flowtite water valve replacement
 

I tried a forum search but did not come up with any thing.
Our home (built 2004) is now 21 years old. I need to change the toilet tank fill valve and have been cautioned by neighbors to be careful of the shut off valves as they are fragile and should be replaced.
Your experiences/suggestions will be appreciated.

There have been threads before so I don't know why you didn't find them. Here is a youTube about replacing this type of valve.

I replaced the toilet fill mechanism just last week and had no problems with the shutoff valve. However, my home was built in 2014 and the ten years might make a difference.

I paid Mike Scott Plumbing about $60 each to replace my plastic toilet valves with metal, quarter turn valves. Now, I can maintain my toilets without the fear of the plastic valve leaking.

If you don't want to turn off the plastic valve, you can turn off the water to the entire house in the garage. Note, that if you do use the plastic toilet valve, it will probably be OK, but if it leaks, you will need to shut off the water to the entire house.

To close the old plastic shut off valves use two hands to pull it shut, and be careful. One hand should hold the pipe and the other to pull the the shut off valve. I replaced all the shut off valves in my house with the metal 1/4 turn handle.

OP, you can stop by ACE hardware, explain your problem and they will explain how to remove the old valve and replace with a new one, very helpful people.

Ya know what they say, "Ace is the place with the helpful hardware folks."

best idea is not to touch the push me pull you valve, just shut off the whole house, replace the toilet tank fill valve, and then turn the house back on. .

Then spend the $60 to get your valves changed out. I did most of mine myself, but had issues on one, so had Scott plumbing install a new one. . . Worth doing to reduce flooding risk. Risk is an intangible concept, so people have different interpretations of risk and the cost to insure. In this case, the risk of failure is low, but not zero, and the damage cost is high if not home, but the cost to insure is low, so pick your response and take your chances.

Pretty easy to do. Turn the main water off. Flush the toilet and hold the handle down to get as much water out as possible. Use an old towel and bucket to get the rest out so you want have a large mess on the floor. Cut the plastic line between the valve and the toilet. Hold the pipe coming out of the wall and with the other hand slightly pull and twist the flowtite counterclockwise. It will come off.


I replaced all 17 of those valves in my house with the all metal: Glue on Brasscraft valve. They are 1/4 turn valves and should it ever become necessary, one can repair or simply unscrew the valve from the glued PVC connection and replace. Never have to cut the pipe or anything in order to repair. A little pricey compared to others but some others cannot be rebuilt. You'll also need a new hose that goes between the valve and toilet.

If you want to do all of them, there will be 2 at each sink (bathrooms, kitchen, utility), 1 at each toilet, 1 for dishwasher, and 1 for refrigerator.

I bought battery operated water alarms to place under the toilets, sinks, refrigerator, washer, and water heater. Eight of these will cost less than $100 from Amazon. Cheap peace of mind, and they have alerted me to 2 slow leaks so far.

It's great that you have these alarms but think about it. You are not home and the toilet supply line bursts. It's all over in a couple of minutes. Better to get this system because it will automatically shut off the main water when there is a leak large or small.

Amazon.com

Thanks. I agree that there are better systems than what I use, but it looks difficult to install and it probably won't fit inside my valve box in the garage and maybe not even in the outside meter box. Also, I'm cheap. But I will think about it.

I did most of my house myself, until one would not come off. Your directions will work until it doesn't. What also happens is when there is very little area between the pipe remaining and the box, such as behind a refrigerator, that a plumber might just be the best answer.

good luck to us!

The refrigerator one was the hardest but I was able to slightly pull up on the pipe to get a hold of it. Just need enough grip so as not to put a twist on it while unscrewing the flowtite valve.

I would put the highest priority on the bathrooms as they are manipulated the most which I believe make them the most prone to fail.

Replace them, they are the cheapest material
 

I would replace any that were used in initial home construction. Remember plastics do break down over time. The older the material gets, the more brittle it becomes. It wouldn’t be a rush job if your home is brand new, but if it is older than 10 years in age and you have them, move the replacement of them to a priority.

Value Replacement
 

Replaced all my valves with metal glue on type quarter turn valves...14 total. You can use sharkbite but I chose to glue. See you tube for removing push pull existing valves. Not a difficult job if you're handy.

I have read very bad review on these valves so I replaced everyone in my house with Sharkbite valves. All the info is online on how to proceed. Remember to place the one behind the fridge.

My home was also built 21 years ago. Three years ago, I had a minor flood in my home due to a leak in a plastic pipe located underneath the concrete floor in my master bathroom. I had to use the main shutoff valve located in my garage; that valve was plastic and very difficult to turn. When the leak detection/plumber was replacing the faulty pipe, I had him replace the main shutoff valve with a brass valve that is easy to operate. Replacing the one main valve is more cost-effective than replacing 14 local plastic valves.

Before I leave my home to go on vacation, I shut off the water supply to my entire home and turn off the water heater. If I need to repair a toilet or a faucet, I use the easy-to-turn main valve in the garage rather than the questionable plastic valve located near the toilet or faucet. I tried to include a photo of the new main valve in the off position with this write-up.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vzL...usp=drive_link

IMG_3646.jpg - Google Drive

We just had all of ours replaced by Dunstan & Son Plumbing out of Leesburg. Great service. They also changed our main shutoff. We had 21 of them to replace. It has given us peace of mind.

If try to shut it off I would first spray with little penetrating oil, the push pull part of valve is the weakest point.


