just wondering if any of you guys has a knowledge of plumbing?
i have a faulty 3 port motorised valve at the moment and intend to try and change it myself.
thinking of keeping cost down, i found the correct valve on ebay fairly cheaply.
it arrived very quickly but when i opened it up and looked at it, i was a tad suspicious that it may not be a genuine part.
i have since purchased the same part from plumb centre for comparison.
in the pic the one on the right is the genuine part.
i dont know if there are copy parts on the market, but was not going to take a chance and fit the ebay part.
any of you had any experience with this sort of thing?
Simon
Yes there are lots of dodgy plumbing and electrical parts out there, always buy from a reputable wholesaler otherwise you could end up with lots of problems and even dangerous situations!
Yes definitely, I’ve been stung by CH fakes from several sources over a few decades. A couple of times they were all that was available.
My CH system uses the Sunvic two port on/off valves as zone controllers, four of them. On all of them the valve part with the plastic/graphite blades works fine, but the O-ring seals on the shaft going out to the actuator vary in quality a lot! The genuine Sunvic valves have a pair of O-rings for a double seal and the fakes usually have only one. The genuine Sunvic parts last about ten to twenty years in my system before beginning to weep, the fakes about a year and a half.
My system was installed in 1985, so we’ve been though a few valves in the last thirty years, and a few actuators as well but these now tend to last much longer because of the improved gearbox. These days I just change the bent plate carrying the shaft, seals and valve components and leave the brass casting fixed to the pipes. I’ve repaired a few seals when no spares were available but it is difficult to find suitable O-rings and there are grooves worn in the shaft and its housing requiring a slight oversize on the O-ring, and the repairs only lasted about as long as a fake
In each case the fakes came through a reputable plumbers merchant and were ‘discounted’ about 20% from normal Sunvic trade price, one lot actually claimed to be Sunvic, but the details were wrong, the others were “These’ll do the job mate.” Now I check replacements very carefully before letting any fluid out of the heating system.
The most recent set I bought from a reputable wholesaler through Amazon marketplace, and these were genuine and a fair price, and good comeback if there is a problem.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sunvic-6113454-White-Minivalve-Heating/dp/B00D2279DE/
a lesson learned , i guess
When I bought my house the previous owner did all the upstairs plumbing himself and he used Non-BS marked copper pipe.
Shortly after moving in I had leak after leak wrecking the downstairs ceiling.
It was a combination of cheap pipe and he used too much flux.
I had to replace all the upstairs pipework and redo all the downstairs ceilings.
Hi been a plumber for 10 years and gas registered if is the head that not switching over just swap the head off the port vavle normal ok, if do have to swap the lot get a plumber to do it! Old fitting and leaks happen all to often, then you us up and it will cost twice as much it’s just not worth it mate
Do the head your self 5 wire vavle or 3 wire? Just switch off the power and make sure the box with the plan it( that’s the one with the wires in is total dead!) You should here the motor moving, in fact run with the top off you will see move
D I Y = Don’t Involve Yourself!
Hi Mark,
i changed the actuator a few weeks back in the hope that it would solve the problem but it didn’t.
i am confident now that i can change the valve, tomorrow.
i have a plumber coming to install a water softener, so help is on hand should i need it.
cheers
sounds like you had a bit of a nightmare.
at least with this valve of mine, it is downstairs so cannot do too much damage. (says me hopefully)
All our plumbing was renewed by my Dad years ago, he was not a plumber but did everything “properly”, a very practical man. When our boiler needed changing a couple of years ago I got a plumber to do it, Dad being long gone and me being totally impractical, he also checked all the pipework in the house. He was amazed at the quality of workmanship and said it would have probably won the “Plumber of the year Award”. Good old Dad!
i can echo your thoughts there, my Dad (also long gone and sadly missed) was brilliant with diy etc.
he even built his first house.
i think my brother inherited more of his genes .
as for me , useless at diy!
but i am trying! (at least thats what the wife says )
My dad was a plumber nearly all his life, saved me a lot of money, he’s long gone now though
I’ve just has a new boiler fitted, obviously can’t do that myself so called the experts in.
Whilst having the boiler done the father of the lad doing the boiler fitted me 2 new bedroom radiators. I had fitted new radiators to all my other rooms a few years ago, just not got around to these last ones.
Now whilst the boiler was a super install, very neat and tidy and working as it should I can’t say that about the radiators. They work ok but not been hung correctly. It’s all sorted now but I’m glad the father isn’t and wasn’t Gas safe registered and fitting my boiler.
And my missus wonders why I do stuff myself.
I’ve done all the plumbing in our house, fitted a bathroom and kitchen on more than one occasion, plastering, tiling, flooring infact most stuff like that.
Hi. If you require a quality plumbing tradesman, please contact The Chartered Institute of Plumbing and Heating Engineering. They keep a register of certificated plumbers and heating engineers on file.They have been campaigning for many years for compulsory registration of all professional plumbers.
They will supply you a list of registered tradesmen that are within your area via the postcode finder on the CIPHE website.
If any of their members do not carry out works to the CIPHE Code of conduct, and to an acceptable standard, they could face being removed from the register, based upon customer complaint/feed back, and any subsequent CHIPE investigation.
Bung them, and fit TRVs on your rads! Would anybody use copper pipe in domestic plumbing these days, apart from 1meter after the boiler. 10mm placy minimum water content, quick heat up, less heat loss, push though cable holes, push on connectors, cheap to install etc etc.
thanks Terry i will look into that!
Some of the new construction technology, and a few of the quick fixes that have emerged within the plumbing industry over the last few years, have contributed to the rise in cowboy operators.
You cannot beat an accredited body, structured training programme, over a recognised duration, for producing a quality tradesman.
In general I agree with this. Some of the modern materials are fantastic, eg my favourite, Tyvek.
However the use of plastic as a substitute in some locations can be very bad news.
My mother’s house needed to have all of the ground floor timbers replaced because some of the original metal water pipes had leaked and caused rot to spread. New plastic pipes were fitted everywhere (with all joints visible and accessible) as well as a few extra air-bricks and a re-wire and a re-plaster.
The unexpected problem was in the new air bricks being made of plastic. In two years the rats had eaten through them, and then chewed some of the plastic pipes and the wiring, just enough that much of the ground floor needed to be lifted again to dry it out again and repair the damage. The plastic air-bricks were replaced by good old terracotta.
Moral: avoid plastic air bricks.
this sounds like it was a nightmare too
changed the valve today and all is good.
got nice soft water now too so hopefully when i wash the car next time i wont need to worry about water marks!