How to replace a blue switchmaster central heating valve

teepoo

Hi All,

My central heating valve motor is broken as it no longer turns the valve. However I know that the 3-way blue swtichmaster valve motor is no longer produced. Does anyone know if I can get another motor that will fit the valve?

Or where I can find a spare?

I would rather do this than replace the valve itself as it looks like a lot of work!

Thanks,
Pete.

bryanb

teepoo wrote: »

Hi All,

My central heating valve motor is broken as it no longer turns the valve. However I know that the 3-way blue swtichmaster valve motor is no longer produced. Does anyone know if I can get another motor that will fit the valve?

Or where I can find a spare?

I would rather do this than replace the valve itself as it looks like a lot of work!

Thanks,
Pete.

First check whether the valve is jammed, could be why the motor doesn't turn it.

teepoo

I can manually move the valve so I know that it is not jammed.

I can actually hear the motor buzzing when it tries to move the valve - it just does not move!

plumb1_2

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/93941/Plumbing/Central-Heating-Controls/Horstmann-3-Port-Motorised-Valve
Change the wires 1 at a time, then you wont get mixed up, the only difference is that the white on the old 1 , will be white with a brown stripe on the new 1 .

I prefer the Danfos valve , as you can just swop the head/actuator without fitting a new body, so no need to drain down the system if there are no isolating valves.
http://www.screwfix.com/prods/30424/Plumbing/Central-Heating-Controls/Danfoss-HS3-3-Port-Motorised-Valve

Hope this helps.

teepoo

Cheers Plumb1,

I do not have any isolating valves and I do not yet have the confidence to swap out the valve, so the Danfos it is.

Some other questions:

I am assuming that this is a mid-position valve? (my current one is)
How do I know that it will fit my valve? It said "interchangeable with other makes" - so all the valves have a standard adaptor?

If that is all OK, then the only complicated part will be matching the current 6 wires to the new 5 wire actuator.

Thanks,
Pete.

EliteHeat

teepoo wrote: »

I do not have any isolating valves and I do not yet have the confidence to swap out the valve, so the Danfos it is.

I am not sure that you have understood the previous comments.

The switch master 6-wire valve is not compatible with any other valve. You will need to drain your system and remove not only the motorised valve but also the old olives and nuts. The pipe-work may need to be amended to accommodate the new valve body.

The wiring is different, the main difference being that the switch master fires the boiler / pump via a red wire whilst the new one does this via orange. You will find that the old valve uses orange to activate hot water.

teepoo

How difficult is it to amend the pipework?

I imagine that I would either have to lengthen or shorten to pipe to fit the new valve?

EliteHeat

teepoo wrote: »

How difficult is it to amend the pipework?

I imagine that I would either have to lengthen or shorten to pipe to fit the new valve?

Yep, that would be about the extent of it. If you're lucky you may only have to shorten it a bit. If you're really lucky you might not have to do anything at all.

teepoo

I guess the sensible thing would be to measure the existing valve dimensions and make sure that the new valve has dimensions bigger than that.

Cheers,
Pete.