On May 9, 2:52*pm, "Steve B" wrote:
"Notat Home" wrote in message

...

Thanks to information from this group, I had installed a gravity powered
recirculating loop in my hot water line, with a brass check valve (flapper
type) to prevent backflow. *It worked very well for years, but now the
check valve appears to be stuck in the closed position, preventing
circulation, and we have to wait for hot water again.

Is there a good way to fix this valve, short of replacing it? *It has a
cap on top, but apparently they put that on at the factory so tightly that
it cannot be removed. *I tried some gentle tapping, then some more
vigorous tapping, but that didn't help. *I thought of applying heat, but I
don't want to undo the soldering.

Investigate changing it using Shark Bites. *You will not have to undo the
soldering, use any heat, and the Sharkbites work well. *You may have to
sweat nipples into the valve first, or buy nipples threaded on one end to
avoid any sweating on the valve. *Make your cuts on the pipe very clean,
square and true. *If you can get to it with a copper tubing cutter, come
down on it very very slowly, giving each tightening a few turns of the
cutter afterwards to insure it has cut to its maximum depth. *Crunching too
far at one time causes deformation or crushing, and then the Shark Bites
won't work.

When you do the post mortem on the valve, you will probably see that it is
so gunged up that there is nothing other to do than to replace it.

Steve

OP-

Remove the check valve as suggested by Steve B. Soak the check valve
& tube assembly in CLR (or equal).
I've cleaned malfunctioning check valves like this before.

cheers
Bob