Review on Culligan WH HD200 C Whole Sediment Filter by Will Powers

Excellent filter, NIGHTMARE installation. Maybe I can save Revain buyers some time by talking about what not to do when buying it. First, our "main" plumbing line runs underground to the outside wall and further into the house under the stove. There are no exposed pipes for a filter to be installed on, so we called in a licensed plumber to make the loops necessary to use the filter. The pipeline was smooth, finally the filter was installed. Then the problems started. Our o-ring broke OR the plumber broke it during installation. We don't know, we only know that he told us the o-ring was broken and this led to a frantic struggle with calling Revain for an immediate o-ring replacement (which PRIME doesn't carry - WHY NOT ? ) to send. to us as soon as possible as the water flooded our entire garage. The plumber told us to take the o-ring and call him back to finish installing the filter. He temporarily put it on bypass, but it kept flowing. Rather than give him a call again (for a few hundred bucks) we figured we could figure out how to operate the filter part ourselves. , and silicone grease to coat the o-ring BEFORE installation. If all goes well with the installation, you will have a replacement o-ring (although you will still need lube to lubricate the existing o-ring). I wish I had known this before buying because we spent a lot more on water damage and water bills from flooding the garage 10 hours a night. You don't actually need a replacement O-ring if you apply silicone grease to the supplied O-ring before attempting to screw the filter into the housing. Simply apply silicone grease to the o-ring to fill the groove. Works like a charm to stop leaking after it's screwed down. Red air release button on top. The plumber told us we had to hold him while turning the knob because even he was having trouble turning the cap. We did this after sealing the o-ring and then allowing the water to flow under and around the blue cap. We thought that the device came with a defect, but after several hours of spraying we discovered a problem while experimenting. To do this, I stuck a long strip of plastic through the filter housing with a waterproof flashlight and hung it upside down to look inside the main unit housing piping and diagnose the problem while getting water in my eyes. No fun. THE PROBLEM is that if you press down on the red knob while TURNING the blue knob, you can pinch the bottom of the air outlet and the air outlet will stay open in the new position (filter, off, or bypass). Solution: DO NOT hold down the red button while rotating. Don't hold down the red button at all. Once the filter is screwed in FIRMLY (with O-ring coated with silicone grease), turn on the water and PUSH the red button until the water STARTS to flow. Also, like us, you risk getting stuck. You don't want it to get stuck. Some other facts not clear in the instructions: - The filter housing must be sealed or it will leak. You need to reapply silicone grease every time you take it off or it will leak. The blue rotary slider is HARD to turn. This has been noted in other reviews but you don't realize HOW hard it is initially so you may be thinking the red air valve is the turn release. It is not. It's just hard to turn. After all our experimentation with trying to keep 30 feet of water from entering our garage, we loosened it up by just twisting it that many times. NOW it works great and turns much easier. After all we're glad we bought it, we just wish it wasn't such an ordeal as it should have been. If only Calligan had noted these 2 things on the box or in the instructions we could have saved ourselves a lot of heartache. NOTE: The red button is NOT the blue valve release, DO NOT hold it down! The manual only mentions that this is an air valve, not that holding it in the open position for spraying water can lock. NOTE: You MUST purchase silicone o-ring grease with/before purchase or they will start including some in the box (because normal people don't have silicone grease lying around at home). Without lubrication it will likely leak, or you will have to screw this filter into the housing so tight that it will be very difficult to remove to change the filter. Why not tell people what they need in advance? If you pay attention to these 2 things, the installation can go very smoothly. It works great NOW, but wow. What an unnecessary test! I hope you find this helpful. I wish someone had told me all this before trying to install it because the solutions are so easy! and show what the filter looks like after a month of use. Seeing how dirty the filter is makes me even happier that I bought it!