
17
MAINTENANCE
Rada products are precision engineered to provide satisfactory performance provided
they are installed and operated in accordance with the recommendations contained
in this guide.
The Autotherm-3 BSM is designed for the minimum of maintenance in normal use.
If a malfunction occurs with either the Temperature Control Cartridge or the Flow
Divertor Cartridge then this will necessitate a complete Cartridge replacement.
Note: The Cartridge's contains no internally serviceable parts.
When installed in very hard water areas (above 200 p.p.m. temporary hardness)
your installer may advise the installation of a water treatment device to reduce the
effects of limescale formation.
The designed service life of the service-free Thermostatic Cartridge is ve years,
providing the Autotherm-3 BSM is operated with the recommended operating
conditions. However, when supply conditions and/or usage patterns do not conform
to the recommended operating parameters and/or the recommended operating
conditions, the Thermostatic Unit and other critical parts may need to be replaced
more frequently (refer to section: 'Specications' for recommended operating
conditions).
Important! In healthcare applications such as hospitals, aged person facilities,
residential care homes and in any other applications where the user is similarly at
risk, irrespective of supply and usage conditions or the evidence of in-service tests,
the service-free Thermostatic Cartridge should be replaced at intervals of no more
than three years.
Planned Maintenance
Malfunction of Thermostatic Mixing Valves is almost always progressive in nature
and will be detected by the use of proper temperature checking and maintenance
routines.
Certain types of system can result in the valve having excessive ‘dead-legs’ of
pipework, or auxiliary cold water supply added to the mixed water from the valve.
Such systems can disguise the onset of thermostatic mixing valve malfunction and
should not be used.
We recommend a preventative maintenance procedure based on site conditions
and the risk to the user. All results must be recorded in a log book.
Important! For Type 3 Valves use the In-Service Tests given in the TMV3
Requirements Manual. In the absence of any other instruction or guidance on the
means of determining the appropriate frequency of in-service testing, the procedure
contained within this guide (taken from Annex F of D08) should be used.
For other commercial installations it is recommended that the correct blend setting
is checked every 6 months and that the In-Service Test procedure is followed every
12 months.