CVA-24T Actuator rotation direction

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JoyfulNoise

JoyfulNoise

TFP Expert
Platinum Supporter
May 23, 2015
24,380
Tucson, AZ
Pool Size
16000
Surface
Plaster
Chlorine
Salt Water Generator
SWG Type
Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
I wanted to add another CVA-24T actuator to a 3-way valve in this picture -

52D26015-FFEC-4D5C-A469-28B400A595EC_zpstyhxi470.jpg


The problem is, as some of you with an astute eye will get right away, the plumber butted the two diverter valves right up to one another and now there is no room to put the actuator in the typical position where the back of the actuator would be aligned with the common flow pipe (the pipe where water comes from). This leaves me with two option -

1. Mount the new actuator turned 90 degrees so that it is aligned along the axis of the two pipes that receive the flow of water and adjust the internal cams of the actuator so that the diverter plate can not travel the full 180deg and block the flow of water (aka, dead-head the pump). Setup right, this means that the actuator will only travel 90degs and either all the water will flow to the pool returns OR it will split evenly to each pipe BUT NEVER able to fully close off the pool returns. The only downside to this approach is if the internal limit switch failed for some reason, there is a remote possibility of dead-heading the pump.

OR

2. Figure out how to reconfigure the actuator so that it turns the opposite way it is designed to and then mount it 180 deg so that the back of the actuator is sticking out away from the flow of incoming water. I just don't know if this it at all possible?

The shaft of the actuator is designed with a special array of notches so that it can only fit on the valve body in one specific orientation to get the full range of 180 deg. The problem with just mounting it 180 degrees is that it will cause the diverter door in the valve to pass in front of the water flow effectively dead-heading the pump as it travels. This, in my opinion would not be a good thing to do.

This is a top-down shot of the same pipes showing their functions -

IMG_3149_zpszlymwsiv.jpg


The purpose here is to actuate my spillway using my automation panel. The pipe labelled "SPA Return (1)" is a single return into the spa that causes the spillway to flow over.
 
I would go with option 2. You can reset the cams to make it start and stop anywhere you want it to and flip the switch to make it turn either way.
 
pooldv said:
I would go with option 2. You can reset the cams to make it start and stop anywhere you want it to and flip the switch to make it turn either way.
Click to expand...

Hmmmm....I'm going to have to look that over again because it didn't seem obvious to me how to do that. I know the internal cams and stops could be adjusted but I think I need to rotate the shaft 180deg from the current factory default position and then reset the cams to see if I can get it to line up with the diverter plate properly and rotate the correct way. I want to avoid dead-heading my pump.

If only the PB's plumbing sub had not butted those three-way valves so close together and had given me two stinkin inches of PVC between them, this would have been a 10min install job :(
 
If you do not have physical stops on your valve then if the dip switch doesn't work the actuator will just turn in 360 circles. Mine has done that. You might just need to hook the actually off the power and get it to rotate about 180 so that then you can hook it to your valve and then adjust the cams.
 
Ok. I took it all apart on my work bench and looked it over. I see how I can mount it on the valve and remive all the cam stops. Then I should be able to use the 3-pole switch to get the actuator shaft positioned so that it lines up with the valve shaft.

Oi. I was in a rush this morning trying to do it and then ran out of time. I guess it'll have to wait until Saturday...ill post back if run into anymore questions.

Thanks gents!!
 
The diverter plate can be unscrewed and rotated so the inlet portion and CVA mounting holes face any direction you wish. I would set the actuator body parallel with the either the pool or spa return so its not hanging off the back. The actuators can be reconfigured to whatever degree rotation you'd like. The 90, and 180 degree actuator are no different (other than part numbers), they just have the cams positioned differently. You can set yours to rotate 270 degrees if needed.

.....or you can follow this little jewel of advice HERE...not that I am biased
 
Haha Brian, I knew you'd call me out!! I do appreciate your wisdom on that and it was going to be my "Plan B" I just didn't want to mess with my air intake on the spa.

Of course now that I am shamed I'll have to atone for it by making my next pool upgrade a ScreenLogic controller...I'm still programming my EasyTouch using the RF remote :shock:
 

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bdavis466 said:
I bet you'd be surpassed at how high of a flow you can have to the spa without any jet action
Click to expand...

Ya know, it might be a good idea for me to program both in as feature circuits. I don't actually use my spa nearly as much as I thought I would and it's probably a good thing to have that jetted spillway function setup just so I can run water through those pipes on a regular basis. Maybe I'll set it up to run every other day.
 
UPDATE - Thanks guys!! Actuator is installed and functioning correctly. I now have a Feature Circuit for the spillway that ramps up the pump speed a bit and turns the actuator so that water is mostly (80-20 split) sent to the spa's single return. I have it scheduled to run once per day right now for an hour so no more continuos spa spillover all day long driving up my pH.

So I had to clean out some old scheduling because I reached the limit for schedules (I was not aware it was so low). Does ScreenLogic allow you to have more schedules than the base number allowed by the EasyTouch?
 
I have thought about doing something similar ( very lose term). To add an actuator to turn my suction lines to 100% Vac when the pump is on low and 70/30 between the vac and skimmer when on high. Although in the summer, when my solar is not running much at all, that might not give me enough skimming time ;)
 
jblizzle said:
I have thought about doing something similar ( very lose term). To add an actuator to turn my suction lines to 100% Vac when the pump is on low and 70/30 between the vac and skimmer when on high. Although in the summer, when my solar is not running much at all, that might not give me enough skimming time ;)
Click to expand...

I have thought about that too as my suction line is split with a three-way valve between the suction port and the skimmer (main drains are tied to skimmer :( ). However, the long range plan is for me to get rid of the suction cleaner and go with a robot. I'd really love to not have the suction cleaner anymore as it doesn't do a very good job and I manually vacuum once a week anyway. If I took off the constant suction side cleaner, I could run my pump at lower RPM's during the normal daytime filter/SWG operation. Anything that cuts down on RPMs is good in my opinion.
 
JoyfulNoise said:
I have thought about that too as my suction line is split with a three-way valve between the suction port and the skimmer (main drains are tied to skimmer :( ). However, the long range plan is for me to get rid of the suction cleaner and go with a robot. I'd really love to not have the suction cleaner anymore as it doesn't do a very good job and I manually vacuum once a week anyway. If I took off the constant suction side cleaner, I could run my pump at lower RPM's during the normal daytime filter/SWG operation. Anything that cuts down on RPMs is good in my opinion.
Click to expand...

I have not gone this route "yet", I can see myself doing it sometime in the future :)

On a side note, I almost never have to vacuum ( I just bought one after a year ) My "the pool cleaner" is awesome at getting everything including sand and he just cruises around in there all the time... I wish I was closer, I could let you try it out for a week and see :)
 
I lost track of the count but it was, definitely over 10. I had a bunch of "EGG TIMER's" in the schedule that were leftovers in the programming because it was feared that someone would push the POOL LIGHT aux circuit and forget about it. I think the default run time for any circuit (aux or feature) is 12 hours. So that would be a bummer to do with a 500W halogen pool light.
 
My pool would be a disaster if I only ran the robot once a month. Too much plant debris and dust/dirt. Although maybe being to devote more of the flow to the skimmer would catch more of it before it sank.

When I did have a robot, I would need to run it weekly.
 

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