Aladdin Isolator Valve
I've just bought one, as I think the mains tap won't work in a flat I'm going to be working in. Has anyone else here used one? Seems a great idea, but I wonder what they are like in practice?
Anyone else find it slightly surprising that this works? Does it completely shear the pipe, and insert a gate?
It's like a photocopier. No way should that work!
It punches right through at least one wall of the pipe, and yes it must be a rotating gate valve.
The whole thing relies on the silicone seals within the body lasting pretty much forever.
I can't work out where the excised bits go.
Horrid idea - replace the main isolator with a pegler (or other GOOD make) full bore 1/4 turn valve.
If the street c*ck won't turn off, get the water company to fix that first. If this is the first c*ck after where the mains splits to feed the various flats, there's always a pipe freezer.
Me neither!
They probably get flattened at the back of the valve...
Ah, yes:
(that's also why there is a minimum drill torque spec, since it needs the power to crush the pipe).
Ah, I see. The pipe slug ends up in the recess at the back of the housing.
Very cunning, I can see the appeal as an "emergency fix". Not sure I would want to fit one to my own system as the main "post-stop c*ck" isolator, though.
Still not exactly clear about where "debris" goes, and exactly where the sealing faces are.
Come on John, you know the difference between torque and power even if Aladdin doesn't. To quote the article which you cite:
"Installing the cutter in a standard hard 0.7mm wall copper pipe requires 16 Newton-Metres of drill power"!!!
Indeed, but I won't begrudge them that one, since I would guess most would equate "a more powerful" drill as one that also has more torque.
(which will be generally true unless discussing particularly highly geared designs)
Look at the FAQ tab; there's a nice diagram.
OK - I take it back:
It's not actually horrible - it's actually rather clever.
But eighty quid for a single valve with required tools, and seventy-odd quid per additional valve?
OK, so for once screwfix is cheaper than amazon ...
By quite a long way! 45 quid?
Silly bugger that I am, I missed that. So, as I speculated, it shears the pipe completely, but then inserts a full bore ball valve unit presumably with integral seals, the whole being sealed to the housing with static O rings.
It's a cunning bit of design, especially as it works with metric and both UK and Irish Imperial dimensions.
Probably just about worth it for a plumber, given the time it saves over freezing to install a "proper" full bore lever ball valve.
+1!
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.