Is this INSTANT Shut Off Valve ILLEGAL?

This valve clamps onto a pressurized water line & shuts off the flow of water INSTANTLY. When I showed this 3 months ago it caused a lot of controversy. In this update video I admit my mistake & answer the most popular comments I received on this Aladdin Easy Fit Isolator Valve

As an Amazon Influencer, I earn from qualifying purchases

This video, description and comments contain affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. This helps support the channel and allows us to continue to make videos like this. Thank you for the support

Disclaimer:Due to factors beyond the control of Silver Cymbal, I cannot guarantee against improper use or unauthorized modifications of this information. Silver Cymbal assumes no liability for property damage or injury incurred as a result of any of the information contained in this video. Use this information at your own risk. Silver Cymbal recommends safe practices when working on machines and or with tools seen or implied in this video. Due to factors beyond the control of Silver Cymbal, no information contained in this video shall create any expressed or implied warranty or guarantee of any particular result. Any injury, damage, or loss that may result from improper use of these tools, equipment, or from the information contained in this video is the sole responsibility of the user and not Silver Cymbal.

Q&A: How does this Instant Shut Off Valve work - Aladdin Easyfit Isolator

[rodneywilson]

I heard an interesting story about a woman that couldn't find her meter shut off. Specifically gas. Turns out all of them on her street were buried when the city put in a sidewalk and then claimed the homeowners were responsible for having it moved if they wanted to shut their gas off, including tearing up the sidewalk and putting it back.
She just stopped paying her bill and when they threatened to shut her water off, she said "please do". After a few conversations the city admitted it was their responsibility and fixed all of the meter shut offs free of charge.

[richeastmain]

To all those who complain about the cost, this is clearly a special-use valve. It’s not meant to be installed for every valve in the house but if you have a situation that requires it, it’s there for you.

[kylefowler]

Regarding the question "why not just shut the water off at the street?" one should note that your steet shutoff valve may not even work anymore. Mine is from 1972 and doesn't completely shut off the flow of water. If you complain to the city about it they tell you that you shouldn't be messing with their equipment anyway to scare you away from pushing the issue. I had an old main shut off valve fail underneath my house and I had to shut off the water at the street and was still getting soaked by the water getting past the main valve. Thank God the sharkbite worked without leaking. And before the sharkbite hating crowd comes a calling I already know the internet hates them spare me the comments!

[j.p.]

I've installed one of these myself (UK house) and it's a fantastic product and easy to use. Yes it's not cheap, but it's value is there. I'd imagine it's largest application is if you have multiple people showering and you need to do some work at the same time e.g. can't turn off the mains to the property.

Was very impressed with the build quality.

[JimLambier]

I haven't had a building inspector in my home since we purchased it over 25 years ago so i wouldn't be worried about the legality. I have however had home insurance claims where their inspectors have examined things looking for reasons to refuse a claim. I would be more worried that they don't approve of their usage.

[lostboy]

When ever a outside pipe broke just replaced it with an included shut off valve. Pretty much can shut off sections of water now so don't have to shut off the main. It also helps narrow leak searching.

[ejonesss]

the only illegal thing i can think of is the local codes may say that you may not install on the city side of the water system.

here in the united states we have a thing called a curb witch is where the town and homeowner responsibility ends.

so it may be possible that you may have some exposed pipe in your house that may be on the home owner side that is still town property like the piece before the water meter so you may have to ask your town about where you can install it.

[alanteets]

I needed this last week! I had a water leak in the basement before the house valve shut off. I dug out the curb valve under 3 feet of snow and ice and found the tube to the valve full of asphalt from the original driveway installation!! A plumber cut the pipe under pressure and quickly installed a valve while getting blasted with water. Cost was $1100!

[vnctmrn]

no clue why this was on my suggested page, but i love it.

