Might remove the Liquidator

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Re: Liquidator removal help

revstriker said:
DLSDO said:
I removed the flow control valve and now my flow is at a solid "3"--- (the center of the black ball is on "3"). So I am running with no valves except the flow meter.
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I've been playing around with mine for a couple of weeks now and have found that there are a lot of variables in getting the FC right. One setting may work well for awhile, but then we get an extra sunny day and the FC level goes down. I can either bring the FC up manually (which defeats the purpose of the LQ), or adjust the valve so I have a higher flow. The opposite happens on an overcast day. Add to that, your FC level could be different when you have a full 8 gallons of chlorine to when it's half gone or more, and I don't see how you can really manage this thing on one constant setting. I'm just curious how you, or anyone else who has removed the control valve, deals with managing this.
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I agree. I finally am getting a decent flow rate with the control valve removed. The flow valves apperature is so narrow and clogs easily. I picked up a quick connect flow valve @ Home Depot today. It connects on the outside of the tubing as opposed to inside so restriction of flow should be minimized. I will let you know if it works.
 
Re: Liquidator removal help

DLSDO said:
I agree. I finally am getting a decent flow rate with the control valve removed. The flow valves apperature is so narrow and clogs easily. I picked up a quick connect flow valve @ Home Depot today. It connects on the outside of the tubing as opposed to inside so restriction of flow should be minimized. I will let you know if it works.
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I picked up one as well, but I have not installed it yet. The one I have is a ball valve type. Let me know how yours works.
 
Re: Liquidator removal help

revstriker said:
DLSDO said:
I agree. I finally am getting a decent flow rate with the control valve removed. The flow valves apperature is so narrow and clogs easily. I picked up a quick connect flow valve @ Home Depot today. It connects on the outside of the tubing as opposed to inside so restriction of flow should be minimized. I will let you know if it works.
Click to expand...
I picked up one as well, but I have not installed it yet. The one I have is a ball valve type. Let me know how yours works.
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Installed!! Works well. No change in flow rate...so far
 
Re: Liquidator removal help

revstriker said:
DLSDO said:
Installed!! Works well. No change in flow rate...so far
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What I was wondering about was the ability to control the flow with the new valve. Do you think you have the same control as the old one? better? worse?
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It controls the flow rate perfectly!! But it does not impede flow when fully open due to its larger diameter
 
Re: Liquidator removal help

Hello all:
Can someone post the exact flow control valve. I will go to Lowe's to buy one. I don't like the factory one but still using it. Can someone post exactly what I will need from Lowe's
Thanks

Mike
 
Re: Liquidator removal help

Lowes has all of their clear PVC stuff together somewhere in the plumbing aisles. You are looking for a 3/8" to 3/8" valve, it will have a white plastic body with a blue handle. The 3/8" is because it actually slips onto the *outside* of the tubing going to the LQ (the tubing that comes with the LQ is 1/4" ID, and 3/8" outer diameter). Thats the reason it should work better....the opening will no longer compress the inner diameter of the hose down to something smaller like a barbed fitting does with the stock LQ setup.

-Chris
 
Re: Liquidator removal help

I just posted this in another thread, but I will post it here as well. Even though I didn't have a problem with my control valve, I decided to replace mine with one from a big box stores (exactly like the one that chrisexv6 described). With my pool at 1.5 FC, I opened the valve to full and checked the pool 3 hours later. The FC had jumped up to 14.0. This is much greater than the jump I would get with the old valve, so my conclusion is that the new valve has a much greater flow than the old one.

I don't have the meter on mine as it got clogged up with salt deposits and I had to remove it.
 
Re: Liquidator removal help

I have been buying most of my supplies from US Plastics. The site has a lot of information. On my setup, I have been testing a 1/4" Barb PP needle valve. So far it's been working great. I also use the standard PVC valves which came with the LQ. I have them installed up and down stream of the LQ but I don't use them to control flow. I use them to isolate the LQ when I need to do work on it so I don't have to shut off the pump.
 

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Re: Liquidator removal help

With such a massive increase in flow (1.5 ppm to 14.0 ppm in 3 hours), Im wondering if Hasa is smarter than we think and purposely included a lower flow control valve.

