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How to replace Lavac Ball Valve

854 views 6 replies 5 participants last post by  RichH 
#1 ·
Hi - We have a crappy job ahead of us, and I'm looking for advice and pointers. The ball valve handle on our Lavac plumbing broke. We've purchased a new ball valve, but are a little hesitant as how to start, and whether we'll even be able to get the pre-existing pipes apart. Any tips? Head pipes scare the crap out me :eek
 

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#2 ·
Your piping configuration has NO 'unions' which allow easy component/piping replacement.
Without any 'unions', youre going to have to cut through both of those Tees ... or the broken valve .... and reassemble the 'adapters' to the valve body ... and essentially rebuild the entire pipe/elbow, etc. configuration from the beginning.

Plastic valve stem handles break all the time and the valve should therefore be assembled with 'unions' for easy valve removal. The best way to instal with unions ..... unions shout be near and including a 90° elbow: eg.: .... etc. - union - nipple adapter - valve - nipple adapter - 90° elbow - nipple - union - etc. .... Rx - don't put 2 unions in line and parallel with one another. putting the two unions, one on each leg with a 90° elbow between, allows for reinstallation without risking the breaking of the piping. You don't want to do this replacement job ..... twice.
 
#5 ·
Thanks RichH for that very helpful breakdown. Uhhhgggg. I was afraid a total rebuild was the case! I think I'm going to sketch this out and shoot a photo back to you so I know we've got it right. You're absolutely right -- not a job we want to do twice! Tisk tisk on the person who built this. Ahhhh.

SVTatia - Yes! This has nothing to do with the stellar, overall function of Lavac. Thanks for mentioning that, as I would never do anything to persuade someone from choosing Lavac. Simple and elegant manual head.

hpeer - My concern with changing to hose over PVC is permeation. I think hose is more apt to permeate with smell than PVC over time, no? Have a hard time keeping the stench down as is -- we are a liveaboard family of 3, so it gets fair use.

Thanks again for the comments all!
 
#6 ·
I can't figure out what's going on in the OP's photos. It looks like there are 3 outlets from the pump. One is the holding tank and one of the remaining 2--presumably the pipe going through the bulkhead--is an overboard discharge. But what is the third outlet (below the exit to the holding tank)? Perhaps there is some way for the Mk V pump to evacuate the holding tank to the overboard discharge?

It would seem that this installation is due for a complete reconfiguration/overhaul using a Y-valve or 2 and sanitation hose. While rigid PVC is impermeable, there are some pricey sanitation hoses that seem to hold off permeation. Shields Poly-X is pricey, but claims a lifetime warranty against permeation. There are others that have 5 or 10 yr warrantees. I would avoid the Dometic Odorsafe hose(which I just replaced in my boat with Poly-X) because it is horrible stuff to install and even worse to disassemble. The Poly-X was easier to install, but the most flexible appears to be Raritan Saniflex.
 
#7 · (Edited)
It would seem that this installation is due for a complete reconfiguration/overhaul using a Y-valve or 2 and sanitation hose. While rigid PVC is impermeable, there are some pricey sanitation hoses that seem to hold off permeation. Shields Poly-X is pricey, but claims a lifetime warranty against permeation. There are others that have 5 or 10 yr warrantees. I would avoid the Dometic Odorsafe hose(which I just replaced in my boat with Poly-X) because it is horrible stuff to install and even worse to disassemble. The Poly-X was easier to install, but the most flexible appears to be Raritan Saniflex.
A lot of truth in the above as if you use 'slip on' connections with flexible sanitary hose, you don't really need unions (which are really needed for rigid or inflexible piping). You don't need slip-on (hose barb, etc.) connection through out at every possible connection (they eventually leak and the 'dead spaces' between the connector and hose .... holds the 'stink' and the bacteria responsible for 'fermentation') ... just enough to enable an easy removal of 'the usual' components.

And, the same would apply with slip-on or hose barb connections as with 'unions' ... should be one 'somewhere' on each side of a 90° elbow to make future work/life much 'easier'.
 
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