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Heating 3 way mid position valve - Drayton or Honeywell?

Does what it says on the tin
redsturgeon
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Re: Heating 3 way mid position valve - Drayton or Honeywell?

#115382

Postby redsturgeon » February 3rd, 2018, 8:50 am

FredBloggs wrote:
Does anyone have experience on this at all for the most reliable, long lasting 3 way mid position valve - Drayton or Honeywell?

Thanks.

Bloggs.


Always had Honeywell and I cannot remember evr having to change one.

John

wilbobob
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Re: Heating 3 way mid position valve - Drayton or Honeywell?

#115385

Postby wilbobob » February 3rd, 2018, 9:00 am

no recommendations for a valve, but I do share your experience. Your post reminds me that I have promised myself to look for a suitable plug and socket to fit on the cable and the spare valve to make the inevitable change over easier.

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Re: Heating 3 way mid position valve - Drayton or Honeywell?

#115443

Postby stewamax » February 3rd, 2018, 12:32 pm

All our motorised valves, pump and (battery-powered) thermostat are on three-pin inline plugs.
So when I need to replace, I connect a spare plug to the incoming device in advance. This avoids trying to wire something awkwardly and deep in the cylinder cupboard or wherever.

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Re: Heating 3 way mid position valve - Drayton or Honeywell?

#115628

Postby stewamax » February 4th, 2018, 9:19 am

You'd need a five pin plug for a three way mid position valve though.

Indeed: more than three for any motorised valve, not just a three-way one. I use a pair of plug/sockets for each valve (a minimum of line, neutral, earth and switched line)

pochisoldi
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Re: Heating 3 way mid position valve - Drayton or Honeywell?

#115631

Postby pochisoldi » February 4th, 2018, 9:34 am

FredBloggs wrote:
stewamax wrote:All our motorised valves, pump and (battery-powered) thermostat are on three-pin inline plugs.
So when I need to replace, I connect a spare plug to the incoming device in advance. This avoids trying to wire something awkwardly and deep in the cylinder cupboard or wherever.

You'd need a five pin plug for a three way mid position valve though.


If you really want to use plugs+sockets.
Use two identical 3 pin inline plugs, wired up so that there is a socket and a plug on each side.
Make sure you choose rewirable connectors, and make sure you have a spare pair (so you can wire up the replacement before hand)

On the valve end use the socket for anything which may be made live by the valve, and use the plug end for anything which may be made live by the rest of the system.

On the "system end" fasten the two connectors together so that it is physically impossible for an idiot to plug the two ends together.

For me, I just use a two-gang surface mount box with a 12way choc-block.
Everything is wired according the relevant Sundial plan document , clearly marked with "1" and "12" at each end.

Only an absolute incompetent would be unable to fault find replace components on a system wired that way.
All they have to do is look at the valve arrangement, pull the relevant Sundial plan document and they know exactly what they've got.
The only complication is where a thermostat+timer gets replaced by a programmable stat (hint - the CH timer connections get replaced by a wire jumper).

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Re: Heating 3 way mid position valve - Drayton or Honeywell?

#116414

Postby pendas » February 7th, 2018, 6:08 pm

I find the synchron motor to be the common failure, mine rarely last more than a couple of years, and they can easily be replaced without purchasing the entire actuator. The same motor seems to be used in many different brands.

I have occasionally had a problem with the micro switches, but this has been resolved by a squirt of WD40 around the button so that some enters the body of the switch. This fix can last several years.

Appreciate not much help if you're away from home.

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Re: Heating 3 way mid position valve - Drayton or Honeywell?

#116567

Postby bungeejumper » February 8th, 2018, 11:23 am

With my Drayton, it was a piddly little plastic lever that had broken in the switch. A known problem, which could be fixed by replacing the lever with a bent paper clip. Not something I felt inclined to attempt while there were 230 volt currents in play. ;)

I didn't spend a lot of time investigating whether there might have been a more physical reason why the lever had broken. Was something mechanically jammed? Who cared? It was a cheap enough matter (£70, from memory) to replace the whole shebang. These days, Draytons allow you to replace just the head unit, not the brass bits. Which would have been even cheaper, and about an hour quicker.

BJ

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Re: Heating 3 way mid position valve - Drayton or Honeywell?

#116644

Postby pochisoldi » February 8th, 2018, 3:38 pm

bungeejumper wrote:With my Drayton, it was a piddly little plastic lever that had broken in the switch. A known problem, which could be fixed by replacing the lever with a bent paper clip. Not something I felt inclined to attempt while there were 230 volt currents in play. ;)

I didn't spend a lot of time investigating whether there might have been a more physical reason why the lever had broken. Was something mechanically jammed? Who cared? It was a cheap enough matter (£70, from memory) to replace the whole shebang. These days, Draytons allow you to replace just the head unit, not the brass bits. Which would have been even cheaper, and about an hour quicker.

BJ


It's likely that the microswitch is a bog standard part, and can be replaced as a single unit. The electrical connections will be spade connectors or soldered, and the switch held with a pair of nuts and bolts, or a "drill out the rivet and replace with nuts and bolts" job.

A search on uk.farnell.com for microswitch and some filtering on the parametric search will bring up a selection of microswitches with pictures along side for guidance. ("SPDT", 250v minimum and 3A minimum narrows the search down to 29 items instead of 1793) Then find the manufacturers part number and buy it elsewhere...

By the way, you are probably looking at no more than £3 for a replacement microswitch. Even if you have to bribe someone who can solder into fitting it for you, you'll still have a few beers worth of change from £70.

PochiSoldi

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Re: Heating 3 way mid position valve - Drayton or Honeywell?

#116668

Postby jfgw » February 8th, 2018, 4:33 pm

pochisoldi wrote:It's likely that the microswitch is a bog standard part, and can be replaced as a single unit.


After having done this myself, I recommend that you try to source an identical part from the same manufacturer. A subtle difference in the dimensions of the actuator can mean a bit of faffing about is required to get it to work properly.

Julian F. G. W.

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Re: Heating 3 way mid position valve - Drayton or Honeywell?

#205806

Postby brentpham » March 6th, 2019, 7:43 am

Honeywell all the way.


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