The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Ranco valve rebuild (AD)

Has anyone here had their Ranco valve rebuilt by Classic Parts?

I rebuilt mine and it tested good but I also have another one in better cosmetic condition that leaks at the rubber seal which I would like to have rebuilt but I don't want it to come back looking all messed up.

Any advice is appreciated.

Yes

I don’t have a real good pic but you can zoom in on these two.

It did not come back looking messed up.

pic 1
pic 2

When I did get it back I could shake it, and it rattled as if media had not been cleaned out before re assembly.

So far it’s been holding.

If it starts to leak I’ll send it to a different vendor for rebuild. My experience may not be typical.
Good Luck

The valve inside is not a real tight sealing valve. It just blocks of the majority of the water flow so I wouldn't be surprised if you hear a rattle from it.

I would bet Chevy Duty is sending them out to ???????, can't remember his name now but he's the dude that specializes in the Ranco valves.

You did a fine job on the first one Woody, the second one should be a breeze for you.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

My office is about 30 minutes from them and I have had 2 rebuilt by them, both work great, look good, and don't rattle. I can also shut them off enough that they blow outside temp air into the cab. I cycle them(open and close) regularly so that their is not buildup or a ring formed into the seal. Seems to have well so far in the first 2 years since rebuild.

I just put mine in the mail to them yesterday. I found a NOS unit with a bad rubber seal and just don't want to spend another 3-4 hours cursing rebuilding it myself. For $50, the service is a bargain. I've checked other rebuilders and their prices range from $75 - $90... plus postage.

Was it ithis guy?


http://www.heatervalves.net/

Now it wasn't Drew, the guy that I was thinking of was out of California, I talked with him a couple of times and he sounded like he was cranky old dude.
This is a new one on me and I will bookmake the webpage.
Thanks for the link.

Sam, I 've never had a cadaver that was bad enough to cut apart so I only know what I could make out from looking down the inlet and outlet. The internal valve seat and supports are staked or silver brazed in place and it would distroy the unit to get to it. I had a few around here, two that I restored, and they all rattled and leaked a small amount of water even when closed. It isn't enough to keep the core warm when air was blowing across it but there was still a tiny bit of flow. I'd love to find one that was relegated to the junk pile so I cold autopsy it, (hint, hint!).
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

this is likely the Calif guy Denny, but someone is manufacturing Rancos new as places also offer new

Bill

Yeah that's him, Jim Tucker, where did you see new Ranco valves???
Maybe some NOS for some of the muscle cars but I doubt if you can find a new one for an AD truck.
I'm sure if you could find them new then these two rebuilders that are listed here would have them listed and every vendor that deals in restoration parts would be stocked up with as many as they could get.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Denny - that guy says he has NEW valves for all 50-75 applications .... the Volvo suppliers also have new valves - obviously someone makes'em

Bill

He quoted me $89 plus $9 shipping.

here ya go Denny, must be the source

Bill

Denny, you're welcome to have my POS Chinese pile of *#$() valve that was sold as one to fit my 'bolt. It didn't fit as my original did, and it leaked within a year.

I'm sending my original valve out for re-build.

Bill

Thanks Tx Bill but I was talking about an original AD cadaver not just any one, but thanks anyway.
Squeeze, let me know when Ranco can send you out a brand new Ranco valve for an Advance Design Chevy Deluxe heater, put me down for two.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Denny, if the cranky guy says he has new ones for 1950 up, that covers AD's - the other one [heatervalves.net] says he has "hundreds of new" ones [and cheaper] - the Ranco mfgr is likely where they came from, try inquiring, I don't need any myself and I'd hate to ding a nice guy like you for some markup

Bill

The model H-11 that comes in the AD truck is not listed on the Ranco website as being currently available.

Purchased a rebuilt Ranco Valve from here

No core required. He does Not have New Valves in stock.

$107.00 shipping included.

I do not believe anyone has new valves for sale, and almost every other vendor requires a rebuild able core.

here are some pics
This may interest you if your valve is not rebuild able or missing

Good Luck

Dads50, the one you have a link to appears to be the one like I took apart today. For some reason I was not aware of the differnce but I should have since knowing there are different #'s

I had pictures of Dennys and Woodys rebuilt laying on my work bench and relized about halfway through the tear down that they were different. Mine is H-02-47 which I think is like Woodys.

