turn twist lock style that worked much better. I think they were brass body, stainless canister. Probably gone due to low lead requirements?

HomerJSmith

realliveplumber, The threads donna contacta potable water, besides the evaporative quality is rapid and it may be a silicone grease cutter. You're not taking a bath in it. Just saying.

It's a pain in the you know what to use a 24" pipe wrench to crack the threads on a whole house filter's plastic housing. No pun intended.

rick in Alaska

I have also found if you use two filter wrenches with the handles 180 apart on the filter, that the filter will come off with a LOT less pull. I also use stem lube on all my o-rings and threads.
Rick