Review on Culligan HF360A - Optimized Standard House Filtration System by Adam Matthews

I bought this filter because of the bypass valve in the head. I wish I had read the reviews more carefully because when I pressurized the system water spurted out of all the fittings! And this is not my first plumbing project. not far. First thing I found was that the assemblers had installed the large o-ring incorrectly and it was pinched, rendering it unusable. Second, three layers of Teflon tape on the nozzles were not enough to prevent dripping. After working the o-ring with a heat gun to remove the kinks and applying pipe lube to Teflon tape over pipe lube to PVC pipe thread fittings, I finally stopped leaking. Or at least it doesn't appear to be leaking at the moment. I've been fooled by that poorly designed head. And I only use the system at 30-50psi! As another reviewer mentioned, it appears that the female NPT head fittings are too deep and therefore the PVC flange fittings cannot go deep enough to fit the cone and therefore will not close and seal properly - a clear design drawback . Therefore, it is necessary to fill the thread gaps with teflon and glue, and then tighten very firmly - almost to the point where the plastic fittings crack. Lessons Learned: Make sure the o-ring doesn't get pinched during assembly and use plenty of pipe paste. and Teflon tape on pipe threads. If I need to redo the fittings I use a 3" brass nipple sunk deep into the head (covered with plenty of tape) and then attach my PVC fittings from there. So four stars for concept and price; minus 2 stars for construction, design and construction.