For example, if I wanted to introduce 13 ppm into my pool (22000 gallons) I need to add almost 5 gallons of 6% bleach. More than half the capacity of my 8 gallon LQ, and more than the possible capacity of a 4 gallon LQ.

So of course, you wont keep it on "full bore" the whole time. But what comes with a valve thats able to do 5 gallons in 3 hours is a lot less precision when lowering the flow. You can only spin a handle so much (I think 180 degrees on these valves), so you lack a "fine adjustment" of the chlorine flow. Honestly, most of us probably might not ever care, but it could be reasoning that the Hasa engineers used when sourcing parts. And honestly, with such an extreme increase in flow, I will be picking up the replacement valve the next time Im at Lowes/HD.

-Chris
 
Re: Liquidator removal help

Chris, this is exactly right! My pool is only 10k gallons, so it was much less bleach in the 3 hours, but it was probably around 2.5 gallons (I'm guessing). I had just re-filled the LQ with about 5-6 gallons of bleach before I started. I didn't check the level after I shut it off.

My problem has been adjusting the flow slow enough so that it does not over chlorinate the pool. I was finding the HASA valve was hard to set low enough to do this. I switched to the other valve in the hopes of being able to "fine tune" it better. I still have not re-installed the flow meter yet, but I may over the weekend. Hopefully it works better than the last time.
 
Re: Liquidator removal help

I wonder if 2 valves inline might help?

One right after the inlet float of the LQ, and one closer to the pump?

Or maybe one on the inlet and one on the OUTLET to slow down flow.

This almost seems like a good spot for a *gate* valve, so you can just screw or unscrew the handle to regulate the flow, instead of a ball valve setup that isnt as precise. Not sure Ive ever seen a barbed tubing gate valve though.......I suppose you could make one up but Im not sure if it would do more harm than good after adapters, etc are involved.

EDIT: www.mcmaster.com has Acetal gate valves (item 97705K31) with Viton seals....1/2" threaded inlet and outlet, which you can use to screw in a 1/2" NPT to 1/4" barb adapter. That setup will probably give you a much better flow range than the barbed valves from HD/Lowes.

-Chris
 
Re: Liquidator removal help

Sabot said:
I never saw a gate valve that is this small. 2" and up is what I have seen. Options are not many in the LQ size range. :)
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I edited my post, mcmaster has one (McMaster has EVERYTHING! I should have known :) ).

Might be worth a shot, its around the same price as the small valves from HD, but the NPT to barb adapters are extra. Still should be under 15 bux though.
 
Re: Liquidator removal help

chrisexv6 said:
I wonder if 2 valves inline might help?

One right after the inlet float of the LQ, and one closer to the pump?

Or maybe one on the inlet and one on the OUTLET to slow down flow.

This almost seems like a good spot for a *gate* valve, so you can just screw or unscrew the handle to regulate the flow, instead of a ball valve setup that isnt as precise. Not sure Ive ever seen a barbed tubing gate valve though.......I suppose you could make one up but Im not sure if it would do more harm than good after adapters, etc are involved.

EDIT: http://www.mcmaster.com has Acetal gate valves (item 97705K31) with Viton seals....1/2" threaded inlet and outlet, which you can use to screw in a 1/2" NPT to 1/4" barb adapter. That setup will probably give you a much better flow range than the barbed valves from HD/Lowes.

-Chris
Click to expand...
Thanks. If my ball valve doesn't work for me, I will try the two valve idea, or maybe even pick up a gate valve.
 
Re: Liquidator removal help

revstriker said:
I don't have the meter on mine as it got clogged up with salt deposits and I had to remove it.
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I washed mine with acid ( I used "pool pH downer" dry acid) and the white deposits in the flow meter got out. Sealing the air leaks of the flow meter tubing adapters and replacing the "out" tubing to Tygon tubing stopped the white deposits in the flow meter.
 
Re: Liquidator removal help

Water_man said:
revstriker said:
I don't have the meter on mine as it got clogged up with salt deposits and I had to remove it.
Click to expand...

I washed mine with acid ( I used "pool pH downer" dry acid) and the white deposits in the flow meter got out. Sealing the air leaks of the flow meter tubing adapters and replacing the "out" tubing to Tygon tubing stopped the white deposits in the flow meter.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the advice. I actaully soaked mine in a water / vinegar solution and that cleaned it out. I actually re-installed the meter this afternoon.
 

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