A&A Gould Valve Replacement?

Jump to latest Follow Reply
N

nousername

Bronze Supporter
Sep 22, 2019
45
Phoenix, Arizona
So I need to replace my A&A Gould valve. . . . . I think. . . . .What do I do?

I just replaced my filter and thanks for the help in that thread.

The bottom housing is dripping though the plastic. It is a small weep. There is a union on the intake to the top cover. The nut on the union I just cracked while hand tightening it and it now leaks. Oops. There is no extra pipe in the system to cut out and reglue a new union. I could try heating it and pulling out the old pipe to get the union off. There are reducer bushings so that is likely not going to be easy.

Oh and generally the infloor cleaning system doesn't clean so I use a suction side vac. Basically I use the infloor system to just circulate the water. I have to replace the gear system every ~3 years and sometimes need a valve replacement kit too.

I see my options as and I welcome any other options:
a) Try to unglue the union to replace it and ignore the weep. Continue using as is. About $20 parts if it works.
b) Replace top and bottom parts of gould valve valve. About $275 for parts
c) Replace top and pull out the gears and valves from the valve. It is possible that the lower pressure would reduce the weep in the bottom housing. I tried pulling out the gears and valves when I was new to pools. It did not seem to circulate the water well enough as only a little water was coming out of all the jets at the same time.
d) Replace the whole valve with another type of valve that may work better. I am open to suggestions. One option ($325) seems to be Blue Square R360 C5 Valve with 5 Port Adapter 01145110
e) Other suggestions? I clearly need them


Thanks for all the help!!!20191006_094943_HDR.jpg
 
Does your pool have another method to return water to the pool?

You can buy just the lower housing for about $113 from the same company in your link above. Of course, if you are needing internal parts or the upper housing also, it would be cheaper to buy a complete unit. I am not familiar with the blue square water valve - except that their offices are about 3 miles from me. Here's their site and a look at their valve: https://www.bluesquaremfg.com/#pool-hardware . Maybe another member has experience with Blue Square.

I don't have the same A&A style valve as you - I have this style 5 port valve: AA Manufacturing 5 Port Water Valve . Mine is older and has the acrylic balls rather than the newer T-valve setup. If my lower housing ever fails, I will need to use the T-valve option. Not sure if one is better then the other. I will stay with the A&A valve, mostly because it will be covered under wwrranty as I'm the original owner.

As for the union, we would need to see a wider pic of you equipment to possibly provide a way to replace it.

You may wish to consider painting your plumbing and the water valve (except any transparent lid) with a lighter colored paint - maybe tan - to protect it from our intense sun (darker colors seem to get hotter). Also consider puting a cover or sun screens over your equipment to help it last longer.
 
Thanks! And I realize that my description of the union was not clear.

My pool does not have another way to return water to the pool. It would be great if it did.

The lower housing is the one that weeps so I need that. Mine also has the acrylic balls but is of a different design. Identify Your System - Gould Water Valve

The nut on the union is cracked causing the frequent dripping leak. Too bad they do not make a split nut for this.
The part of the union to the left is easy to replace for me. I can include a pic if that would help. The problem is separating the brown painted part of the union from the screened T (Joint in red circle). The 1.5" union meets up flush with a 1.5" -->2" bushing that is glued in the screened T.

The yellow joint is 2" T with a 2"--> 1.5" bushing, then a short piece of 1.5" pipe, then a 1.5" coupler, and finally to a 1.5" pipe into the top of the valve. There is not enough room to cut and glue a new coupler next to the top of the valve.

Oh and on the paint. It was the usual almond but you could easily see the pipes through the pool fence and that did not sit well with the family. So brown it was.
 

Attachments

  • 20191006_094943_HDRcrop_LI.jpg
    20191006_094943_HDRcrop_LI.jpg
    421 KB · Views: 6
I was hoping for a wider pic of the pool equipment - like a few feet in either direction from the union.

Where do the pipes left and right of the tee go? You may have to cut out and redo more pipe then just right next to the union.
 
I am unfamiliar with the screen strainer you show in red in a previous pic. Mine doesn't have/need that prior to the water valve. If you do wind up changing out the complete valve with a standard A&A valve (w/T-valves), you can eliminate that. Filtered water is flowing thru the return side plumbing and it should be free of any debris.

If you go the full replacement route you can cut the pipe between the aerator and the 90 to its left. Still use a union near its current location. Also leave enough pipe between fittings so the next person that needs to replace/repair things has room to do so.

If looking to repair what you have, maybe one of our plumbing experts will chime in. No matter the direction you choose, you will need to replace the lower housing as there is really no way to safely repair/patch it since its pressurized when the pump is on.
 
Thanks for the link. I never knew A&A used a strainer screen in any of their IFCS.

Yes, the easiest way would be to replace the entire assembly. More money, but less work and frustration involved.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
Just to follow up on the thread. Thanks for the help!

I ended up replacing the entire valve with the Blue Square r360. I was not excited by using uncommon brand. I did want to eliminate the need to take apart a union and A&A did not have an option for this with my system. Install was straightforward with no issues.

It did lower the pressure and increase the flow in the system.
Before replacement my pump needed to run at 2510 rpm and 960 watts to run my suction side cleaner.
After replacement my cleaner would climb out of the pool and I was able to lower the pump speed to 2110 and 610 watts while maintaining the same cleaner operation.

Only time will tell how durable it is.

I also added shade and hopefully it will get baked by the sun less than before.
20191110_101231_HDR.jpg20191110_101250_HDR.jpg20191110_101211_HDR.jpg
 
That looks good. Thanks for coming back to report on what you did. Painting the PVC and covering the equipment will certainly help the equipment last longer.

Did you source the small gray valve locally? I need to get a couple like that to replace the 20 year old ones on my equipment.
 
Just to update this thread in case someone searches looking for this types of valve.

Last June 2021 the gears stripped on the cassette and I had to replace it. When they stripped the cassette jammed. It was under 2 years for a replacement so it did not last as long as the old Gould valve. It did work flawlessly while it did work.
 

Attachments

  • 20210717_130425_HDR.jpg
    20210717_130425_HDR.jpg
    497.1 KB · Views: 1
  • 20210717_130146.jpg
    20210717_130146.jpg
    467.8 KB · Views: 1
  • 20210717_130134.jpg
    20210717_130134.jpg
    269.2 KB · Views: 1
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply