Culligan WH-HD200-C Whole House Heavy Duty Water Filtration System, Clear

4.0 out of 5 stars

By Old Alice - Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2018

CRITICALLY important Install info the manufacturer doesn't tell you.

Great filter, NIGHTMARE installation. Perhaps I can save Amazon buyers a bit of time with what not to do if you buy one. First, our 'main' water line travels underground to an exterior wall, and continues into the house under the slab. There are no exposed pipes to mount this on, so we called a licensed plumber to create the piping loops necessary to use the filter. Piping was smooth, finally the filter was mounted. Then the problems began. Our O-ring came broken, OR, the plumber broke it during install. We don't know, all we know is he told us the O-ring was broken, and that led to a mad scramble calling Amazon about immediate O-ring replacement (which is not carried by PRIME - WHY NOT?) to be shipped out to us asap, as water poured all over our garage. The plumber told us to get the O-ring and call him to come back to finish installing the filter. Meanwhile he put it on "Bypass", but it continued to leak. Rather than call him again (for a few hundred more dollars), we decided we could figure it out how to work the filter part ourselves. Solution: My LOTS of damage and money saving suggestion: buy an O-ring with the order for backup, AND Silicone Grease to plaster the O-ring down BEFORE installation. If all goes well with the installation, you have a backup O-ring (although you will still need the grease to plaster down the existing O-ring). I wish I knew about this before the purchase because we spent way more than this in water damage and water cost from the flooding in the garage for 10 hours overnight. You don't actually need a spare O-ring if you have and use the silicone grease on the included one before trying to screw the filter into the housing. Just slather the silicone grease all over the O-ring, filling in the groove. Works like a charm to stop leaks once screwed in tight. The red air-release button on top. Plumber told us that we should hold that down while turning the knob, because even he had trouble turning the top. We did just this after sealing the o-ring down, and water poured out under and around the blue cap thereafter. We thought the unit came defective, but after hours of drenching spraying mess while experimenting, we found the problem. This included poking a long strip of plastic up through the filter housing, while using a waterproof flashlight and hanging upside down to see into the main unit housing piping to ascertain the problem while water dripped into my eyes. Not fun. The PROBLEM is, if you push the red button down WHILE turning the blue handle you can trap the bottom of the air release, and it will hold that air release open in the new position (Filter, Off, or Bypass). Solution: DO NOT hold the red button down while turning. DO NOT hold the red button down at all. Once the filter is screwed into place TIGHTLY (with your O-ring plastered down with silicone grease), turn water on and TAP the red button until water BEGINS to flow. More than that and you risk getting it stuck like we did. You do not want to get it stuck. Some other facts that are not clear in the directions: - the Filter housing needs to be tight, or it leaks. Must reapply the silicone grease every single time you take it off, or it leaks. - the blue turn valve is HARD to turn. This has been noted in other reviews, but you don't know HOW hard it is initially, so you think that maybe that red air valve is a turn release. It's not. It's just HARD to turn. After all our experimenting with trying to stop water from shooting 30' across our garage, we loosened it simply by turning it so many times. NOW it works perfectly, and turns much more easily. All that said, we are glad we bought it, just wish it wasn't the ordeal it didn't have to be. If Culligan simply noted these 2 things on the box or directions, we could have saved a LOT of misery. NOTE: the red button is NOT a release for the blue valve, do NOT hold it down! Manual only mentions that it's an air valve, not that holding it down can trap it in the water spraying open position. NOTE: you NEED to buy silicone grease for the O-ring with/before the purchase, or they begin to include some in the box (because normal people do not have silicone grease laying around their house). Without the grease, it's probably going to leak, or you have to screw that filter so tightly into the housing that you will have real trouble getting it off again to change the filter. Why not tell people what they need beforehand? If you note these 2 things, installation could go really smoothly. NOW it works great, but wow... what an unnecessary ordeal! Hope you find this helpful, wish someone told me all this before I tried to install it, because the solutions are so simple!! **editing to add a photo showing how the plumber laid out the piping in the garage, and to show what the filter looks like after a month in use. Seeing how dirty the filter is, I'm even more glad I bought this!

5.0 out of 5 stars

By R. J. Province - Reviewed in the United States on August 19, 2017

Great Whole House Filter!

After much debate on what kind and how large a filter to get, We decides on this Culligan for several reasons. The main reason is it accepts large filters that come in stages. We are currently using the following Fette Filters: 2-Pack - GE FXHTC Compatible Premium Heavy Duty Sediment Replacement Cartridge. Also Replaces Culligan RFC-BBSA I was replacing my well holding tank and after I saw the amount of rust I decided it was time to do something about it. I was tired of the shower and sinks being clogged with rust. So far, it's been 5 months, this filter has been doing a good job at keeping the rust down. I keep checking the kitchen faucet only to find no rust at all. I love it. I can say this, it's really hard and messy changing the filter, but that's life. I'm really glad I took the time to research and get the filter that was right for my needs. One of the features that I like is the blue button on the front. It has a mall LED and It will blink green for 3 months - after that, it blinks red. This is to signal it's time to change the filter. For me, I would say from the looks of it (see my pics) I should change it every month - but I waited the 3 months and it was fine. I chlorinate my well every 6 months and will use the filter as a guide. The bypass on the filter can be used when chlorinating a well and that's what I will use, but I also like the clear container. I can use the clear container to see when the water starts to run clear and at that stage I will flush the faucets in the house, wait for the smell to tone down, pop in a new filter and it's back to business as usual. All in all, I would say if you are planning on adding a whole house filter - bigger is better. I was going to add 3 smaller filters, but found out this one filter does exactly what I need. Just remember to get the 3 layer filters like I mentioned above and you can't go wrong.

2.0 out of 5 stars

By Jennifer Burley - Reviewed in the United States on April 1, 2018

If the 'Filter-Bypass-Off' Switch Doesn't Turn Easy, Send it BACK!

These at first glance seem to be built really well, however after just an initial test all three out of three units had failed seals internally. Before I mounted 3 of these coupled together in any permanent manner, I decided to simply set all of them in bypass, couple them together and just run water through the system to check for leaks. Doing this with water just passing straight through had all three leaking in to the filter jar. Looking back, my first clue that there was a problem was just after getting them out of the box and trying to turn the 'Filter-Bypass-Off' leaver at the top of the unit. All three units wouldn't turn easily. The instructions tell you to use the wrench - DO NOT. Basically all three of these units didn't have any silicon lubricant on the seals. Using the wrench to turn the leaver at the top of the unit either shredded the seal or bound it up in the valve. If you receive one of these and the leaver at the top does not turn some what easily, either send it back or take the valve apart and use some food grade silicon grease on the valve face and 2 smaller o-ring seals. Since I needed this for a weekend project, after diagnosing the issue I had to run around town looking for compatible seals and only found close ones - even from Culligan dealers. My system is now limping along but I will be looking for true replacement seals so I don't have to be concerned when I turn the leaver. Either way, I bought the more expensive filter housing and had to pay even more to make it work as it should. :(