Water Shutoff Valve

[JimS]

The OP said the boiler ran every 15 minutes to keep the gravity loop heated. That's a lot of wasted energy. And if you are trying to cool the house you are paying even more to remove the extra heat. I put a pump in the line with a check valve (to prevent gravity/themosyphon flow). I put a button in the bathroom farthest from the heater and just push the button when I want hot water. It runs the pump about 45 seconds and makes the wait for a hot shower much less. Saves a lot of energy and $$.

For the valve, many have a ball valve already installed where they want the automated valve. Too bad you can't find a reasonable valve actuator that can be added to a conventional, 1/4 turn valve.

 

[politics123]

Re: valve actuators.
Heh... I agree, haven't found one! I too am simply replacing existing quarter-turn ball valves with an automated one. A robotics project anyone?

 

[JimS]

Looks like it would be a fun project and one that a few have done before:

http://thingsimdoing...-using-arduino/

http://arduino.cc/fo...?topic=100864.0

You might also look at valve actuators for pool system valves. I am not positive but I think you apply 24VAC to one set of terminals to go to one position and 24VAC to the other terminals to go to the other. They seem to come as 90 or 180 degree. The 90 degree would be right for a ball valve and would require a custom shaft adapter.

 

[politics123]

Hey... Anyone still interested?

 

[gatorhwk]

I am. I was never in a rush, but now I'm wondering if this whole thing fell through.

 

[JimS]

Here is a pool valve actuator. Shouldn't be too hard to adapt this to a standard 1/4 turn valve.

http://www.amazon.com/Intermatic-PE24VA-24-Volt-Water-Actuator/dp/B002ZPJVV2

Not endorsing this particular one - just an example I was able to find quickly. Various companies make them...

 

[Kevin L]

I'm still interested.

 

[drozwood90]

It did not fall through, but I will say that my working crazy hours has been extended until at least next January.  As such, does someone want to take this over?  I can forward over all the conversations I've had with the company and hopefully someone else can run this through.
 
In fact, this is the first time, I've had time to jump on here since probably last December.
 
--Dan

 

[dgage]

I'll take it Dan. I'll PM you my email address. Once I've had a chance to review the info, I'll put together a list of people and items they wanted so we can validate the list of who wants what. Then I'll reach out to the company and get a quote.

David

 

[politics123]

BTW -- I'm still in for two... one on the main hot-water line, one on the solar loop.

 

[dgage]

Good to know.  I did receive the info from Dan the other day but have been busy this week.  This weekend I will review the thread and pull together a list of the users that said they wanted one or more water shut off valves.  Then we will need users to get on here and validate their order desire just like politics123 did.  I will also send PMs to users as a reminder to validate their order.  New users that want to get in on the group purchase will have a chance to order too.  Once we get closer to having this pulled together, we'll set a date and I'll get the info from the company in China and then place the order.
 
David

 

[dgage]

First I want to apologize for not doing this sooner as I got busy and forgot about this.  I am going to try to pick up where Dan left off as he became too busy.
 
The next step is to figure out who still wants in on this group buy.  I went back through the thread and here is who was interested at one time.  Please respond and let me know if you are still interested.  Once we get a count of the number and type of valves to order, I will reach out to the contact Dan identified and get an updated cost of the valves with shipping.  The more valves that are ordered, the cheaper the shipping will be but I would expect shipping from China to be around $10-$15 per valve.  Then there will be shipping from my house to your house although I will likely use the appropriate USPS fixed rate box to make it easy.  I will order and pay for the valves to get from China to my house.  Once I have them, I will take pictures for proof (including invoice) and then upon payment via Paypal (Paypal fee to be paid by each individual), will ship them out. 
 
Automate - (1) KLD20S .75"
Dgage - (1) KLD100 1"
Drozwood - (1) KLD20S .75"; (1) KLD100 1"
Funat120mph - (2) KLD20S .75"
Gatorhwk - (1) KLD20S .5"; (1) KLD100 1"
Kevin L - (1) KLD100 1"
Pete_C - (1) KLD100 1"
Politics123 - (1) KLD20S .5"; (2) KLD100 1"
 
There is a lot of information, especially on pages 7-9 regarding the valves to be ordered.  A few posts focused directly on the issue of corrosion due to dissimilar metals can be found throughout but specifically in posts 78-80.  I have also attached links to the individual product pages.  I also tried to characterize in a few bullets the pertinent information for the valves.

• KLD20S - .5"(~$37), .75"(~$40) 
• KLD100 - 1"(~$100), 1.25"(~$105)
• KLD20S - 12 volts, 3 watts
• KLD100 – 12 volts, 18 watts
• 2-way ball valve
• Food grade stainless steel (304)
• Full bore on all except KLD20S 1” (3/4” bore)
• NPT on all except KLD100 1.25"
• Manual override

KLD20S Product Information
http://www.electric-valve.com/20-1.html
 
KLD100 Product Information
http://www.electric-valve.com/100-2.html
 
Please let me know who is still interested in ordering the valves.  Thanks.
 
David


 
 

 

[Kevin L]

Hi, David,
 
I'm still in as listed for (1) KLD100. Just let me know what you need and when.
 
Thanks for taking care of this.
 
Kevin

 

[pete_c]

David,
 
Same here as you have listed:
 
Pete_C - (1) KLD100 1"
 
Question maybe someone can answer.
 
What is the difference between the KLD20S and the KLD100?
 
What is the rule of thumb for installation?
 
I mean I was originally thinking of one KLD100 1" at the ingress of my water main.
 
Is it better though to put one at the ingress of the water main, by the hot water heater and maybe the sprinkler system?
 
I do have manual shutoffs at the three aforementioned locations.
 
I did put addition water meters by the main and the sprinkler system feeds.  I also have legacy style water pressure guages installed in the same two locations.

 

[dgage]

KLD20S has a 1" but it is reduced bore at 3/4" diameter. So for those that want a 1" full bore, you need to step up to the KLD100. The main info I noticed as different is the power required to activate the relay is much higher on the KLD100.

Regarding how many, I'm not a plumber but I've done plumbing and I'd say 1 as close to where the water enters your house as you can. Once you stop the water flow, the only water coming out of a pipe is the residual water in the pipes and that will only flow out if the leak is at the lowest point. And the full leaking of a pipe would likely need to have a valve opened somewhere to let air in the pipes, therefore breaking the vacuum within the pipes. (water wouldn't release unless air could replace it). Hot water tanks usually have the water coming out of the top of the tank and if there is no pressure, there is no way water is flowing up hill.

David