Kaplan 1/2" PVC True Union Ball Valve with Full Port, ASTM F1970, EPDM O-Rings and Reversible PTFE Seats, Rated at 200 PSI @73F, Gray, 1/2 inch Socket (1/2")

I made this purchase based on the solid reviews of this product on Amazon. I'm glad I spent the extra money on these because of the excellent quality. When you open the package and hold the union in your hands and take a close look at it, you will see what I mean. Rock solid construction, thick and heavy,very durable, and superior engineering. Nothing like the existing valves on my pool equipment which were chipped, cracked, and leaking air.No need to read anymore beyond this point because it is too much information.TLDR - Too Long Don't Read. But if you insist, go ahead anyway.I bought 3 of these, but only needed 2. The third one is for spare parts and in case I made a mistake during the install. If you glue on the pipe fitting and forget to put the collar on over the pipe BEFORE you glue it, it's bad news for you. You will have to cut the pipe and add a coupling, and if your pipe is too short, you will have wasted one end of the solvent to threaded union coupling. Fortunately, that didn't happen with me, but I'm glad I bought a spare one for two replacement o-rings, a ball joint valve, and two solvent to threaded union couplings.I'm not a pool or plumbing expert, only a novice, but let me just give you my personal advice on replacing your existing valves with these high quality ones. It took me about 2 and a half hours to replace the two existing valves, and now my pool system is running perfectly with ZERO air intake and NO leaks. It will probably take you less time, but I like to over think these things to get it right the first time.01] Take your time when replacing the valves and carefully think out where to make thepipe cuts before you start.02] Use sand paper or a sanding block on the pipe edges after you cut them to make themsmooth and beveled.03] Clean the pipe ends with acetone, or at least alcohol to make them smooth for atleast two inches where the solvent is applied.04] Use pvc primer and glue instead of skipping the primer (like I have done in the past).05] Consider applying vasaline (or similar) to the ball joint and open and close the valvea few times to work it in.06] Consider applying vasaline (or similar) to the o-ring connecting points. I was giventhis advice by a pool maintenance company.07] Consider applying vasaline to the threads of the unions to prevent sticking over time.08] PUT THE COLLAR ON THE PIPE BEFORE YOU GLUE THE CONNECTOR.09] Notice that the valve actually has a FLOW DIRECTION arrow, make sure to align it inthe proper direction of the water flow. This is easy to fix if you get it wrong. Yousimply un-thread the collars, flip the valve 180 degrees, and re-thread the collars.10] Make sure each of the 2 o-rings are comfortably seated in their slots before youtighten the collars.11] You SHOULD NOT TIGHTEN THE COLLARS with any tool, only your hands.12] I never used a measuring tape, I held the pieces and pipe together and put marks onthe pipe to make my cuts using my eyes to line everything up.That's all I can think of now but I want to add the following. I am not paid for writing this review. I paid full price for the valves. I am not affiliated with Amazon or HYDROSEAL or any other company for a biased review. I like writing detailed reviews for products that I really like because I like reading detailed reviews from other people and I like to help people make informed decisions the same way that other people help me make informed decisions about a product I might purchase.I hope my review helped you in some way and I didn't mean to waste your time if you read all the way to here. Good luck, and I think you will be as happy as me about these valves.

Great product! I have purchased many of these in various sizes for my outdoor irrigation. They are sturdy and very easy to turn off and on when needing to turn off the water supply. I have not had to replace any parts yet but if I do I know it will be much easier to do so rather than having to install a whole new valve. This is a very well made product!

I replaced a cheap leaking 2" water supply valve to my home with this beautiful design valve. The operation is very smooth, build quality is robust, and unions on both sides will make future service to valve easy. (so easy it almost guarantees I will never need to touch it) Well worth the extra cost!

I've had a couple of these in use for several years and they are excellent. Sturdy and easy to install with the built-in unions. Mine are installed on my drip system inside in-ground valve boxes. I have some lines that drip trees only during drought conditions and don't need electric valves. Very easy to operate with a big handle and a quarter turn design. I did find a little extra teflon tape may be needed to get a tight thread seal. Will buy again.

10 years ago I installed a PVC gate valve to be able to isolate my back yard sprinkler valves. It worked for a few years then stopped working. I read on the Internet that gate valves do that. So 23 months ago I replaced it by a PVC glued on ball valve from my local high quality hardware store. A week ago it started dripping water from a 3/8 inch hole in the bottom of the valve. It did this regardless of whether the valve was open or closed. I have no idea why that hole was there. I looked for a better replacement and found this one. I purchased and installed it with no problem. I like it because it is rated at 200 psi whereas my last one was 150 psi. My water pressure is 100 - 110 psi so the last one should not have leaked. And the new one has the body totally closed at the bottom so no bottom side hole like the last one. The only thing a bit difficult about the install is to get the PVC pipes cut to exactly the right length to mate to the body of the valve, given the natural play in the PVC pipes. To do that I cut a piece of PVC pipe to exactly the width of the body of the new valve. Then I cut the PVC pipe that was to mate to the valve to about 1/8 inch less than what I thought would be the ideal length. That gave me some room to adjust as I glued on the second PVC piece of the universal connection. As I put that into place I used measuring piece of pipe to measure the gap to the other side connector to be sure it was right. I was concerned that if I used the body of the valve to make that measurement I might get some PVC glue on the body of the valve and glue into place. A little glue did run out of the inside of the pipe as I was gluing it but I was able to easily wipe it off. This valve is made much better than the one I replaced, but if this one ever does fail it will be a 5 minute job to unscrew it and replace it with a new one. That is much better than replacing a glued on valve.

the unit functions fine, the shut-off knob is easy to turn without issues or sticky-ness.

I redid the piping on my pool a few years ago. But cheaped out on the valves buying some inexpensive ones here on Amazon which were difficult to open and close and whose handles cracked and fell off with minimal use over a year or two. You get what you pay for, I hear.Resolving not to make the same mistake, I ordered these, having read the reviews. Compared to high end valves at pool stores, these babies are still pretty reasonably priced but were still twice the price of the valves I was forced to replace.The quality on these is superb, they are easy to open and close, are provisioned so that they can be easily replaced in the future without having to cut the PVC lines and look great in the installation.Highly recommended.

Super nice ball valve, very heavy duty and made well. Would recommend.Using this for a clean out on one of my filters, actually on a Zacki Sieve for 8k gallon koi pond.