How To Repair a Diverter Valve

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With time the handle or shaft of your Diverter Valve might break or you may want to change out an older standard Valve Assembly for a Never Lube Valve Assembly. Also your Diverter Valve may be tightly integrated in your piping system to the point where you would have to replace multiple valves to replace a bad one. Fortunately most damaged valves can be repaired by replacing the valve assembly inside the Valve as an easier alternative to cutting out the whole valve. This guide shows you how to replace the Diverter Valve Assembly in a Diverter Valve.

Video

Step by Step

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Step 1

BUY PARTS - Buy the replacement parts ahead of time so you will have them on hand when you need them. For a full Valve Assembly replacement you will need a Never Lube Valve Replacement Kit and a tube of O-ring lubricant. You will note that there are two kits available: an OEM [Original Equipment] and a Generic.  The OEM is generally higher in cost than the Generic Kit. Also the items included in each package are slightly different. Each has the Diverter Assembly, a Locking Knob, and the two O-rings on the valve shaft. The OEM kit has a red plug to replace the grease port on the standard valve if it is broken. The Generic kit does not have a plug but it does include the O-ring for the Valve cover.

Step 2

TURN OFF PUMP - Turn off power to the pool pump. For maximum safety turn off the power at the circuit breaker to the pump.

Step 3

RELIEVE PRESSURE - Relieve the pressure in the lines by turning the relief valve on top of your filter counter-clockwise. You should see the pressure reading on the filter pressure gauge go to 0.

Step 4

REMEMBER VALVE SETTING - Note the operational position of Valve Handle. You will be placing the new Diverter Valve Assembly in the same position.

Step 5

REMOVE HANDLE LOCK KNOB - Twist the Handle Lock Knob in a counter-clockwise direction to remove it from the Diverter Shaft.

Step 6

REMOVE HANDLE - Lift the Handle off of the Valve Shaft.

Step 7

NOTE POSITION OF "INLET" LABEL - Note the position of the "INLET" label on the valve cover. "INLET" is positioned over the Valve's common port.  When you replace this cover, you will place it with the "INLET" label over the same port.

Step 8

REMOVE 8 COVER SCREWS - Remove the 8 screws from the valve cover to remove the cover.

Step 9

PRY OFF VALVE COVER - With the screws removed, you may have to use a small screwdriver or chisel to gently loosen the Cover from the Valve Housing.

Step 10

LIFT OUT VALVE ASEMBLY - With the Cover loosened, you should be able to lift the Valve Assembly out of  the Valve Housing.

Step 11

NOTE POSITION OF DIVERTER - Note the position of the Diverter Paddle relative to the "INLET" label on the Valve Cover. You will want to place the new Diverter in this position when you reassemble the Valve. The small slot on the shaft is 90 degrees counter-clockwise from the "INLET" port.

Step 12

PUSH OUT DIVERTER - Push the Shaft of the Valve Assembly down out of the Valve Cover

Step 13

REMOVE COVER O-RING -Take the larger O-ring off of the edge of the Valve Cover. Inspect the O-ring for wear or other damage.

Step 14

CLEAN VALVE COVER -  Take off any grease or debris on the valve cover with special attention to the edge where the O-ring is set.

Step 15

CLEAN OUT COVER SHAFT HOLE - Wipe any grease or debris out of the center shaft hole. Make sure to remove any ole O-rings that may have come off the valve shaft when it was removed.

Step 16

CLEAN OUT VALVE HOUSING - Thoroughly clean all grease and debris from the inside of the Valve Housing.

Step 17

SLIDE ON SHAFT O-RINGS - Slide the 2 O-Rings onto the top of the Shaft of the Diverter Assembly. Push them down as far as they will go. Note, sometimes the O-rings comes already assembled on the Valve Shaft.

Step 18

LUBRICATE SHAFT O-RINGS - Lightly lubricate the two O-rings on the Shaft.

Step 19

INSERT NEW DVERTER ASSEMBLY - Slide the New Diverter Assembly Shaft up through the bottom of the Valve Cover.  Push the Shaft so that both O-rings slide into the hole.

Step 20

ROTATE THE VALVE ASSEMBLY - Rotate the Valve Assembly to the position of the old Assembly as noted in Step 7. In this case the small slot will be 90 degrees counter-clockwise from the "IINLET" label

Step 21

PLACE O-RING ON THE COVER - Place the Cover O-Ring on the outside edge of the Valve Cover. It should fit snuggly.

Step 22

LUBRICATE COVER O-RING - Place the Cover O-ring on the outside edge of the Valve Cover and lubricate it lightly with a silicon or Teflon lubricant.

Step 23

REPLACE VALVE COVER - Insert the Valve Cover onto the Valve Housing. Note that the bottom of the Valve Shaft fits into the hole in the bottom of the Valve Housing. Ensure that the "INLET" label on the Cover is over the common port as noted in Step 7 and push the cover down as far as it will go.

Step 24

REPLACE COVER SCREWS - Replace the 8 screws in the Valve Cover. When you screw them down alternate the screws across from each other to ensure that the Cover seat properly. Manually tighten the final turns on the screws so you don't strip them with the drill.  Do not overtighten.

Step 25

PLACE HANDLE - Place the Handle on the Valve Shaft. It is slotted so that it will only go on one way.

Step 26

SCREW ON LOCKING KNOB - Replace the Locking Knob. Screw it on in a clockwise direction.

Step 27

TURN ON POWER - Turn on the power to the pump at the circuit breaker.

Step 28

CLOSE RELIEF VALVE - Close the Relief Valve on the top of the Filter when water starts to spray out.

Comments

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(1 to 4 of 4)

 Posted: 11/30/2021 

Odd question I have been intending to ask: will the replaceable parts of a Jandy diverter valve fit a Pentair diverter? Thank you.
 Reply

InyoPools Product Specialist  Posted: 12/1/2021 

I don't think they would, but this is not something we've tried. But generally, there isn't much cross-over compatibility between the manufactures.
 Reply

 Posted: 4/3/2018 

Hello Cyril - We'll need to identify the exact model of the valve. Could you submit a support ticket and attach pictures of your valve? One of our techs will respond with the correct recommendation.
 Reply

 Posted: 4/3/2018 

I need to change the top cover of my 3 ways diverter valves and need new screws and O rings. Unfortunately I don't know much about it beside it has 8 screws, it is grey and on the handle it says Intermatic. Is there a rebuild kit that I can get in order to fix them or do I have to change the entire valve assembly against new ones? Thanks.
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