Aladdin EasyFit Isolator Valve and Tools Pack - Starter Kit

Had a leaking isolation valve on the central heating system in our church building. Considered a pipe freezing kit but the DIY versions can be hit and miss. Draining the whole system wasn't an option time-wise or cost-wise so opted for the Aladdin. Stripped back the paint on the pipe using pliers and sandpaper, smoothed it all with wire wool then followed the excellent instructions to the letter. I chose to hand turn the bolts first of all before using a drill/driver on half the maximum setting to finish off. The screws I hand tightened only. Turning the cutter was quite stiff to start but then became easier as it got further through - the drill/driver was set to maximum torque as per the instructions. Once done I was able to shut off the flow and repair properly. I did have a pipe end cap to hand just in case it all went Pete Tong but thankfully didn't need it! Very pleased indeed.

I fitted one of these to a 15mm copper central heating pipe running vertically: it was straightforward. I wanted to isolate the system 'downstream' without a full drain down. I had good access to the pipe. Having read the reviews and product description and viewed a video of an installation I concluded that care was needed. I cleaned the pipe of old paint thoroughly for a blemish free surface. I followed the instructions - which were clear and thorough - to the letter. My cordless drill was not powerful enough but a ratchet and socket were fine if slower. I decided not to use an older non-cordless drill that has no torque control because I wasn't sure I could control the vigour of the cutting. No leaks. The valve works perfectly. A clever, well designed and well engineered product.

My main water valve is seized open and I didn't want to drain the hot water, so I bought these two valves. A little scary fitting the cold under mains pressure but practised with the hot pipe. Not a drop of water seen. I used some pliers to rotate the old paint off and then a dry brillo pad to leave the pipes smooth as silk. Following instructions to the letter they fitted with relative ease. Be aware they are not understating the force required to drive home the valve. My 18V DeWalt coped but it did smoke a little, and there is significant resistance until it suddenly gives when through the pipe. I'm sad to say that both of the white plastic covers cracked with the use of a manual screw driver, hence the loss of a star. Hopefully when I get in touch with the company they will replace them both. Overall a solid product, and for my requirements worth buying and worth the mild terror installing it. I might add also a very satisfying task to fit them. The instructions are very clear, and plenty of You Tube videos available for back up. If you are DIY savvy I would recommend giving them a try, in my experience they work exactly as advertised.

Was concerned that the valve wouldn’t work and that I would have water leaking out that I couldn’t stop as I was using the valve to create a new stop cock. I was also nervous of stripping the screw threads on the 4 clamping screws as I found it hard to get the two halves of the valve to fully compress together. Little by little I kept tightening each screw and the two halves did finally meet. When I was confident that the two sides were together I attempted to drill into the pipe. My Bosch drill wouldn’t turn the cutter head so had to turn it by hand using a spanner. Finally cut through and pleased to say that there were no leaks. The valve works as described! I had seen it installed on YouTube in a matter of minutes but it took me several hours. I am sure if I installed one again I could do it quicker - the important points being ensure that the two halves are fully screwed together before cutting and make sure that your drill has a high torque. Also my drill Chuck was too small - needed a minimum of 10mm. Otherwise good product.

I bought this valve to isolate part of my cold water system without turning off the main stop cock. Before buying I watched several videos on YouTube which convinced me it would be an easy job. Problem number one is when you clamp the two halves of the valve to the pipe there is no indication of how tight you need to do up the four cap head bolts. There is some vague instruction about not doing them up too tight in case you shear the heads off but how tight is that??? I used a short ratchet rather than the cordless drill shown in all the videos and believe me tightening them down with the fear of shearing the heads is not a pleasant experience. Now came the major problem. I have an 18 volt drill of a pretty good make but it wouldn't even touch tightening the central cutting piece. I ended up using a 1/2 inch ratchet and all my strength to turn the cutter down into the body of the valve to the Red line and my hand still aches now. Having lined up the Red dots and removed the plastic spacer from the shaft I then tried to fit the plastic cover only to find the central shaft would not push in far enough to allow this. Another turn on the core even though it had gone to the Red line just about allowed me to fit the cover using the supplied screwdriver bit to tighten the screws and destroy their heads so they will not be easy to undo. I have given a three for easy to use as after the second tightening of the core it did actually turn off the water but due to the massive amount of force (supported by a wrench) needed to install it I will not be surprised if it leaks somewhere don the line. Would I buy another one is a resounding "NO" I wish I had paid a plumber to do it the old fashioned way.

I have fitted a couple of these before, and was very happy overall. They were easy to fit, no leaks, water isolated without draining the system. All as advertised. Unfortunately, my recent experience wasn't as successful! During installation, water started to seep from the housing of the device. In the end, I had to shut off the mains water supply, cut out that section of pipe and fit a standard isolation valve. Maybe I was just unlucky, having had 2 that worked perfectly before, but this isn't the sort of thing that you can afford to have fail! Lessons learned... I won't be risking one of these again.

Absolutely easy to install, unless like me I had to install it in an awkward place. follow the instructions and it works perfectly, but be aware that the force required to cut the pipe is substantial and has to go through both sides of the pipe so in effect it happens trice.

If you are going to use this, make sure you have very well supported pipework. Unfortunately it didn't work for me and I watched several videos before attempting installation. My drill just couldn't hack it despite being brushless and super powerful, or it was too powerful and tried to wrench the whole lot off. This may just be user error, but in the end I used a push fit fitting and just did a snatch fit with the water still running.

5 star, works as described.