***VISIT OUR SPONSORS***
https://www.traderadiators.com | https://www.grahamplumbersmerchant.co.uk | https://www.buteline.com/uk | https://www.adey.com
This video covers the 3 port valve. In particular its position in a Y plan system. We also cover the basics of installing or replaceing a three port valve or head. For more information visit https://www.plumberparts.co.uk
Hello and welcome to this Plumberparts video. Today, I’m going to tell you about 3-port valves that position the heating system and how to install their control heads. Basically, giving you a brief explanation. If you want anymore detailed information you’ll have to contact us and go to our website at plumberparts.co.uk. Let’s first have a look at the position of the 3-port valve in the heating system. This pipe here is the flow from our boiler, okay? It comes up here through the pump, is pumped up through this pipe here to our 3-port valve here, Okay? Now what the 3-port valve then does is divert hot water, either through here into the coil of the hot water tank and back out to the boiler, or, through here, which is off down to the heating system, okay, to the radiators.
Now it does that according to whether it is being controlled by either the thermostat on the side of the tank, this side, or your thermostat in your room. Now, we should send it off down this side. Now that might sound simple enough but the complication comes in when you try to wire them in. For most heating engineers like me, or other people who are experienced in this, it’s an easy thing to do. But if you don’t know what you are doing, you can easily get in an electric shock, or the system just won’t work properly at all. Now only do this if you know what you’re doing and you’re competent with electric, okay, and you have a tester. For God’s sake don’t touch anything that you haven’t tested first, okay?
So here’s the control box. I’m just going to remove this cover. Right. So that is why you take the cover off and you look at that and you say, oh, my God, what is going on here? Once you isolate each wire, find out what it does, then you’re in a much better position, okay, and you’ll be able to figure it out a bit easier, with any luck. Now we can have a look at this. This is our replacement head, okay. But, I’ll tell you what these wires do and basically how this works, okay, becomes sometimes there can be confusing the three-port valve type because when it’s only on heating, it has to have a separate live that keeps the boiler and pump on, okay? Now, so what we have here is pretty simple. We have our standard wire here, this is our earth wire. That goes into the earth. This is our neutral, okay? Now these two here are our signal wires, okay. Now, on a two-port valve you have a live earth and a neutral, okay, and then a switch live and then a switched out, okay?
So when, what happens is, is your two-port valve is livened up the motor moves round, clicks a switch, and then it turns that switch live on back to the boiler and the pump. Now, with a 3-port valve, it’s a bit different. You’ve got your live, uh, your neutral and your earth, okay? Right, and then you have a live on, you have two lives here, okay. Now these get livened up according to what services you’re looking for, okay? And they also move the motor around, right. So, say your white is your hot water, and your heating is your grey, okay, say the white moves around, the motor moves around, and then what it does, it switches the live that goes through the white, through the motor and then back out on this orange off to the boiler and the pump, right?
Similarly, it works in exactly the same way for the heating system. Say it comes down, the heating system comes on, it gets signalled by the programmer, it goes through the thermostat in the room, comes back, switches down here, opens the valve, the valve makes, and then it livens up back down here, off to your boiler and your pump, to tell them to come on. The idea of having a switch in one of these motors to tell the boiler or the pump to come on, is so the boiler and the pump doesn’t run when there’s no flow to go to, okay. Which could result in
the boiler overheating, sections cracking, heating systems over-pressurizing, and loads of problems like that, Okay?
I hope you found this video somewhat informative and opens your eyes a little bit more to how 3-port valves work, where they’re on the system, and why they’re so important for diverting heat to the certain areas according to the thermostats that are calling for those areas to have heat. If you want anymore advice or anymore information, go to our website at plumberparts.co.uk, message on YouTube, or get hold of us through that website. I hope to see you again, and keep up to date with us, and see you soon. Thanks very much. Bye-bye.
Post time: May-29-2017