Dave Yates

A wise move

plan on some maintenance. Hard water and elevated temperatures will eventually "stick" those mix valves. Some of mine need yearly cleaning, for homeowners that hate water softners.

I've always used the Sparco, now Honeywell Sparco, and I keep rebuild kits on the truck. They went to a teflon coated body a few years back. Helps a lot but those tight tolerances still seize up after time.

Add a ball valve on the discharge side to facilitate rebuilds without draining back the entire building.

I recently started buying the union connection style. Now I can just switch the entire valve and de-lime and rebuild back at the shop.

hot rod

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Chust doing my job!

Thanks Mark & HR, I'm taking your request to heart. We'll see if FHB wants a full blown article & we're working on it. If not - their competition does(G).

The truth will out, as some famous playwright once said.

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and

A warranty replacement call! Did you remember to pull down the diverter and "flush" the hydrant? "Of course I did! You obviously installed either a defective product or you don't know how to properly install yard hydrants." At least the age-old "I DID remove the hose" almost goes away. We've had to replace more than a few antifreeze wall hydrants for free & they were pitched the correct direction. Amazing how a looming plumbing bill can turn otherwise honest consumers into bold-faced liars!

I see it works via a venturi & requires owner/user intervention to make it work. Twould be a better design if the handle tripped the diverter during the stroke between full open and closed. Even at that, I still can't help but believe homeowners, garage mechanics, car dealer car washers & farmers (etc.....) will short-change the flushing period. Perhaps a simple flushing mechanism that self-closes either by spring tension or hydraulically using the water flow itself could be built in and triggered by the stem's closing.

Aside from that, I like the idea of that open-to-contamination drain-down port being eliminated. I also agree with your assesment that the diverter negates the benefit of having the backflow preventer. Dirty hands or gloves contaminated with any manner of pesticides or herbicides will be a potential source of cross-contamination.

Needs tweaking IMHO.

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