Honeywell Zone Valves

Unknown

zone valve especially Honeywell spray a little WD 40 on the gears. I have been doing this for years works great. Then if you go back on a maintenance call spray a little more on it will not hurt anything and will only help. It will even stay free with glycol problems. I talked to someone in Alaska a year or so ago and advised them to do this have not heard back so I assume it is working, he had a glycol problem with Honeywell ZV's

John G. Merritt

Honeywell Zone Valves

Why do Honeywell zone Valves stick in the open and sometimes closed position? I have found 4 on different hydronic systems. 3 were stuck in closed position and the motor was cool, not red hot.
Does this happen frequently, or is it just me?
Anybody else found this situation out there?

John

todd s

Antifreeze

Is a big culprit of this. Many times this fluid isn't installed or maintained properly which causes acid and deposits to form.

John G. Merritt

Antifreeze????

Sorry, but I don't understand about the anti-freeze in a hydronic zoned system. In an Ice melt system I could understand it.
I'm talking about a regular 3 zone hydronic (Hot water)
system, using Honeyweel Zone valves.
Sorry again, but I can't make the connection!

John

John_21

We are constanley finding stuck honeywell zone valves. It's a real shame the older ones were much better.
some of the replacement heads only last about six weeks, and some donot work out of the box. Now replace with Taco.
John

John G. Merritt

Stuck valves

John:

Thanks for the info on Honeywell Zone Valves.
I thought for a while it was just me.
You are right about replacing them with Taco. That's what I'm going to do from now on.

John

hr

Antifreeze concerns

John, it's not uncommon in remote areas to use glycol based hydronic antifreezes in residential hydronic systems. Contractors in Montana and other remote climates often include antifreeze. Areas that suffer frequent power outages or ocassionally used vacation homes are good candidates for freeze protection.

But it does come with a price. The systems must be throughly cleaned at start up and monitored yearly to maintain the glycol protection and inhibitors protection.

Actually all new systems should be flushed and cleaned. Often times equipment failures are directly related to the water quality. A mixture of flux residue, oils, thread dope. etc. will cause a sticky mess inside you system. It will gum up zone valves, pumps, and any other wet side component if it is left un addressed. Usually when the system goes cold is when the "glue up"

A good cleaning is the best step to assure a trouble free efficient hydronic heat transfer system.

hot rod

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kevin

I have ...

never had a problem w/ HW. Now Taco..gold head...thats anothewr story. leaks on the o rings right out of the box, short cycling brand new....have they fixed the problem w/ the ESP ones?? I know for a fact I am not a fan of gltcol either...to many mantainance issues. Hpoe you have better luck.kpc

Glen

hot rod ---

I agree with the cleaning - and often use TSP - but with environmental concerns (mainly from the ho) I am looking for alternatives - any idea???

hr

Cleaners

There are a bunch of hydronic system cleaners available. The important thing to know is that the cleaner you use is compatible with all the components of you system. Aluminum is a tricky one. If your boiler of tubing has aluminum be careful what you clean with.

I am currently beta testing a new hydronic cleaner and also a conditioner. It has been under development and testing for over a year. It just cleared EPA and other agencies involved.

This product goes further than just soap cleaners like TSP. It has o2 scavangers, film providers, ingrediants to lock up any hardness in the water you and and lots more.

Label should be ready this week. It comes in 1 and 5 gallon containers. I'll get some info to you this week.

The TSP sold across the counter these days is a very mild version of the old "strong" stuff. The EPA has clamped down on phospates, and as a result most hardware TSP is phospate free. Go figure?

hot rod

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BillW@honeywell

zone valve issues

Please get me the date codes on those powerheads that are failing "out of the box". The rest of the guys are right about antifreeze, so I won't go into that. Check to see what voltamp capacity your transformer has, and if you have more than 4 zone valves on one transformer, or are using a non-NEMA tranformer, you may be burning out valves due to low voltage. Non-NEMA transformers are notorious for dropping from 24 volts to 12 or 14 once a string of valves are attached.

Glen

oh two scavenging?

That sounds promising - and it doesn't surprise me re the "new" tsp. I always thought it somewhat nutty that you couldn't put it in Mr. Clean - but the paint store sold it for paint brush cleanup. go figure - keep us posted on the beta testing.

Craig Krauss

John_21

Zone valves

The zone valves that I have replaced all have been jamed at the gear box in motor or operating gear below the motor.John

Dennis - Reliable Services

Honeywell zone valves

will fail prematurely if they are installed with motor facing down.
Check install instructions on other angles.