Upgraded Orbit valves to Irritrol 700 **Results**

[deafgoose]

There has been lots of talk on the forum about the Irritrol 700 Series valves being a good replacement to the OEM Orbit valves. They have a much better strait through design witch should cut down on the ballast fill times significantly. I purchased 3 new valves from Sprinkler Warehouse and decided to put them to the test.

I have the stock Gravity III ballast system with Rule 2000 pump. I used a stop watch to see how long it would take to fill all 3 bags. Before I started, I made sure there was no water or air in all 3 ballast bags.

Center: 13:24
Left: 15:24
Right: 16:09

Total fill time: 16min 9sec

I also timed each bag individually.

Center: 7:01
Left: 7.17
Right: 7:54

After installing the new valves I filled all 3 bags to see how much faster the fill time would improve. I was SHOCKED by the results!!!!

Center: 13.28
Left: 14.31
Right: 16:11

Total fill time: 16min 11sec

So there is zero improvement from the upgrade. I didn't bother timing each individual bag on the new valves.

[jmvotto]

great info. I hope you can return the new irritol valves, there are kind of pricey. i think.

[deafgoose]

great info. I hope you can return the new irritol valves, there are kind of pricey. i think.

I wont be returning them. I had to solder the original connectors onto the wires.

I have not given up on my quest to speed up my ballast fill time. I want to upgrade the intake and manifold to 1.5" and replace my Rule 2000 with a Rule 3800. That should do the trick!

[viking]

plus it'll solve any auto-fill issues (air and water) - or so I've heard!

[deafgoose]

plus it'll solve any auto-fill issues (air and water) - or so I've heard!

Yeah! The build quality is much higher and even though the fill times did not decrease, they are more efficient.

The valves are not the bottle neck in the system. I personally think the Rule 2000 is the bottle neck.

I really like the idea of upgrading my ballast fill pump but the Rule 3800 is 1.5" and the stock intake and manifold is only 1". We need to find a pump that is 1" and that is also capable of flowing 2X more water so that we don't have to upgrade the intake, shut-off valve and manifold.

[jmvotto]

DG, some on here with the existing 3/4 valves and plumbing have just added another fill pump and an extra manifold from the other end to increase times. otherwise doing bringing twice the water from the same place but feeding it to the other end of the manifolds Or 1.5 to 1" on the whole system makes sense.

[kaneboats]

I added a second Rule pump and built a 1" manifold out of pvc pipe so I could have water inlets at each end. I'm pretty satisfied with my system. I usually only fill the front bag for wakeboarding-- we're not that good. I leave the front full and fill the surf side 750 for surfing. It has the Irritrol valve on it and fills in about 7 min.

[kaneboats]

I wish you would go ahead and time your bags filling individually. That will tell you if you are just not getting enough water. Sending all you have to one bag should show you reduced times-- at least in theory.

[cab13367]

dg,

Thanks for doing the timed tests. Sorry that it did not deliver the results u were looking for.

I do agree with Kane though that u should time how long it takes to fill just one bag. It may be that it's less restrictive at higher pressures.

Al

[cab13367]

dg,

Thanks for doing the timed tests. Sorry that it did not deliver the results u were looking for.

I do agree with Kane though that u should time how long it takes to fill just one bag. It may be that it's less restrictive at higher pressures.

Al