Actuated 3-way Ball Valves - anyone have experience?

[IANick]

I asked a version of the following in the lighting, filtration and other equipment forum with little luck. Somebody suggested I try here, so here goes...

I'm thinking of doing a double closed loop on my upcoming 200 plus gallon build. Only one loop will be active at a time. Am i correct that an electric actuated 3-way ball valve will allow me to switch the flow from one loop to another using an Apex controller? If so, does anyone have any specific recommendations? There appear to be a wide variety of actuator models and valves and I'm a little lost on how to choose correctly. I want quiet operation and quality. Thoughts? Recommendations?

 

[Dag]

I used actuated 3-way ball valves. They constantly broke. I discontinued them, and now use Tunze streams.

 

[Epicreefer]

I've seen hayward 3 way valves in use but like dag says they all have the potential to have issues down the line, I haven't seen them have issues though just heard. I think all ofthem have a little noise but nothing louder than your pump.

 

[ca1ore]

More complex = More failure points.

I tried using actuated 3-way ball valves a while back - expensive and unreliable. You could try that squid device (although I never have). I think you are far better off looking to power heads to provide alternating flow.

 

[IANick]

Thanks everyone for your replies so far. Not exactly something I wanted to hear. Anyone out there with more positive experiences? And, if I may ask, what were the causes of the problems? How did these actuators "break"?

 

[zebrasoma17]

Do a search for "actuated 3 way ball valves". There are 2 pages of threads. I remember about 8-10 years ago there was a thread where someone explained how they set them up on a large system but I didn't find it now.

 

[Neogenocide]

How about 2 seperate closed loops, with DC pumps controlled by a controller? Would be a lot more reliable in the long run.

Just a thought.......

 

[IANick]

... And a good thought it is. In fact I will be using a controller (Apex) and will also be using dc pumps (waveline probably, although these seem to be but a single brand of pump sold under a variety of names). But I had hoped to somehow eliminate the need for the extra pump because only one of the two loops will be operational at any given time (well, not entirely true... There will be a third loop that will be continuously operational, but that's a different story for a different thread). Initially it seemed silly to use two pumps to do what one can easily do. But I've been surprised at the expense, noise and potential unreliability of the switching option. I haven't eliminated the switching option, but might be leaning back in favor of using two pumps.

Anyone else with thoughts or recommendations?

 

[Dag]

small grains get in the ball

 

[IANick]

Aryeh,

And impacts performance I presume? I've heard some people complain that grains also impact performance on Oceans Motions.