RODI AND AUTO TOP OFF FLOAT VALVES (FIX)

[murphys_aquatics]

Hello
Here as of late I had ordered some float valves off of BRS and even Amazon.

This is what I found. I opened one from Amazon and tried it on my RODI container. It did not shut off. Next I tried one from BRS and it too failed.

Upon inspecting these float valves I found something very interesting and I hope people don't blame the float valve because it's dang near flawless if put together correctly. So both float valves were kinda sticking and didn't have much give on the hinge. Felt like they were gummed up or something... so here is what I found.

( This Style of Float Valve )

To get things started you will need some needle nose pliers or something to pull out the cotter pin. I used bone cutters wasn't as easy but worked.

Once you pull the cotter pin. You will have something that looks like this

You will want to sand with 220 or finer, the edges or eyelet where the cotter pin goes thru the middle section. Looks like when they were molded together there was a tiny bit of excess plastic. Like squeeze out in the mold.

I would lightly sand this so you do not compromise the structure of the eyelet. This way it seals up nice and tight like it was meant to. You can take off a little at a time and repeat if you need to. But I promise this works if your float valve sticks.

Slide the two pieces back together. Ensuring they are put together the correct way.

Slide the cotter pin back into the eye holes. When your sliding it in don't jam it in there just leave a small amount of slide. Then bend over the ends of the cotter pin. And try again, hopefully this helps someone... thanks for taking a look. And if it fixed your float valve awesome. I also have a video of this on my YouTube channel Murphys Aquatics

 

[hdsoftail1065]

Great tip! Thanks for sharing

 

[rfgonzo]

I've used that float valve for year never a issue. I would say however you should replace the metal cotter pin with a plastic pin or it will rust and freeze up or break off.

 

[murphys_aquatics]

Great tip! Thanks for sharing

No problem at all.

 

[murphys_aquatics]

I've used that float valve for year never a issue. I would say however you should replace the metal cotter pin with a plastic pin or it will rust and freeze up or break off.

Yeah I agree. However this is on my fresh rodi container. The problem was the molded plastic with these. My buddy talked me into getting some and he had never had issues either. Kind of odd they were the exact same float valves in the same package. Wonder if they had molding issues at the factory.

 

[rfgonzo]

Yeah I agree. However this is on my fresh rodi container. The problem was the molded plastic with these. My buddy talked me into getting some and he had never had issues either. Kind of odd they were the exact same float valves in the same package. Wonder if they had molding issues at the factory.

Could be, Last time a bought 1 was about a year or two ago. You will like it now that you have it working. Keep a eye on it if your use Kalkwasser in your top-off. It will clog up over time.

 

[murphys_aquatics]

Could be, Last time a bought 1 was about a year or two ago. You will like it now that you have it working. Keep a eye on it if your use Kalkwasser in your top-off. It will clog up over time.

That's good to know. I haven't messed with the kalk and those floats yet. Thank you for the heads up.