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p1800nut

New Member

1

Sunday, April 21st 2013, 9:15pm

Source for diaphragms for Imperial Brass valves

My sprinkler system has Imperial brass valves; I don't know how old the system is, but I've owned the house for 21 years. I replaced a number of the solenoids a few years ago, but now I'm running into a problem with a valve with a pinhole leak in the diaphragm. Am I correct that parts for these valves are NLA? What a pity, given that they've been so reliable! Not to mention that would mean having to replace them, which doesn't look like much fun. I'd sure like to find some NOS diaphragms sitting in someone's warehouse!
BTW, the Imperial Valet controller died last year and being blissfully ignorant about the higher current draw of the Imperial valves until I was looking around the forum today, I replaced it with a RainBird SST9001 controller. Although it does occasionally give an error message about a bad valve, it worked just fine last season. So for those looking for a low-cost replacement for the Imperial Valet controller, this might be a workable solution.

Wet_Boots

Supreme Member

Posts: 4,102

Location: Metro NYC

2

Sunday, April 21st 2013, 10:41pm

You could always take your exacto knife to an old inner tube and make your own diaphragms. :D

Seriously, though, any NOS (that's New Old Stock, for anyone wondering) diaphragms will still be decades-old material.

The other issue in these niche-market parts, is that they would have to sell for enough to justify their small-scale manufacturing. That means your replacement diaphragm would cost far more than would a new valve.

p1800nut

New Member

3

Thursday, April 25th 2013, 10:05pm

You could always take your exacto knife to an old inner tube and make your own diaphragms.

I see the smiley face, but I'm tempted!
Thanks.

Wet_Boots

Supreme Member

Posts: 4,102

Location: Metro NYC

4

Thursday, April 25th 2013, 11:01pm

Anyone who has an Imperial valve diaphragm can count on it bringing back $100-plus, for it solving a problem where valve replacement is difficult and expensive. Are you ready to pay that price? Or is your system repairable for less cost?

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