Reset Northridge 2000 gas valve

January 17, 2016 9:10 PM

How do I reset this Northridge 2000 valve

How do I reset this Northridge 2000 valve. I'm going to start calling professionals tomorrow morning, but what little documentation I've found makes this seem to be a user-serviceable function.

The only instructions I can find say to rotate the face counterclockwise, but it's extremely stiff, and it feels like I might break it. It moved the correct direction about 3-5 mm, but won't move more.

Does anyone have any experience with these, and know how to correctly rotate it?

posted by Gorgik to Home & Garden (7 answers total)

no experience, but one set of instructions mention a detent behind the faceplate. so i suspect what you are feeling is the detent (which may be "sticky") and that if you push past it, things should be ok...
posted by andrewcooke at 7:13 AM on January 18, 2016

Best answer: With things like this, if I couldn't find anything on the web then I'd try phoning the manufacturer - their number is quite prominent (and toll free!) on the website you linked (http://www.seismic-safety.com/seismic_valves.html). Small engineering companies who don't get have an endless deluge of phone calls are often very helpful!
posted by Luddite at 7:39 AM on January 18, 2016

Response by poster: Ah, calling people! Who knew you could do that? Vendor was very helpful with some suggestions that I'll try later today, and he said if they don't work he'll send someone out to fix it.

Thanks for the suggestions, and reminding me that my smart phone can be used for more than email, web browsing and navigation.
posted by Gorgik at 8:28 AM on January 18, 2016

Response by poster: To be clear, I was going to call an HVAC person, but the vendor was a better choice.
posted by Gorgik at 8:29 AM on January 18, 2016

I don't think you can break it (by hand, that is). What you're doing by turning the face is moving a magnet to lift a ball bearing out of the flow path and back up to the pedestal it's supposed to sit on. I'm trying to find a drawing, but my google skill is failing. If the valve shut off under flow conditions, there may be residual gas pressure upstream making it harder to unseat the valve, so if there's a manual shut-off valve somewhere else in-line, try shutting that until you get the Northridge reset.
posted by ctmf at 11:17 AM on January 18, 2016

Here's a pdf instruction page that confirms the detent andrewcooke mentioned. Also, that you should shut off the gas manually before resetting, in the "Resetting instructions for turning gas ON" section.

I think you're safe to use some force on it without breaking it, it's probably just harder to operate than seems normal to get over the detent.
posted by ctmf at 11:27 AM on January 18, 2016

Response by poster: I talked with someone at the manufacturer, who gave me a few suggestions. I ended up using a strap wrench, which made the unbelievably stubborn thing move quite easily.

Thanks again, all!
posted by Gorgik at 1:11 PM on January 18, 2016 [1 favorite]