FleckCOMINHKR047408 FBA_60049 Replacement Bypass, 1 Count (Pack of 1), Black

The clips were to tight Unable to get on until I sanded the contact points of the bypass valve. Nothing ie really plug and play. But I got it done

These plastic bypass valves are far superior to the stainless steel ones.First, when paired with the correctly sized yoke, they have a male NPT conncetion. That is so much better than a female connection, because it eliminates the need for a male-to-male hex nipple. Those hex nipples are notoriously hard to seal against a stainless steel bypass housing, because the threads on both are not perfect, so getting it to seal with even copious amounts of various thread tapes proved to be very difficult. With a male connection, instead you eliminate one whole leak one, and the other is much easier to seal since flexible water heater hoses have rubber gaskets in them making it a sure seal.Second, they allow vastly more volume to flow through the system. On the stainless steel versions of the bypass, there is literally about a 1/8" opening for water to flow on either side of the bypass, due to the incredibly stupid design of the valve and housing. It literally allows a fraction of water to flow through it, even on a 1" bypass. In this plastic bypass, the inner port has a 3/4" round opening, which allows water to flow at a high rate. This is great for the total system output!I only wish it has a 1" opening though, so there was no restriction, but 3/4" beats 1/8" any day.The only problem I had with one of these is that is the stainless steel flexible hose started to cross-thread and flatten the threads on one of the male npt connections. Luckily I was able to keep threading past it and get it to thread correctly. So just be careful when starting out your threads. I was more careful the next times and it didn't have any cross-threading problems.Great overall!

You can build your own bypass valve by just getting ball valves and piping but why bother. This bypass valve is inexpensive and does what it's designed to do well. I'm using this for a well water softener. It allows for the resin maintenance without having to cut the pipes or having to shut off the water. I can't tell you how long it'll last but seems to be well built. You'll need a yoke to make it work, which by the way was included with my water softener timer valve. You should lubricate the o-rings during installation. If you don't have the grease, you should at least get the o-rings wet or use soapy water. Lubrication is important to prevent damage to the o-rings which can lead to water leaks. Note that this bypass valve does not incorporate a check valve which may be needed depending on your water system type. I recommend it,

I bought this item for use as an extension, instead of its intended purpose as a bypass valve. I do like . I have set both sides to wide open flow. It just gives me about 3 more inches of space for the existing supply and service lines sticking out of a wall. Reason, I had a 20 year old Fleck 2510 Econominder Head that had to be replaced. I don't think they make that valve anymore so I replaced it with digital Fleck 5600 SXT, which is a better valve. But when I mounted it on my existing mineral tank I found the ports on the newer 5600 valve were much shorter and would not reach to connect with the existing plumbing. I had an existing bypass valve exactly like this one I am reviewing today, that stil works as good now as when it was put in 20 yrs ago. I just added this one to it and got the additional reach I needed to avoid going into my walls and making the pipes long enough to reach the water softener. I was glad just pay for something like this and avoid all the labor of making my pipes a little longer. Maybe this will help someone when they upgrade like me.

I was not sure if the was the part I needed, but going off the picture… I took the risk. It was the correct part I need and it fit perfect. It was very easy to replace my leaking bypass valve.

Great value and I did get it to work, but I had to take apart the "out" valve because it leaked from the bottom when I first installed it. The "in" valve leaked from the top. Both valves were very stiff. On their first turn, I needed to use a lot of force to get them to move. I imagine my valve had been sitting on the shelf for some time and the silicone grease froze up a bit. I uninstalled it and removed the retaining rings and slid the valves out and applied more silicone grease. Be careful because there are some additional ports on the sides of each valve with a gasket. (See pic). They will fly out when you pull the valve so be careful. Grease those too. When you install the valve back in the housing, gently twist it as you seat it so the o-rings slide in without getting pinched.

Exact fitting as the original. Worked very well. No leakage.

Exactly what I needed

Worked great at first but shortly developed a leak. Vendor said they would replace but have gone silent. Has not returned a couple of messages.