Heater valve Spitfire K3

[Velocita Rosso]

In all the time I have owned the Spitfire I have never had any problems with the heater valve. In one sense I still don`t as the heating works well when open and it closes to cold ....by hand. However ,using the pull/push knob, it pulls open but will not close when pushing in. The solid wire has been out and lubricate and moves in and out if the valve is operated by hand**. The question is....does the heater valve ,when new, work really freely (and therefore the cable operation is easy). Not having purchased one for 22 yrs plus or when I had my first Spit in the early seventies I dont know whether mine has stiffened up so the cable will not close it efficiently.  ** eg can you operate a new one by moving the valve with a babies finger or do you need a gorilla finger to operate. If the new ones are really free then I need a new one!

[yorkshire_spam]

Hi Mike, I had a similar issue on my Spitfire a few years ago. On mine when I stripped the valve out it was difficult to move by hand (but possible). I free'd it off a bit and got it working via the cable "ok" but ended up replacing it for a new one which seemed stiff but better.

 

[MarkB]

The old and new heater valve on my Vitesse both take a similar effort to move manually, but twice as hard using the the heater control knob despite lubricating the cable. It's caused by the curve in the cable needed to route it to the heater valve. I think the solid inner wire binds up against the outer corrugated sleeve. I was thinking of using a modern plastic outer sleeve retaining the solid inner wire, needed to push and pull the valve, but more involved than it looks, and not got around to it yet. Similar story on the choke cable, used to be quite common to see the T type knob fitted to the later Heralds, Vitesses snapped.

[Kevin R]

For a number of years Mountain Bike 'Bowden' type cables have used Teflon liners to reduce friction.  They also have better seals as water ingress is more of a problem.  I have the same heater valve / lever probs on my Spitfire 1500.

[Velocita Rosso]

3 hours ago, Kevin R said:

For a number of years Mountain Bike 'Bowden' type cables have used Teflon liners to reduce friction.  They also have better seals as water ingress is more of a problem.  I have the same heater valve / lever probs on my Spitfire 1500.

The cycle cables do not work as well as the solid and need the `solidness` to achieve the strength to push the valve shut. I have the modern outer ,which is a smoother internal , but still does not allow the closing of valve without a great deal of pushing. I`m pretty sure I now need a new valve....especially after decades.