I say different because:..... Denny was able to tear his apart and actually see down in the tube where the actuator rod it but on mine, and I believe Woodys we cannot do that...unless I heat the soldered end and then put it back on. I'm wondering if I should do that?

Am I correct in what I'm saying above? Heck, I like it, Learn something new everyday guys. And thanks to Woody and Denny for the documentation on their rebuilds. Thanks guys.

There is no model # stamped into the valve I recieved from heatervalves.net. Only Ranco HF

Im not sure How Denny got his apart Denny Pic.

Heres a pic of My original Ranco Pic

You can see in that pic the Bellows tube is cut.
I found out later that made the valve useless and not a good core for turn in/ rebuild.

That is why I had to find a source for a valve.


Hopefully Denny will post up about that disc, I dont believe there is a need to remove it.

Good Luck on your rebuild
Those tabs are a headache. You can see in that pic of my original valve, one of the tabs is ready to snap off.

Okey dokey, the 'disc' you see in that picture Gus is the retainer for the seal. When you spread the tabs to take the valve off the base it just falls out. That rubber is just seals the shaft where it goes into the valve itself. On the other end, the valve with it’s stem is installed from the bottom and the tube is capped off with the silver brazed plug that Alvin was talking about.
The rebuild is simply cleaning up the disassembled unit and replacing the rubber disc, that’s it. The rebuilders don’t open up the bottom end of the valve and there is no reason to do that. There is nothing to rebuild in there. It’s simply a metal valve that closes off the water flow against a metal seat. As I’ve mentioned several times, it is not a perfectly watertight seal, some water will seep past it even when it is closed.
The only reason these leak and need rebuilding is because the rubber disc that seals the stem dries out as you can see in the picture. A Ranco valve rebuild consists of 10c worth of parts (one rubber disc, a rip cuz they get ten bucks for it) and a lot of very careful tab bending and seating. In other words, it’s 99% labor.

Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Amen Denny. I think somewhere my question was mis-understood.
First off there is really nothing to the valve. I have it apart, cleaned up ect ect ect.

I simply noted that on Denny's model he can see down into the tube as he pulled his rubber seal off and also the little metal "washer" looking piece under it. On MY valve you cannot do this. Once you pull the rubber seal off thats it. There is nothing else to pull out so you can't see down into the tube.
I just simply wanted to verify the two different ones. Which Honestly there is no need to as I can dang well SEE the difference.

DADS50.... you have what I have. The pic you posted above, with the wire holding the little rod, is like mine. You cannot see down in the tube like Denny can on his.

Denny, you are right. The little "metal valve or shut off" or what ever its called will not totally shut the water off. DADS50, if you take that wire off and let the rod drop down in the tube....then look through the end where the heater hose attaches you can see the little wiggle metal "valve" that comes up and shuts the water off. No way can it be a tight shut off. Close but no cigars. Then just shake it a few times and you can get the rod back through the hole!!

I did notice someone has been in my valve before....because if you let the rod drop down where you can see the end of the wiggle valve piece,you will notice 3 little "prongs" or octoupus arms, slanted up at angle which helps guide the shut off valve up into its seat. Well, two of mine were bent out because someone, sometime, had taken it apart and forcefully pulled up on the rod, catching the little prongs and bending them. Then no way in hell will the water ever even get close to shutting off!!
I used a dentist pick/tool and reached in and at least bent them back up where the valve could go all the way up into the seat.

For those of you who haven't taken one apart, like mine, you may not understand but like Denny said, these things are really simple. If in doubt just put you a "mark" on all pieces so you can put it back together. I would have taken pics myself but whats the use. Denny and Woody have covered with pics better than I can do. I believe Woodys to be like mine. The tabs are easy to except the ones that hold the actual valve to the plate. Mine have a little "curve" to them and were a LITTLE aggravating. If you have the right "little" tool its easy.

Whew, man, we should all be able to stand and give a 20 minute tutorial on Ranco valves after all this!!!!