If a hard freeze caught you off guard, you may need to replace some parts on your Febco 765 Backflow preventer. Yeah, the water’s not supposed to be coming out like that…I’m Dwayne Smith Your Sprinkler Warehouse Product Specialist Let’s fix a PVB.
What To Do When You Didn’t Prepare For A Freeze
So if your Febco 765 encountered a hard freeze and wasn’t wrapped up tight it just might be erupting like a water volcano. That’s a big water bill. Turn off the water going into the PVB by turning the handle on the bottom ball valve. Open your test cocks to relieve pressure. To do that, first, remove any caps that may be on the test cocks. Then use a flat head screwdriver and turn these little slots horizontally.
Remove the nut securing the bell. And the bell. Next, remove the bonnet. If it’s broken you’ll need to replace that with a new Bonnet and poppet. I have several recommendations for a poppet that’s stubborn coming out. You can use a wrench or something similar to place here and twist. You can use a set of channel locks. Make sure to just grab the bonnet.
Try not to grab the backflow body. Another method: You can put a flathead screwdriver in this slot and knock it loose with a hammer. Lastly. If this thing just isn’t cooperating at all with these other methods you can, very carefully saw the bonnet into pieces. Here, here and here. Be careful. Avoid sawing into the brass body. And break it apart to get it out. Hopefully, you won’t have to resort to this. Cut to Animation: Remove the poppet.
A Closer Look At The Check Valve
Now let’s get a look at that check valve. There’s a little metal plate here holding down the Christmas tree spring. Push down on the plate. Turn it 90 degrees and pull up. Remove the spring. And now pull out the check valve. This one is missing some legs. It should look like this. Insert the new check valve. Put the spring in place. Now push down on the plate Get one end under this lip here. Push down.
Turn and secure it in the grooves that hold it in place. If you’re adding a new bonnet and poppet it will come with a little grease packet. Put the grease on the O ring on the bonnet before installing the bonnet. Tighten the bonnet, but don’t overtighten. You don’t want to break it. Put the bell back on and secure it with the nut. Once again, do NOT overtighten. Once you’re done you should be able to turn the bell. Close the outflow valve. Open the inflow valve halfway.
That’s at a 45-degree angle. Water will be spewing out of the test cocks. Close the test cocks. That means turning these slots so that they’re vertical. Open the inflow valve slowly all the way open. The handle should be fully up and down now. And slowly open the outflow valve so that the handle is horizontal. I think I’d be remiss in not mentioning that Sprinkler Warehouse sells all the stuff that may prevent you from having to fix your backflow in the first place.
That is pipe insulation, pipe wrap tape, and insulated pouches to cover your backflow. We have videos on winterizing your backflow and information on insulated backflow bags. Buy all the stuff to fix and protect your backflow on SprinklerWarehouse.com.
