Since Fluidmaster stopped making their pool auto-fill valves I've been looking for a replacement. I thought I'd found it in the Pentair T29 valve. People on Amazon also think so, but you'll find about half are unhappy to find the valves don't seem to work the way they should. I bought one locally at Leslie's Pools so I could examine it before putting it in service. The nipple was not blocked and when in service had water come out of it - it was not blocked the way the old Fluidmaster was. (I still have one of the old ones, but it's non-functioning.)
There's a perfectly valid reason for this - the Pentair T29 and the current Fluidmaster are both the same - water comes out of the "toilet bowl refill nipple and hose."
Thinking Pentair was a victim of Amazon counterfeiting I took the issue directly to Pentair and asked customer service to tell me whether the water should or should not come out of the nipple in a genuine Pentair T29. Here is the response:
Okay, then, so the $25 Pentair T29 holds no advantage over the $8 Fluidmaster. Fluidmaster customer service advises the nipple should be plugged in poll auto-filler in order to prevent pool water siphoning back into your water supply. He went on to suggest the easiest way to block the Fluidmaster nipple is to attach the refill hose to the nipple, bend it back and clamp it. Before I do that, though, I think I'll explore the possibility of finding a screw that will just fit, then gluing the screw in with glue that will work underwater with plastic and metal.
There's a perfectly valid reason for this - the Pentair T29 and the current Fluidmaster are both the same - water comes out of the "toilet bowl refill nipple and hose."
Thinking Pentair was a victim of Amazon counterfeiting I took the issue directly to Pentair and asked customer service to tell me whether the water should or should not come out of the nipple in a genuine Pentair T29. Here is the response:
Okay, then, so the $25 Pentair T29 holds no advantage over the $8 Fluidmaster. Fluidmaster customer service advises the nipple should be plugged in poll auto-filler in order to prevent pool water siphoning back into your water supply. He went on to suggest the easiest way to block the Fluidmaster nipple is to attach the refill hose to the nipple, bend it back and clamp it. Before I do that, though, I think I'll explore the possibility of finding a screw that will just fit, then gluing the screw in with glue that will work underwater with plastic and metal.
