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 MANABLOC. My opinion: worst product ever sold to the public.
Author: chanuman1945 (NV)

Dear Consumers, I strongly suggest that you do not convert to the Manabloc system and do not buy a house with that form of water distribution installed. All of this is my personal opinion. I bought a house as is. I did not investigate the type of water distribution system installed. I have never heard of this kind of method of distributing water throughout a house. The first time I needed to shut the water off at the toilet, I found, to my surprise, that the house was hard wired with this poly tubing all connected to a Manabloc manifold. Okay. Opening the door to the Manabloc panel, on the inside of the was a warning sign. DO NOT attempt to adjust or tamper with the Manabloc. Below that was contact message. In case of problems contact: (there was the name and address of a company in Kansas). I live in Nevada. The house was seven years old when I bought it. Well, I needed to shut the water off to the commode. So, I found the small plastic lever on the Manabloc that closes the valve to the commode. With great difficulty I moved that lever until the water stopped. Turning the water back on was more difficult. There is no tool to move the small plastic levers. Then I noticed a small drop of water coming out of the valve that I had just closed. I attempted to move the lever just a small amount to try to stop the drip. Finally managed that. Later, when I had to replace a water heater, I mentioned the Mamabloc to the plumber doing the installation of the water heater. He growled and said that he hates them. He told me that if I ever have to do any other work on the water system, that I should shut off the Main valve to the house. He warned me not to touch that Manabloc manifold again. Well, no such luck. It was necessary because I was having ceramic tile laid in both bathrooms and kitchen. I shut the little valve levers on the Manaloc. Job finished. Turn the little levers back on. Now one of the valves drips all the time. No way to stop it but to replace the entire Manabloc manifold. Have you seen the price of one of those pieces of garbage. Well, I am putting the house up for sale. The house I bought in Phoenix is plumbed with copper throughout. It has metal valves at all the outlets. If any work needs to be done later, NO problem, just shut that metal valve and get on with life. Good Luck to all you folks that have a Manabloc in your house.



Edited 1 times.

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 Re: MANABLOC. My opinion: worst product ever sold to the public.
Author: electricpooper (MA)

Been looking at reviews on the web about this system, not so good. Thanks for the warning.

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 Re: MANABLOC. My opinion: worst product ever sold to the public.
Author: packy (MA)

since the government has decided that lead in our drinking water will cause us all to grow horns, you should be happy that the plumbing is plastic. at your new home the shutoffs that you brag about will surely doom this planet to distinction.
i'm being facetious but there are new regulations that mandate zero lead in our drinking water so get used to plastic plumbing. it is here to stay...

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 Re: MANABLOC. My opinion: worst product ever sold to the public.
Author: packy (MA)

i am partial to the home run system using a single manifold. i use the copper manifold with mini ball valves. with any manifold system you need to leave a couple of extra outlets so if in the future a leak occurs you can leave the leaking valve closed and switch the pipe to the new outlet.
at very worst, if a valve leaks you shut the valve, remove the pipe from it and cut in a tee on another circuit.

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 Re: MANABLOC. My opinion: worst product ever sold to the public.
Author: m & m (MD)

Packy, the valve issue (s)he had was an external leak, I think, as opposed to an internal leak thru. We've all had our frustrations with the Manabloc system, the worst being when leaks start to develop at the bloc stack joints themselves; in which case the only (cheapest) fix is to install a new Manabloc. But all in all, they have proven to be pretty reliable now that they have in excess of 20 yrs. of being on the market.

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 Re: MANABLOC. My opinion: worst product ever sold to the public.
Author: hj (AZ)

Sometimes there are unused openings in the Manabloc, and when a valve fails you can turn it off and move the hose to a different valve.

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 Re: MANABLOC. My opinion: worst product ever sold to the public.
Author: packy (MA)

m&m.. I understood the leak to be from whatever serves as packing around the valve stem..

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 Re: MANABLOC. My opinion: worst product ever sold to the public.
Author: packy (MA)

actually, the worst product EVER sold to the public is 2014 red sox tickets. followed closely by D-back tickets..

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 Re: MANABLOC. My opinion: worst product ever sold to the public.
Author: m & m (MD)

This could well be the year of the bird; orange/black, not red.

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 Re: MANABLOC. My opinion: worst product ever sold to the public.
Author: liddlezeke (HI)

I agree. I own one and the little T valve wrench broke so I've had to use a plyers. I just ordered a new T valve wrench and its too big and and I can't find the original smaller size. Its a pain.

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 Re: MANABLOC. My opinion: worst product ever sold to the public.
Author: PhillK (NV)

to obtain a new (Older, smaller black key), contact the company Viega @ 1-800-775-5039. They will send the key you need for free. I have received 2, although all the plastic knobs this key turns on each zone are all breaking off.

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 Re: MANABLOC. My opinion: worst product ever sold to the public.
Author: PhillK (NV)

to obtain a new (old, black, smaller) key, call Viega @ 1-800-775-5039. They will send it free.

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