Culligan H-5 Aqua Kleer RO

[robert j vadala]

My system has a sediment filter, RO membrane and a Charcoal filter. The RO membrane housing has three connections on top. I've purchased the
tfm-16-c membrane which I was told was the replacement part for my system. This membrane has one connection on each end. I was told to put the replacement part (tfm-16-c) into the housing. The original Culligan membrane was slipped on to a hard plastic tube which is attached to one of the three connections built into the housing cap.

When I tried to slip the new replacement part on to the tube , it went in and stopped after 3''. There's a circuliar ridge at thsat point. Yet the original membrane passed right through.

I would appreciate the help in knowing how I can make this "Culligan compatible membrane" work.

I do have a photo of my system if that would help. Thanks Rob

[Andy CWS]

Proprietary equipement is a double-edged sword. On one hand, you have to rely on the original manufacturer for parts and sometimes service, but on the other, quality is better controlled and understood.

Attempting to replace specific parts with generic or trying to adapt, then you run inot dilemmas of it not working properly or at all. Unfortunately, some companies stop production of parts causing customers to stop using, buy new or buy elsewhere.

Andy Christensen, CWS

[robert j vadala]

May have solved the problem.

Thanks Andy, I agree with you. Culligan likes to sell a service contract and I think they designed my unit so I'd have to rely on them. I once bought filters from them, but they were reluctent to sell them to me. I also paid what I felt was a high price. Companies like 'filtersfast.com offer the do-it yourselfers toa chance to fix their own repairs and at a fair price. I paid 3x the amount for the Culligan filter then I did for the compatible one. Yes, the compatible was a problem for my system. Well, Almost, I think.

The little ridge was only about 1/16th of an inch thick. This ridge just narrowed the hole a little and you can still see through it..The hard tube of my unit passed easily through both sides of the filter, only to stop at that ridge. I gently drilled through it, widening it at that point to match the rest of the opening. I just finished putting it all together and running the system to clean the filters of chemicals. I'll know in two hours if I was successful

My next purchase will be the TDS meter to see if everything is working properly.

Thanks again for responding to my dilemma. Rob