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flow control valves

1602 Views 9 Replies 5 Participants Last post by  hvac dude
I have 2 very old flow control valves on the supply side, one on each zone, (going out to the baseboard registers) of the boiler, they have been there since the original boiler of 1953. They were never replaced when current boiler was installed, and they are very crusted and I seriously doubt they work correctly anymore. (see pics)

They are propably frooze in the half open/ half closed position. From all the crust and sediment on them, they appeared to have leak at one time or another and someone before me try to tighten the screws on the top of them all the way down to stop the leaking. It appeared to work, they are not leaking. If you look close at the watts flow control pic, you will see how the screw is really bent and corroded. You could break it off with you fingers. The original boiler was replaced by this HE mini fin lochinvar boiler in 1987. (see pics)

I recently replaced both zone circulators with the taco 007-f5-IFC which are installed on the return side (coming back to boiler). Which are equipped with flow control and according to instruction sheet are supposed to do basically the same thing those separate flow control valves do. Additionally, instructions say these circulators equiped with IFC, eliminate the need for seperate flow control valves. (see pics)

Should I replace those old separate zone control valves with new ones? Or can I just remove them altogether and replace them with straight pipe now that I have the new 007-f5 with integral flow control? or should I just leave them alone and wait until they leak or I get no heat in the house? They are ancient. What would you do? What are my options?

good advice or recommendation from an experience hvac technician would be greatly appreciated. thanks in advance.

Pictures here.
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hi there ,, are the pumps wired to run all the time ? and the boiler cycles on the thermostat or ? then we can go from there
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no, pumps are not wired to run all the time. Yes, boiler cycles on when thermostat calls for heat.
thanks all for your fast replies. Just want to make sure before I remove them, that i'm not violating any hvac codes which may require flow controls be installed on both sides (supply&return).
jmon;1070638 said:
I have 2 very old flow control valves on the supply side, one on each zone, (going out to the baseboard registers) of the boiler, they have been there since the original boiler of 1953. They were never replaced when current boiler was installed, and they are very crusted and I seriously doubt they work correctly anymore. (see pics)
You would be surprised, Those old one way check valves seem to hold up good over time. At least the ones I have seen have.


jmon;1070638 said:
I recently replaced both zone circulators with the taco 007-f5-IFC which are installed on the return side (coming back to boiler). Which are equipped with flow control and according to instruction sheet are supposed to do basically the same thing those separate flow control valves do. Additionally, instructions say these circulators equiped with IFC, eliminate the need for seperate flow control valves. (see pics)
As was said in another post, you can remove them if you suspect they are causing problems.

Should I replace those old separate zone control valves with new ones? Or can I just remove them altogether and replace them with straight pipe now that I have the new 007-f5 with integral flow control? or should I just leave them alone and wait until they leak or I get no heat in the house? They are ancient. What would you do? What are my options?
I am sure you just did a typo here, they are not zone valves. The way your system is set up the pumps control your zones. As long as the pumps have flow control in them then they are just redundant. If the pumps did not have them then I would suggest replacing them

good advice or recommendation from an experience hvac technician would be greatly appreciated. thanks in advance.

Pictures here.
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yea, you are right danpik, that one quote is a typo, they are not zone control valves - I meant one way flow control. If you look really close at that one pic of the watts flow control, you will see how someone turned it all the way down and it is bent and corroded really bad. You could break that screw off with your fingers. Thanks.
Valves

I am not an expert, but I would remove them so that they do not place back pressure on the new pumps and their integral valves.
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Thanks to all who responded. Jagans makes a very good point - never thought of that. Just wanted to run it by a few experts out there to make sure I could safely do it. thanks.

Hope everyone out there has a very safe and happy holiday season.
Tyvm all the best to you and your family hope all works out for you
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