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Foot Valves

DiamondWash

DiamondWash

Well-known member
Who makes the best/reliable foot valves lately, I have been using these as seen in the pictures for years, but recently I have been replacing them more frequently. I like them because I build pail stingers with them for 5/15/30 gallon chemical containers.


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The biggest problem I've had with the Hydrominder ones is that when the hose gets hard they won't seal inside it anymore. I've been putting a zip-tie around the hose as a clamp for years and haven't had problems with them in years. A few years back I started cutting a length of hose that I pass through a PVC cap where the foot valve will just reach the bottom. I like that if I need to replace the foot valve and the hose is too hardened, I only have to replace 15" of hose instead of the whole thing.

Quick and easy "bug fix"

Cricket season is coming soon, and since I had to change some Hydrominder hoses anyway I came up with a very cheap way to keep the bugs out of the chemical buckets. A 1/2" barb splice and a 1 1/2" PVC cap (About $3 at Home Depot): Drilled a 5/8" hole in the cap: Cut enough of the hose off...
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Its early and I havent had coffee yet so maybe a dumb question, but what is a pail stinger?

FYI I use the same foot valve you pictured, & I run the hose thru a 2-3' section of grey electrical conduit to keep the hose straight and the foot valve on the bottom - pretty much the same as your other pic. Been doing that for maybe 20 years or so, no degradation to the conduit at all.

edit: I just realized MEP linked to an older post on this, I dont recall having read it. Thanks for the link.
 
I've never heard it called a Pail Stinger! Maybe that's what its called when you purchase it instead of making your own!!! Since switching to the FV's pictured and getting away from the Blue and Gray ones, I haven't had the first failure. The only failure was a few of the FV's were DOA. They leaked right out of the gate. I always test them before putting them into service.
 
I'll have to go with 2Biz, 38 years in the business I don't know what a "Pail Stinger" is. I do what Paul does and use a 3/4" Gray PVC electrical conduit. I still use the Blue foot valves and they will slide down the inside of the 3/4" conduit nicely. I put a stainless steel screw about 3/4" from the bottom of the conduit to keep the foot from going to bottom of the containier and sucking off the bottom of the chemical containier, since doing that I haven't replaced a foot valve in a long time.
 
DiamondWash said:
Who makes the best/reliable foot valves lately, I have been using these as seen in the pictures for years, but recently I have been replacing them more frequently. I like them because I build pail stingers with them for 5/15/30 gallon chemical containers.


View attachment 1059View attachment 1058
Click to expand...

I use the same exact setup and other than the occasional defective valve here and there but overall the combination of the two have proven robust.
 
Car_Wash_Guy said:
How do you guys keep the line/tube from curling up and not remaining on the bottom of the pail?
Click to expand...
I thread the hose through a piece of 3/4 PVC conduit. I make sure the conduit is at least as long as the barrel diameter, so it doesn't lay flat on the bottom. This keeps the hose straight and eliminates the need for weight.
 
Here's how I do mine....The drilled hole in the PVC cap is just a little larger than the hose. It holds the hose nicely without letting the hose float up. The pipe (I think 1".25, slightly bigger than the FV) attached to the cap has an angled cut on the bottom so there is no restriction of flow. The pipe is cut to the correct length so it sits on the bottom of the bucket. Seems to work great for me. I have all my 5 gallon buckets elevated so they aren't sitting on the floor. Filling the buckets is easy, remove the lids and spin around, pour in new chemical, put lid back on...Easy peasy! The larger cap is also used for filling with a large hose if I want...This cap has about a 1" pipe that tightly fits in the lid to keep dirt out...

Here ya go IB...Throwing you another bone!

pail.jpg


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