Puzzled about backwards installation of Jandy valve

[C3Cl3N3O3]

So I'm making some repairs to my pool plumbing and noticed an issue I never noticed before. The Jandy valve pictured in the center is installed backwards.

The two pipes coming off of it and going down into the ground are for the returns. There are three returns, so one of these t's off underground somewhere. So the "inlet" on the Jandy valve acts as an outlet to the return, and one of the "outlets" is the inlet. It works, however I can't valve off the "inlet" to one of the return lines. That burned me this week because that particular line is leaking, which blocked me from running the pump all night. So it's not a crisis, but is there a valve that would be a better choice here? I'd prefer the ability to valve off both return lines instead of "dead heading" the actual inlet.

 

[mas985]

There is nothing "wrong" with doing it that way. The branch path has a tiny bit more head loss than the through path but it really shouldn't make a big difference.

I'd prefer the ability to valve off both return lines instead of "dead heading" the actual inlet.

You can rotate the face of the valve cover, by removing all the screws, so that you can turn off either return line and not have it shut off the upper/feed port.

 

[C3Cl3N3O3]

There is nothing "wrong" with doing it that way. The branch path has a tiny bit more head loss than the through path but it really shouldn't make a big difference.

You can rotate the face of the valve cover, by removing all the screws, so that you can turn off either return line and not have it shut off the upper/feed port.

Great info, thanks!