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Richdel to Irritrol

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ArTurf

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
Need to rebuild some old Richdel valves, what I guess to be 2400's. Aren't these the predecessor to the Irritrol 2400? If I bought some Irritrols and used the guts do you think this would work?

I took the top from the Richdel and screwed it on to a Irritrol body and it seemed to fit.
 
#2 ·
ArTurf said:
Need to rebuild some old Richdel valves, what I guess to be 2400's. Aren't these the predecessor to the Irritrol 2400? If I bought some Irritrols and used the guts do you think this would work?

I took the top from the Richdel and screwed it on to a Irritrol body and it seemed to fit.
Click to expand...
Green, white, or gray richdel? The green and white ones you have to reuse the original threaded ring or it will leak. Otherwise you should be fine with the guts.
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#6 ·
A proper "guts swap" with the old Richdel (black or white or possibly light green) jar top valve not only requires reuse of the original cover ring, you also have to remove and replace the original stainless steel tube in the valve body with the one from the new valve.
 
#8 ·
greenmonster304 said:
^ this I have never done. Please explain.
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Click to expand...
The old tube was actually the solenoid seat, so it's position was critical. Once it showed the ability to shift out of position, Richdel jumped in with the redesign that created the 2400 valve. They had retrofit kits for free, that included a new bonnet, with its own solenoid seat, and a shorter stainless steel tube to replace the original. The new tube was not position-critical.

I never questioned replacing the old tube with the shorter one. Maybe you can force the original tube deeper into the original body, and never once bend it, but I won't take the chance of having to do the repair over again.
 
#9 · (Edited)
Richdel green (and I think black) jartops have a different diameter metering pin, new style diaphragms won't work. I will also note that on the screw types, the old style diaphragm extended to the edge (i.e. the screws go through it), the new style does not. I don't know if this makes a difference when trying to swap guts on old valves with new design parts for these valves, cause I ain't never tried it.
 
#10 ·
The other issue with not swapping tubes (it's tubes and not pins on the 2400 and its ancestor) is that the new tube has wide-open ends, and the old tube has one end slightly modified (rounded over and constricted) to serve as the solenoid seat. You don't really want a hidden constriction in a zone valve's control passages.
 
Discussion starter · #13 ·
I pulled the top off of the old valve and the solenoid read Richdel. Went here http://www.sprinklerwarehouse.com/Richdel-Valve-Repair-Parts-s/9412.htm to ID the valve. Now that I look at it these are probably pics of Irritrol. It is a jartop and I screwed on to an Irritrol body and everything seemed to go together well. Then I asked you guys.

Everyone still think the gut swap will work?

I should get the Irritrols in tomorrow and we'll see.
 
#16 · (Edited)
The original retrofit kits also included two plastic pieces (from other valves they made) that combined into a tool to help push the new tube into place without damaging it. You don't really need a special tool to do that task, but you might have one of these rebuilds occur in a deep valve box, and a tool might make the job a bit easier. The original tool was basically a plastic rod with a hole drilled into one end to accommodate the tube.

Just check whether the old Richdel jartop is original design or not. The name stayed on that valve even after the redesign. The old valve had a flimsier-looking cover ring with a different thread, and if you remove the solenoid from the original design, you see the top of the stainless-steel tube peeking through the bonnet.

All the original-design Richdel jartops I ever saw were either black or white in color. Grey only showed up after the redesign.
 
#18 ·
A properly done gut swap should work, unless the solenoid discharge port is plugged, which is pretty common out here on those older valves due to hard water deposits. I got pretty good at bending flags in just the right way to get into the valve body and knock the deposits off of the discharge port.
 
Discussion starter · #19 ·
Well..... it worked!! Rebuilt a 5 valve manifold. Changed out the metal tubes, pulled them out with needle nose pliers, nervously but carefully. Didn't notice till the last valve but on the old ones a small collar or something came out with them. I didn't put it back in but they work so WTF. A couple of them hum like a sum beech but they work just fine.

Thanks to all
 
#20 ·
ArTurf said:
Well..... it worked!! Rebuilt a 5 valve manifold. Changed out the metal tubes, pulled them out with needle nose pliers, nervously but carefully. Didn't notice till the last valve but on the old ones a small collar or something came out with them. I didn't put it back in but they work so WTF. A couple of them hum like a sum beech but they work just fine.
Click to expand...
I'd keep an eye on them for a while, especially given they "hum like a sum beech"
 
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