Yesterday’s virtual tour of our coach turned out to be a popular post. By the end of the day, we had 322 visitors take the tour!

Yesterday, I finally got around to a project I’ve been meaning to do for more than a week.

The fresh water hose from the spigot to our coach has an inline water filter. This filter prevents sediment from entering our fresh water system. It also has activated carbon to neutralize odors and remove chlorine. This filter simply screws on to the end of the hose. I need to replace it after about 90 days of use.

Under the sink, we have another filter for the purified drinking water tap. Western RV specified a proprietary filter design for the Alpenlite trailers and Alpine Coaches they built. This filter is bacteriostatic, removes heavy metals and chemicals and generally improves the taste of the water. This filter should be replaced annually.

When we were in Quartzsite, I took a picture of this filter and showed it to vendors, trying to find a replacement. I was told it’s a special design and no one has them anymore. I searched online and found The RV Water Filter Store. I’ve taken to liberty of copying the description of the filter they offer for Alpine and Alpenlite owners:

Alpine and Alpenlite RVs are outfitted with water filters that are non-standard, and until now, owners had difficulty finding a reasonably-priced replacement unit.  We now have a well-built solution to this problem.  Our replacements are 2 1/2″ in diameter and about 8″ long.  They are made of granular activated carbon and they include KDF.  Our units actually contain more filter media than the factory units, so they should last longer.  We sell these filters with or without the brass fittings needed to hook them to your plumbing system.  If you are handy, you can remove the fittings from the old filter and install them on the new one.  If you don’t want to fool with changing fittings, buy the unit with the fittings included.

I think I’m fairly handy, so I ordered a filter without the fittings. It arrived a few days later. Yesterday, I shut off the water supply and opened the faucet in the kitchen to relieve the water pressure. The filter is mounted against the wall under the kitchen sink.

The filter has quick-connect brass fittings. All I had to do was pull the brass sleeve and the fitting released the filter. Then the filter will unsnap from the mount. I placed towels under the filter to sop up water that would drain out of the line and I was able to release the couplers.

I used a 9/16″ wrench to remove the fittings from the old filter.

I sanitized the fittings, wrapped the threads with Teflon tape and screwed them into the new filter.

Easy stuff, so why all the procrastination? Getting the new filter in place was the hard part. I told Donna I need to grow longer arms. To install the new filter, I had to pull the sleeve on the brass fitting and insert the filter coupler before I released the sleeve. This required both hands at the back of the cabinet where the water lines are. My arms aren’t long enough to reach both hands back there. I had to squeeze my head and shoulders between the sink drain pipes and the shelf in order to get both hands back there.

After flailing about under the counter, I finally managed to get the filter installed. Job done.

Later, Donna asked me to soak a cedar plank in water for a few hours. Meanwhile, she prepared steelhead trout with a miso rub. If you’ve never had steelhead, it tastes a lot like salmon and is usually more favorably priced.

I fired up the Weber Q and let it pre-heat. I adjusted the burner to medium and placed the cedar plank on the grill. I closed the lid and let the grill do its thing.

About 18 minutes later, we had steelhead trout grilled to perfection!

Donna served it with coconut basmati rice and steamed broccoli. She continues to feed me well!

Yesterday, the UPS driver dropped off a package for me. Today, I’ll have another project to tackle. Again, it’s one that seems simple at first glance, but I expect a challenge.

 

*Just so you know, if you follow one of my links to Amazon and decide to make a purchase, I’ll earn a small commission. It’ll go into the beer fund. Thanks!