Valve Actuator Turning Direction

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DJmannyB

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Jan 28, 2014
4
Hello TFP from a Newbie,

Before I start, I apologize if I'm not explaining anything correctly but I hope I can get explain my problem correctly.

I currently have two Intermatic Valve Actuators installed. The one switching the water (coming out of the heater) between the pool and the spa seems to stop working intermittently. I've decided to replace the valve actuator with another Intermatic (so like for like swap out), however I have an issue.

Basically mounting it, and installing seems straight forward, however once its installed and everything plugged in, when I change the toggle switch between position 1 and 2, the valve turns in a manner such that the inlet is blocked temporarily as it moves into the new position. The old valve actuator turns in a manner so the inlet doesn't get blocked. I'm not sure what I need to do to get it to work in the same way.

I thought it might be the cam setting inside, so I opened both the old and the new ones up and the cam setting appears to be the same. Could anyone please help me work out how I can install this correctly?

Thanks in advance for your help.

DJ
 
:wave: Welcome to TFP!!!

Sounds like you need to reorient the actuator on the valve and then may need to adjust the internal cams to make it stop in the correct places. You certainly do not want it to block the flow as you describe.

Can you provide any pictures? They might help.
 
Hi Jason. Thanks for the welcome :)

Attached is the photo of the system as it stands.

valve actuator.jpg

When you say I need to re-orient the actuator on the valve, is that inside the valve actuator? When I opened the old valve actuator and the compared it to the new one, the settings looked exactly the same. So not sure what I need to change here. I have attached some photos of the old and new valve actuators open. They both appear to have been set the same such that the arrow for the top cam points at 180, and the bottom cam also points at 180.

Old_New Actuators comparison.jpg
Old Actuator Top view.jpg

Given the new one looks like it has the exact same settings inside so don't know what to change here. Any guidance you can provide is much appreciated.

Thanks,
DJ

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You have the cams setup incorrectly. I'm not sure I can explain this in a way that makes sense, but all you need to do is to set each cam to the position the other cam was in, and then switch the direction switch to the other direction. You don't need to dismount the actuator, or disassemble anything beyond removing the cover to gain access to the cams.

I'm worried that won't make sense, so I will try to find another way to say it. One cam stops the rotation when the actuator is moving clockwise, and the other cam stops motion when the actuator is moving counter-clockwise. You have the wrong cam at each end, so it rotates through the "other side" of the circle compared to what you want.

If none of that makes any sense, watch some YouTube videos on setting up cam positions and set it all up again as if you were starting from scratch, following the setup sequence they recommend.
 
Hi Jason. Yes, that makes sense. I figured that I need to do something with the cam to get the valve actuator to rotate on the "other side". I think I understand what you are saying.

I watched this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBnLXEr-cI0

The video seems a little confusing at times, but when there is daylight again I will try to change the cam settings. From what I understand, I need to loosen the silver nut thing that holds the cams tight, and then rotate the top and bottom cams to they start and stop where I want them to (while turning in the direction I want). So from where they are currently set to on the new valve actuator, change to the opposite side. Is that understanding correct?

I will check out some more videos if i can find them..

Thanks for your help so far. You are a champ :)
 
Hi Jason,

I'm happy to report that I was able to install the new valve actuator successfully. For the benefit of anyone else who may have a similar situation in the future... a word of warning. I should have followed your advice exactly and mounted the actuator before trying to adjust the cam. Because of the cramped position of the valve, I thought it might be easier if I try to adjust the cam before installing it. Doing so unfortunately caused me to break the small metal piece which stops the rotation of the actuator shaft.

I think I pushed too hard against actuator shaft and it ended up ripping out the aforementioned metal piece. Luckily the retailer I bought the actuator from was nice enough to swap it out for another one.

Anyway, after a little bit of tweaking of the cam settings, I was able to get the new actuator to work as intended.

Thanks again for your help.
 
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