The Honeywell zone valves on the radiant system were all part of the original boiler system from 1984, So I purchased rebuild kits to have on hand if the valves didn’t work initially or stopped working. Luckily they all worked when I first set up the new boiler system, but two of the five stopped working last winter. I just got around to rebuilding them, a good task for a hot day.
Rebuild Kits
The great thing about rebuilding is that the plumbing which is all soldered can stay put. But to upgrade from the old style to new style motorized head, the water has to be drained from the manifold so I waited until summer when the heating system was off. The broken valves stayed open on manual–so whenever any other valve opened, these valves also delivered warm water to the zone. That worked fine for the rest of the winter. Now that I want to install a chiller system though I needed to take care of fixing the valves.
Valve Set on Manual
In order to avoid that situation next winter (I hope) I just rebuilt all of the valves. It was a simple rebuild–even with having to place the new ball plate for each valve. The old valves had the ball closure device built in but when removed, it opens the valve piping. The separate piece now allows the valve head to be replaced without emptying the water from the system.
Old Valve Head
The most difficult part of the install was removing the old gaskets, they were very flattened in the groove. I was able to slip a small screwdriver under part of the rubber and use my thumbnail against the screwdriver to grab the old gasket and pull it out.
Valve Conversion Kit
Also two of the four bolts are configured to accept the screws from the valve head, and naturally I got two in the wrong place the first time I installed one.
Bolting on the Plate
The new plates have indents that align with those on the valve to made positioning a no brainer. Thank goodness for that because access to the valves in my system is tight.
Indents to position the plate
The old valve body has matching indents for lining up. Notice the black around the rubber gasket area, from the old gasket deteriorating over time.
Old Valve Body with Indents
The valve body slips right over the plate and with a bit of wiggling sits down correctly over the valve control arm and aligns with the two bolt heads to attach the heads. The valve must be on manual to seat on the arm so be sure they are on that setting. They are set on manual in the package, but might be wise to double check.
After a couple of hours all the valves were rebuilt and labeled. I will have to bleed the system again to get out any air that was introduced and I will check for operation when I get the new chiller.
Newly rebuilt valves
The old valves lasted thirty years, the new valves may not last as long. Some of the comments on the Supply House website where I purchased the new heads say the new valves are junk compared to the old. I hope not.