Can anyone identify this manifold? — needs valve replacements

Sol_Brother

A customer had this set of roughly 20-year-old manifolds with some valves that leak and some that stick due to broken internal springs. I can find no manufacturer's identification other than the "dual wavy line" emblem shown in the second attached photo. The actuators are Wirsbo but the manifolds are not. Third photo shows the valve I need.




Thanks for any leads on parts.

rick in Alaska

I am not positive, but it looks a lot like a Wirsbo truflow manifold, or at least very close resemblance. But from what I can see, the replacement seal looks like it is a little different on the seal end.
Maybe it is an earlier version of a wirsbo manifold.
Rick

Sol_Brother

Thanks for the response. I sent the photo to a tech at Wirsbo who said it was none of theirs.

HEATON

Watts radiant?

Intplm.

This has become such a big issue.
I'm wondering why manufacturers do not put the names on there stuff like they used to.
In the past you couldn't miss who made what. ?
I do not understand this "trend".

Intplm.

Did Uponor make Wirsbo like Viessmann made pipe in different diameters or (metric) to not match American pipe sizes way back when.
Could this be a Wirsbo , Uponor thing??
A manufacturing hiccup?

Leonard

I'm wondering why manufacturers do not put the names on there stuff like they used to.

Likely manufacters are buying "off the shelf" from cheap suppliers and don't want to spend $$ putting their numbers on it. Likely a small company or it would lead to inventory control problems if had many similar parts.

hot_rod

looks like a Sparco logo?

Intplm.

Leonard said:

I'm wondering why manufacturers do not put the names on there stuff like they used to.

Likely manufacters are buying "off the shelf" from cheap suppliers and don't want to spend $$ putting their numbers on it. Likely a small company or it would lead to inventory control problems if had many similar parts.

Its' an opportunity lost in advertising. In company recognition.
The more the product is shown and recognized, the better for the product, the customer, buyer, installer, owner.

Surely you will agree. ?

This just seems to contribute to the throw away society.

SENWiEco

@Sol_Brother - Based on web search looks similar to Mr. Pex and this looks like your part

Harold

Even more annoying is manufactures not keeping valves for the manifolds in a long term stock. Manifolds are sort of supposed to be forever.

I have had to replace some manifolds simply because there were no parts available. Installation was about 15 years old. It is a lot of money when only a couple of valves are bad.

GroundUp

I've got some Zurn manifolds with the same brass log, but different valves... Also have some Wirsbo that look very similar. Wonder if there was a bulk manufacture of the logs at some point and several companies marketed them as their own with final assembly at their plants?

Intplm.

Wow. Is that what it says? Eagle eyes for sure.

hot_rod

Here is a Honeywell/ Sparco mix valve, look like the same logo?

Looks close, or a knock-off

Sol_Brother

Good eye, Hot Rod, seeing the match to Sparco's logo. I knew I had seen those SS somewhere.... Thing is, I can't find any evidence that they made manifolds. I wrote a note to Honeywell (who now owns Sparco) but of course, the possibility of finding anyone who knows product history at a huge corporation like that, or even getting a human to respond to an email, is slim. No response from them.

And to SENWiEco, yes it is very similar to the Mr PEX. I had been convinced it was not theirs because the shaft in the middle looks to be longer on the one I have than on theirs, but maybe I am just being fooled by the photos. I will get a Mr PEX valve in my next Supply House order and give it a try. I have some Wirsbo/Uponor valves which are also very similar but not quite the same.

Sol_Brother

Aha, Sparco did make manifolds, but not like this one. Cleaning out an old folder of miscellaneous valve information, I found a brochure that included this photo, obviously different in every way from the one I am dealing with.

Solid_Fuel_Man

That Sparco looks like the early 1990s Wisrbo for sure.

rwhtg

I’m pretty sure that is the “modul” brand symbol. I’m searching for info my self.

rwhtg

My customer says “cazzinagia”??? Used to be manufacture?? Idk. I can’t find anything online. I want to know if there is a balancing chart for number of turns and GPM.

hot_rod

Yes a Cazzinagia brand, very similar logo to Sparco.

You should be able to run it down through a Watts rep, if you can find an old timer that will dig back a few years. All that tech data is still out there.

Do you know how many gpm each loop requires?

Open the valve all the way, close the valve all the way and count the turns, set it 1/2 way.

You would need to wait to heating season, open all of them full and choke down the over heating areas.

Unless you have a spot on design sheet, the designed gpm flow rates will be a guesstimate at best. Even the best calculated designs sometimes need tweaking to throttle back over performing loops.

With 1/2 tube generally .50- .65, unless you have some very short loops or rooms with very low heat loss.

Sol_Brother

You guys are a treasure chest of information. Unfortunately I have tried for over a year (intermittently) to get anyone at Watts who will respond as to whether they have parts or not.