PRODUCT DESCRIPTION (1,612 characters) CFS SEDIMENT PREFILTER FOR K00173 — TRI-L ICE MACHINE SYSTEMS A prefilter is coarse on purpose. Its job is to hold back the sand, silt and rust that would otherwise load the carbon cartridge behind it, so that cartridge spends its capacity on taste and odor instead of clogging on grit. On a commercial ice machine, that means fewer changes on the expensive filter and steadier flow to the evaporator. WHY THE CHEAP FILTER MATTERS MOST The prefilter costs a fraction of the primary carbon cartridge and does most of the dirty work. Skip it or stretch it, and the carbon stage loads up early — you end up buying the costly filter twice as often and still seeing pressure drop. Changing the prefilter on schedule is the least expensive maintenance on the system. CLEARER WATER, CLEARER ICE Sediment carried into an ice machine shows up in the cube, settles in the water trough, and works its way into the pump. This cartridge captures the sand, silt, dirt and rust before any of that happens. Sediment media works on particles only — the carbon stage downstream is what handles taste and odor. WHAT IT REPLACES Direct replacement for the K00173 prefilter cartridge in Tri-L filter systems, written by some sellers as K-00173. The companion carbon cartridge for these systems is the 20 inch K-00174, sold separately. Running both on schedule is what keeps the system at full output. HOW OFTEN Change the prefilter more often than the carbon — on most foodservice installs, every three to six months depending on incoming water and ice volume. If the machine slows or the primary filter is loading early, the prefilter is usually the reason. This is a compatible replacement part. Part numbers are for reference only.