Taco 400-4 1/8-Inch-NPT Float Air Hy-Vent

Direct replacement part

The first one they sent me was the version thats two generations old, with a more complex mechanism inside that has reliability problems. Even though I installed it carefully and bought the pressure (12psi) up very gradually by pumping up the expansion tank with a bike pump, it leaked water out the vent hole continuously. The vendor (Standard Plumbing Supply) replaced it with the latest version at no charge, no questions asked. Gotta love em.

I don’t even know where to begin with my review of these air vents, but they are quite possibly the worst purchase I have ever made in my entire life. In late September of 2014 I purchased 10 of these vents to replace all of the old ones on my system. I was replacing the old ones because of their age and a few of them would develop very small drops of water from time to time. Installation was easy, I drained the system, removed the old vents and replaced them with the Taco 400’s. After refilling the system, I opened the top to the bleeder valve and they did remove air from the system. When installed, none of the vents were leaking water. The problem developed during the winter when 2-3 of the valves began to leak significantly not from the bottom or the bleeder top, but from the screw on type top which seems to be unique to these terrible vents. After wrapping the entire valve and surrounding area with towels and water absorbent material, I was able to get through the winter without replacing the vents. I drained the system after the winter and marked the valves for replacement. Despite approximately 30% of these valves failing and leaking within about 6 months; I again purchased 2 more on October 17, 2015 to replace the leaky ones, I also had one remaining from the original batch. Installation was the same, drain the system and reinstall. Beginning in late January, 2016 I noticed that both of the new replacement valves were developing leaks from the same exact spot at the previous valves. Again, I tried to stop the leak and contain it in order to get through the season. Unfortunately for me, by February 20th, 2016 the leaks were so bad that the valves were pouring water into the basement in multiple spots. It was honestly like someone left a faucet running and the water was pouring on to my hardwood floor, through the subfloor, down through the framing members and into my basement. I literally thought my foundation was leaking when I first saw it. It was far more water than I ever had to worry about with the 20 year old vents that used to be there. So much water in fact, that I am worried about the damage caused to my hardwood floors and subfloor and I’m wondering if I will see any warping when everything dries out. It was ridiculous and frustrating for a product to fail in the same way multiple times and cause me to have to completely drain the system once again, which was filled with hot water, and find another solution. I went to HD at they had the Taco 400 which I obviously wasn’t buying again and a cheaper smaller one that looked similar to the old ones I replaced. I purchased a handful of those, made the switch and so far so good, but it’s only been a day. I included the dates above to show you just how amazingly awful these valves are. The replacements leaked profusely within 4 months of purchase. I’m not quite sure why creating a functional baseboard air valve hasn’t been perfected yet, but I do know that these are by far the worst I have ever encountered and unless you like water leaking into your home, I would never purchase these valves. Their only job is to remove air from the system and NOT LEAK; they clearly fail at that. I do feel lucky that I was at least home to see the water leaking so I could fix it and prevent major damage and that all of the leaky ones have been on the lower level. If you purchase these and install them on a finished second floor, you are playing with fire. I’m only hoping that the remaining Taco 400’s will last until spring so I can once again drain the system and replace every single one of them. I will say this; It seems like the leaks got worse as the temperature rose and the heat wasn’t needed. It’s like whatever material they used, and the terrible threaded top, expanded during the heat cycles and when they cooled, they would fail and leak a lot of water. And believe me, you cannot tighten this top to stop the problem. In closing - in case you’re still on the fence about purchasing, just know that I rarely review items whether good or bad. It is only when they are on the far end of the spectrum do I feel it’s worth my time to inform others of my experience. In this case, it’s because the item is truly deficient and could end up causing significant damage to your home should it fail and go undetected. I hope this helps.

Worked great.

Between a faulty auto-fill valve and air vent, my second floor radiators would become air-locked. Replaced both and now Im staying nice and warm! This is one of those preventative maintenance items you should replace every couple/few years.

I was struggling with air in my baseboard heaters and kept trying to bleed the system and the noises kept coming back. Someone suggested I give this a try. I installed it, which was very easy, and the noises immediately went away. Wonderful! Couldnt be happier.

Worked well

Good product for the price point, highly recommend it

works

worked as advertised