[DragonBuilds]

This would be AMAZING for retrofit work in older homes when the main shut off needs replacement! I still like the Jomar more as it is all brass. The way to do it is to install the Jomar, then install a threaded adapter, and install the best possible shut off valve (Nibco HydraPure valves are my favorite)

[litigioussociety]

I had to pay a plumber the first time I had a faucet burst on me. I had only lived in my first house for a few months, and had no idea there was shut off at the water meter, or how to use it. Now I know, and was able to buy one of those water meter rods for it. I've had to turn off the water to fix a small leak since then, so it's definitely been beneficial. If I didn't have access to a shut off, I would definitely want one of these things.

[Commut]

I install a shutoff on every line repair and in addition to every sink, water heater or spigot I install to make future maintenance and repair easy. I also set up my homes so if I need to renovate any room I can bypass the existing water lines with farm grade hose and garden hose fittings. Do that right and if you need to your system can run off a temporary water heater sitting on a pallet outdoors so you can always shower and wash up.

[TheTrueOSSS]

From what I've seen, the alternative is to have a plumber freeze a plug upstream while they install a new valve. While not a long term fix, this is a fantastic solution for the short term and where it can be observed for failure.

[daveclark]

Great follow up video Chris! Thanks for the additional info and clarifications 👍

[MikeHarris]

That valve is best for places like a multi unit apartment complex/highrise, where a full building shut down for an emergency is a NO GO, or for maintenance work. Plus, if you turn off at the base level, you then have the down presure of all the other apartments above the one being worked on and that ammount of water and preasure in the line is crazy.... So this valve lets maintenance/super's isolate an apartement and turn off to just that unit/floor or, in an emergency where a leak is discovered, but cant find out where and there is no maintenance room, no way to tell what does what, etc... this can help turn off a floor/line in an emergency preventing a bad Blockout. I would say this is NOT for the every day DIY'er, but more designed to the maintenance industry/building super's.

[j.morrison]

I just watched your initial video on this (I left a comment to) Glad you answered the shavings on this video.

[doesntmatter]

Just installed two of the 3/4 on a hot water return line in a hotel. The idiots who initially plumbed the building put no isolation valves on this branch of the return line and of course, it had a leak. Shutting the entire building down was not an option. Super easy installation and fast. Just a heads up you will feel almost no restriction like a normal ball valve when turning it off. Makes you wonder but they do work and are very very practical on high rise buildings

[tylerfoss]

Another good, informative video, Silver Cymbal. Kudos.
Thankfully, I do not need one of these (my main water supply valve from my well is a ball valve like the one in the video).
Yes, these things are expensive. Are they more expensive than having a plumber solder a ball valve into your water supply line? I cannot see how.
Getting a plumber to come to your house (even in an emergency) is unsure (sorry plumbers but this is true). This could definitely work in an emergency as you point out in the video.

[davidtotten]

I have installed probably over a hundred of these. All the way from 1/2” to 3”, using three different brands (sorry, I don’t remember the name of the third.). I was in the engineering dept of a major Las Vegas strip property with well over 3000 rooms, casino, convention area, shops, and every thing else you would find in a mega resort.
Like every other Vegas property, it was built on a super tight budget, and the cheapest materials were used.
When we would have a waterline failure, a once or twice a week happening, we would attempt to turn off the water at the closest valve. More often than not, it wouldn’t hold. If we could, we would go to the next valve back and try that one but that was seldom an option as the further you go back, the more you shut down. Executives don’t like that obviously. So we would install one of these so we could make the repair.
In my jurisdiction, they are allowed for temporary installation only, unless something has changed since I retired.
That meant use the valve to make a emergency repair, then plan a shutdown of a large part of the system in the wee hours of the night and replace the valves behind it and cut the quick valve out and trash it.
A typical 1/2 broken water line would usually require 2 to 4 valves to be replaced, and yes, we always replaced with high quality valves.
One last note, while expensive, we didn’t pay any where near the prices quoted. A 1/2 was about 150.00 and a 3 inch was about a grand.

[billwhite]

Cool valve, I do wish they could sell it for less money and they would sell more