A local builder told one of our customers recently that Jandy one way check valves are not “corrosion resistant”. This concerned a customer of ours in Coppell, TX that we had just installed a Jandy one way check valve for to hold the water up in his spa. The customer wanted to switch out to an older style valve that was specifically labelled corrosion resistant – which we did to accommodate him since there was rust in the valve not long after we installed it.
After I inspected the valve and noticed that the customers Rainbow 320 in line chlorinator has no one way check valve protecting the heater, I became concerned that the rust was actually from the heater. I also was concerned about the comparable ability of the Jandy valves to hold up to chlorine and corrosive water compared to the older style center-spring based one way check valves. This is an email I sent to the customer after I contacted Jandy to compare the valves and see what they had to say:
“Customer John Doe”
As far as the valve differences – I am open to learning and this was the first I have heard of a difference in corrosion resistance. So I want to do my homework.
I called Jandy – the makers of the vale we put in to ask about it being corrosion resistant. I spoke with Dave in their tech support via calling the number here: http://www.jandy.com/html/contact/
Dave assured me their swing / spring check valve is chlorine / corrosion resistant (basically if it is one it is also the other). He said they are the most common type of valve used now and are used in close proximity to a chlorinator like your Rainbow 320 “all the time”. Dave said it is also fine to use this valve to protect a heater from a chlorinator like I described to you today.
I asked what documentation he had and this was all he had immediately available – a general product brochure for all their valves. If you notice at the bottom-right they claim these valves are “chlorine resistant” in faded blue lettering.
http://www.jandy-downloads.com/pdfs/sell_sheets/System_brochure_valves.pdf
Dave was real familiar with the other valve that was specifically claiming to be “corrosion resistant”. Dave speculated this might be new marketing they were doing by labeling them this way. Dave said he is going to ask the manufacturing people there at Jandy / Zodiac if the springs are comparable or if there is any significant difference in how “resistant” they are between their model and the other one in question. He said if he could get an answer that they were different in any way as far as corrosion resistance he would let me know.
Based on this we have:
1.) These Jandy swing / spring check valves as the most common type of valves being installed on new pools today regularly in close proximity to chlorinators.
2.) The Jandy manufacturer claiming on the phone and in a general brochure that they are chlorine resistant.
3.) No conclusive proof of any significant difference (yet) in how resistant the metal components are to chlorine.
So at this point it seems best for me to stay the course and continue using these valves because of the features they offer until I have data that points us in a different direction.
I would recommend again that you get a 1 way check valve to protect the heater – regardless of which make of valve you feel is best. I am pretty sure most of that rust was from something other than the check valve… and the heater is the #1 suspect.
Thanks,
-Gabe