They are actually called Accor, probably why couldn’t find them in search.

Plenty posts on topics in do it yourself section.

Some will not come off, but most do, on the few that won’t thread off counterclockwise you have to cut them off. Which means you for have tools to do that or just cut pipe if have enough sticking out of wall? If don’t have skills or tools best just call plumber and be done with it. I replaced all mine with sharkbite or Quickfittings LF45AR-2 which have easy removal tool lets them slide right off.

Here video on how to remove them it you think you can do it?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtBU6l69gdI

Valve Replacement
 

This is the easiest DIY job that I've ever attempted, and that's saying a lot, because I'm just not that talented in the home improvement field. However, I replaced every push/pull valve in our home with the Shark-Bite valve. Follow these steps, and when it's over, you'll feel a real sense of accomplishment:

1. Turn off the main water supply valve.
2. Flush the toilet and disconnect the supply line from the toilet tank.
3. Don't forget to put something under the tank to catch the water that will drain out.
4. There will also be a small amount of water in the supply hose, so drain that too.
5. Use a pipe cutter to cut the valve off. There will be a circular, saw-toothed ring that is left on the water line, so cut that off as well.
6. You should now have the water line sticking from the wall with nothing on it.
7. Push the Shark-Bite valve onto the line. Follow the instructions on installation, but you'll know when it's on correctly, because it won't go back any further, so don't force it.
8. Attach a metal braided water line to the valve and the toilet tank.
9. Pour some water into the tank and check for leaks.
10. If no leaks, then turn on the water supply and check for leaks at the hose and valve connection. There shouldn't be if you've tightened but not overtightened the connection.
11. Keep a towel handy to soak up any water that has spilled from the disconnections.

I replaced every valve in my house five years ago, and they've worked very well. I see that Amazon is still selling a package of ten compression valves for $45, which is around the same price I paid. If you simply want to replace the one toilet valve, True-Value Hardware sells SharkBite valves for around $15.

Add valve
 

After you find the main cutoff while you are replacing the toilet valve consider adding another cutoff for the toilet.

The shutoff valves that come with the Village Homes are not the best. We had some of them replace by Dove Plumbing in Wildwood, great service and they are also cheaper. They also replace our water heater for a lot less than all the plumber trucks you see.

Some like mind didn’t have enough pipe sticking out of wall to cut off. So had use the counterclockwise twisting to get Accor push/pull valves off. If cut pipe off or even twist off have or de-bur and scotch bright pipe so get good seal with shark bites. Agree, not that hard unless don’t have enough pipe sticking out of wall or stubborn Accor push/pull valve that won’t twist off. Then, have to cut valve off without damaging what little pipe sticking out of wall.

Your photo appears to show the valve in the "Off" position. Easy to tell because the "On" position (same as gas meters) is in-line with the piping as opposed to perpendicular to it.
As for your turning off the water heater, do you drain it also, or just flip the switch, assuming there's no pilot light? So the water sits in there the entire time you're away until you turn back on the water valve and then the water heater, do I understand correctly? Thanks.

When I’m away I just turn mine down to pilot.

Personally, I would not drain the water heater. Just run the water for awhile when you return.

Topspinmo and Retiredguy123, thanks for your informative posts. Not sure tankless water heaters have pilot lights. I'll have to look into that.

No pilot light in tankless, electric ignitor. Wouldn't hurt to shutoff the breaker.

Ahhh, excellent. Thank you. Simple to do - easier than dealing with a pilot light. I'd actually probably shut off a lot of breakers: Stove, Washer/Dryer, etc. Major stuff.

absolutely! helps prevent appliance burnout from a close lightning strike, but the accompanying induction surge. . again, a little prevention maintenance can go along way

Update.
I had Dunstin & Son in this week. Replaced all push/pull valves with quarter turn stainless valves and hoses. Completely rebuilt all inards of all toilets. Replaced two outside faucets.

Very knowledgeable, polite, on time, excellent communications at a reasonable price.

My days of DIY are behind me....stooping and bending (no longer flexible enough).

yes, my DIY days are slowly dwindling as well, stooping for long periods hurts the back, and strength is definitely no longer here or there.

I'd like to get all this done,too. Could you give me an idea of price, so that I can budget for it?

Mike Scott Plumbing charges $60 per valve. The average house has about 17 plastic valves. So, you can budget about $1,000 for the project. But, if you shop around, you can probably get it done for somewhat less. Personally, I would only hire a licensed plumber.

get a price quote for both shark bite valves and glued on valves. .

glued on valves will last longer and be less likely to fail, as the shahk byte uses a circular gasket for the seal, and can fail over a long period of time.

My Accor push/pull valves were over 20 years old with the circular o-ring never had one drop of leak at joint. On Accor valve it the push/pull plastic valve that weakest point, the fitting, locking onto pipe, and hoses wasn’t problem for me. Actually none of them failed but I was worried with age of them.

You might be able to replace the flow value by pulling it off of the pipe it is on in the toilet, To be safe turn the water off to the house. There is probably a grey "nut" to pull up on the pipe that will let you remove the top part. Go to youtube and look for installing the values and you can probably find one that shows you how to do this if you look long enough. You can practice on the one you buy before doing anything with the old value. Note the instructions will say not to do this.

Careful when shutting off water, when you turn it back on you can blow your pressure tank bladder. Too much water pressure at once. Turn a faucet on first then turn the water on.