I use one like this. My unit is powered and controlled via a three-wire 12V DC connection (one wire is negative, the other two are positive – open or closed; just like the valve in the title, it is fitted with limit switches, and the circuit board in the title looks identical to mine. There are also versions for 24V DC and 230V AC) . However, presenting it solely as an emergency valve limits its applications. In my case, for example, it functions as a water supply for drip irrigation. Due to the low pressure in the system (the water is supplied by gravity from a cistern positioned at a height of 1 m, meaning the pressure is just over 1 bar), standard garden watering timers didn’t work – the diaphragm valves integrated into them require at least 2–3 bar to operate. The ball valve mentioned above (and the modification of a Lidl timer to operate on 12V DC) proved to be a lifesaver.
Now for the downside – the valve has stopped working twice this year already – it turned out to be flooded with water inside. Fortunately, apart from the limit switches and the relay, and of course the motor, there’s no electronics in there, so bringing it back to life proved straightforward. The first time, I put the fault down to the valve being exposed to rainwater – the housing isn’t very well sealed and the valve would occasionally get a few drops of rain on it. After the first failure, I sealed the valve housing properly and tucked the whole valve away under the tank so that it wouldn’t come into contact with rainwater. And six months later, it was the same story all over again – it was splashing inside.
It seems that water seeps through the poorly sealed ball valve shaft and continues on through the equally poor O-ring on the drive shaft. As the ball valve itself on my unit is identical to the one in the thread, this problem may also affect the kit mentioned in the title (unless the drive has a better O-ring than mine).
Tightening the gland on the valve shaft might help, although here it looks as though it’s permanently pressed in – I didn’t try to move it, replacing the O-ring with a decent machine-grade one, or getting round the issue by drilling a drain hole at the bottom of the housing – which is what I did. We’ll see if it helps (the hole in the bottom of the housing certainly will...
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Due to the aforementioned issue, I’d advise against using the 230V version of the valve unless you’re not afraid of getting electrocuted....
The risk of flooding does not apply to the version of the actuator described by the previous speaker – the one fitted over an existing ball valve. Even if the valve itself is leaking, the water has no chance of getting inside the actuator; however, the actuator is noticeably more expensive than the aforementioned integrated valves from the PRC.
