I had some good success with using Liquid Wrench silicone spray on the valve stems of old, sticky PVC valves. I removed the valve handles, sprayed around the stem, then opened the filter vent to create some vacuum....don't know if that helped, but better than pressure. I cycled the valves a few time, let things sit for 30 minutes with pump off, then cycled again. The rotating effort was significantly reduced and they now rotate stop to stop.
Are your PVC Valve hard-to-turn? I found a fix!
- Thread starter lakeboater
- Start date
- Jul 21, 2013
- 64,901
- Pool Size
- 35000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Ball valves inevitably get hard to turn and stuck over time. Bets thing you can do is exercise them often to try and prevent sticking. Don't try and force the valve too much or the handle will break off. Some ball valves are repairable and others are not.
When the ball valves are getting hard to turn it is best to replace them with diverter valves.
When the ball valves are getting hard to turn it is best to replace them with diverter valves.
mikes112
Well-known member
Boil them in a pot of water. Just tried it, it works. Bring the water temp to just where it starts to bubble which will just soften the plastic enough to allow the housing around the ball to expand slightly and it moves much easier. Of course you would have to remove them from your plumbing to do it, or find a way to heat the valve enough without melting the plastic too much.