A practical demo of a Torbeck fill valve. A video following on from my previous explanation.

This is the practical part of the explanation video which can be seen in this link: • Inside a float (Torbec...
Hopefully this video will give a nice and clear demonstration of the operation and working of this valve, especially in relation to how the pilot valve drives the main internal hydraulic valve.
This shows the Torbeck valve in action including the effects of adding the supplied restricters. Thus you can get an idea of the relative change in water fill speed when fitting them.
Content chapters
0:00 Introduction
0:40 demonstration of operation
2:38 flow rate without restrictor baseline
3:38 flow rate with low pressure restrictor fitted
5:01 flow rate with high pressure restrictor fitted
6:51 common faults demo and explanation
8:08 torn diaphragm fault demo
8:58 fix of demo fault showing normal operation
9:46 other possible faults explanation
I also demonstrate what could happen if you have certain types of fault (generally the most common I've seen on UA-cam).
Probably the biggest thing to note is, how easy it is to manually handle this valve, especially when using silicone washers. I did not require any tools to make all the connection water tight at mains pressures during this demonstration.
Results with and without, low/high pressure restictors:
12.9 ltrs water flow with no restrictor
5.5 ltrs with low pressure restrictor, (12.9-5.5)/12.9 = 57.3% reduction, 5.5/12.9 = 42.6% of the unrestricted rate.
2.04 ltrs with high pressure restrictor, (12.9- 2.04)/12.9 = 84.18% reduction, 2.04/12.9 = 15.8% of the unrestricted rate.
If the content was useful to you please subscribe: / @robertwilliams8032
Editor used was: the excellent free version of Black Magic's Davinci resolve 17.
Camera: is unworthy of a mention
Lighting: Fositan Studio Kit

[@matthijsvanspronsen3436]

Brilliant trick to use the shower hose to test the fill valve! Thanks

[@robertwilliams8032]

Glad to help

[@kaybonner4101]

Hiya,I have just had a Torbevk installed,it's much better than the ideal Standard which was making the pipes bang.Only thing is when it has finished filling it makes a loud squeak exactly like thd sound it made without restrictor fitted,my plumber did not fit restrictor,is this ok?.It works fine otherwise,thanks.

[@tsb3093]

I have a problem with two of these valves where if I open the cold water tap on a nearby basin, the drop in pressure causes the Torbeck fill valve to open and to fill the cistern to overflow. Is this likely to be due to the fault of a part?

[@ambassadorfromreality1125]

Robert I was attracted to the Torbeck "Ecofil" because of potential water savings.
I am a DIY er and am hoping to install a rainwaiter harvesting system for the 2 toilets that we have in the house. I have decided on the gravity feed model which involves a tank in the loft feeding the cisterns. I am using hep2o 15mm plastic piping. Being concerned about the fill time for the cisterns, I have built a small test rig on the garage roof to see if this would be acceptable. the cistern is 2.5 m below the the tank. Assuming that the pressure would be so low I wouldn't need a flow restrictor. I tested it without and couldn't get the water to switch off at all. In my naivity I was expecting a normal float valve situation which I understand but didn't realise it was a different device.
The question is would this valve ever work with this sort of low pressure. Subsidary questions are would the flow rate be measurably faster using 22mm pipe and the second cistern is about 4m below the tank , would that need a flow restrictor?

[@robertwilliams8032]

Thanks Ambassadorfromreality for your question. I am by no means an expert on plumbing or these types of valves but I am not afraid of simple applied mathematics. 1 bar equates to a 10 meter head. If you have a 2.5 meter high tank then 2.5 meters static head (including the height of water in the tank) translates to roughly 0.25 bar, which is quite low. I did a quick search online but couldn't find the pressure specifications for this valve. This product is now manufactured by fluidmaster these days, so I would suggest to blast them an email. By definition 22mm will offer less resistance to flow than 15mm pipe. The surface opening area of copper pipe would be (assuming a 0.7mm wall thickness) (PI * (22 - 1.4)^2) / 4 which is 333mm2 whilst 15mm pipe would be 145mm2. I don't know the wall thickness of hep20 but I suspect it to be about 1 to 1.5 mm. So I would guestimate that 22mm pipe would offer 1/2 the resistance of 15mm but without testing it is nothing more than a guess. Note that flow rate is not pressure and the hydrostatic pressure will be that same whatever the thickness of pipe you use. It is the hydrostatic pressure that holds the valve closed. Whether or not you need the re stricter is best determined by experimentation and as it's so easy to fit it should not be a problem.