Heliomatic 3 way-valve leaking

[Jeff Lebowski]

Old system. This is how it was installed when I bought the house. It leaked a little then, it leaks a LOT now.
I am not sure this stuff is still available. I took it apart last year and tried to fix the seal, but it's shot.




Questions.....


1. Can I just replace this thing? IOW - are those fittings THREADED or is it PVC glued in place??

2. I tend to just use it mechanically since the electric portion is horribly inaccurate. Is there a cheaper, manual 3 way valve I can install??

Thanks.

 

[ajw22]

It looks like it is glued...

Heliotrope Flowverter, 24 Volt, Complete Valve (Heliotrope General) | Sun Source Energy Products

What size are those lines? I would think you can replace It with a Jandy style diverter valve then out an actuator on top of it if you want.

 

[Jeff Lebowski]

The literature shows 2 inches. I have not measured mine yet.

My concern is if it's glued, then I'll have to do some serious surgery to replace it. But If it's threaded, I might just replace it for 150 bucks and be done with it. Hopefully.

 

[ajw22]

You don't show a wider picture of what the lines are attached to.

It looks like there is a union on the bottom, the grey ring, that you can try and unscrew and see how that leg is connected to the valve. I don;t see anyway you could unscrew the side pipes even if they were threaded without cutting or disconnecting the pipes.

 

[Jeff Lebowski]

Yes, there is a union at the bottom. My concern is the sides. They appear to be glued in and full on surgery required to replace the whole unit. What a stupid way to design something. Kind of like the old Chevy Monza with the V8. You had to unbolt the engine from its mounts and raise it with a jack to change the spark plugs.

Here's another image. Perhaps this will help.

 

[ajw22]

Not that bad. You can cut the pipe of the right after the ball valve and the one on the left has space to be cut. Not a hard PVC glue job to fit some new pieces in. They both have couplers and have been patched before.

 

[Jeff Lebowski]

How much working time will I have with the glue? I will need to get the angle right on the down tube to the heaters. Are there slow-set glues avail? My experience with this is minimal.

 

[ajw22]

Depends what glue you can get. Read...

PVC Repair - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[Jeff Lebowski]

THANKS!

 

[Jeff Lebowski]

To follow up (for the next guy)...

There are two valves available, a 12V and a 24V. You need to make sure that you buy the correct one. Obviously.

But the kicker is the parts guy just said to simply remove the actuator from the new valve assembly and screw it to the old one. This will save me all the aggravation of cutting and replacing the PVC.

He also suggested which elements of the old one to keep for future use. So I'll just keep the new valve assembly as a spare.

Thanks for all the help.