So I have a new sears kenmore watersoftner to install. I was just forming my by-pass system when it struck me, did I buy the wrong valve for this job? Three valves, all the same.. I wonder this because when I look at the valve (a "mini ball valve") it is 1/2" on both ends which is good cause my house uses primarily 1/2" copper. But when I look into the valve, I see the actual arpeture is much smaller than 1/2" it looks more like 1/4"

Is this going to act like a restrictor to the flow rate for the rest of the house?

Thanks in advance for your advice

Ps. My water softener is being installed such that my whole house will have soft water EXCEPT for kitchen sink cold line, and any exterior house taps.

Knucklez

Are you saying that all lines including your main trunk are 1/2"? The softners I have installed were all on a 3/4" supply. 1/2" is fine for a sink or tub but not for the entire house supply of hot water.

The water supply from the city is 3/4" galvenize. but then it goes to 1/2" copper, and then to the water meter and then to the rest of the hosue.

The actual fitting on the water softener is 1" male, so i need a monstrosity of a reducor to get to 1/2". Of course, they do not sell any 1" female threaded, to 1/2" rigid copper converter.

Anyway, I discovered the answer to my question myself. There is a "full flow" ball valve that I should have bought. So I brought back my other valves and will install the ones that have a 1/2" inner diameter in the valve.

Knucklez

I hope your using dialectric unions for the copper to galvanized connections to prevent corrosion.

Look a little closer to your distribution. You might find that there is a 3/4" cold trunk to the water heater and then 3/4 for a while, finally settling to 1/2"

No, its all 1/2" everywhere.

The copper to galvenized, I don't think anything special was done. The plumber just used pink thread tape and tightened her up.

Are you worried about corrosion or about good electrical ground for the house?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Knucklez

so i have a new sears kenmore watersoftner to install. i was just forming my by-pass system when it struck me, did i buy the wrong valve for this job? three valves, all the same.. i wonder this because when i look at the valve (a "mini ball valve") it is 1/2" on both ends which is good cause my house uses primarily 1/2" copper. but when i look into the valve, i see the actual arpeture is much smaller than 1/2" it looks more like 1/4"

is this going to act like a restrictor to the flow rate for the rest of the house?

thanks in advance for your advice

ps. my water softener is being installed such that my whole house will have soft water EXCEPT for kitchen sink cold line, and any exterior house taps.

Knucklez

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You should exchange the valves for 'full port' ball valves.

I'm worried about corrosion, but you bring up a valid ground point. The ground point depends on where the main electrical panel is and the water pipe relative to the box.

Exchanged for full port ball valves.. installation went fine. System working first try - no leaks!

Who's good?

---> Knucklez!

Ps. I tried to document my work on installation but my camera died and I lost the pics.. sorry!

Did you by chance get a water softener system that would deal with iron or is iron not a problem for you?

How Select the Best Water Softener - How To Guide - Removing Iron - Potassium chloride

Softner does not deal with iron. I have no idea if this is a problem or not as I did not have my water tested.

I'm on city water. So I'm not too woried about it. The only reason I got a softner was because my wife was concerned about mineral deposit stains on the appliances and fixtures. The kenmore 300 series softner I purchased was on sale for $400 and I had a $200 gift certificate... I also bought when canadian dollar was 10% higher than american last year and taxes in buffalo is only 8%. So it was a once in a lifetime bargain, so I figured "can't hurt".

Knucklez

The reason why I suggested iron is because of the galvanized pipe. Rust is iron and it can leach into the water.

When iron gets really bad, orange discolororations occur at the fixtures and your hot water can smell like sulfur, which requires a different anode rod.

Ah... good point.

Thankfully all the galvanized pipe in this house is progressively being removed. I'm working on the replacing galvanized with copper in the remodeled kitchen today even!

You can follow my progress and make comments on it here

Knucklez