Thinking about swapping the old gate valves for Jandy never-lubes

Started by plumberdave · · 3 replies
Back to the forum
Reply
#1
Look, my pad still has the gray gate valves the builder put in back whenever, handles are getting stiff and one of them weeps a little around the stem when I crank it hard. Been eyeballing the Jandy never-lube valves everybody talks about, I've put plenty on other people's pads over the years and they still turn smooth 20 years later, but I never got around to doing my own. Anybody done this swap on 2 inch schedule 40 recently and run into surprises, fitting spacing or needing to redo more pipe than expected. My pad's tight, not a lot of room to fudge a union placement. Just want opinions before I start cutting pipe on a Saturday and regret it. Dave

3 Replies

#2
no advice here since my gate valves are still the original ones and havent given me trouble yet, but the tight pad part hits home, mine's the same way and i cant imagine trying to fudge union placement without pulling half the pad apart first. following this one for when mine finally start weeping.
#3
Dave, I'm not the guy to ask about the union placement problem since my pad's got room to spare, builder way overbuilt the space around the equipment for reasons I never figured out, but I will say my gate valves are original to a gunite pool poured in the late 90s and one of them has the exact same weep at the stem you're describing. Been meaning to deal with it for probably three years now. Not helpful, I know, just saying the weeping doesn't necessarily mean imminent failure, mine's been dribbling a little for a long time and hasn't gotten worse.
#4
Did mine on a tight pad about like you're describing, plan on losing more pipe than you think, the never-lubes are longer body than those old gray gates so you're not just dropping one in the same gap. I ended up cutting back about 4 inches on each side and adding a union on one leg since I couldn't get enough wiggle to slide the old fitting out clean otherwise. Take your actual measurements off the new valve body before you cut anything, don't go off the old one. Mine's been smooth going on four years now, no regrets, just don't assume it's a straight swap on schedule 40 in a cramped pad.

FN