iLAN 2 Port 22mm or 28mm Motorised Zone Valve Powerhead Replacement for Honeywell V4043H1056 V4043H1106 V4043H1007 V4043H1080 V4043C1156

Direct replacement for much more expensive genuine item. This actuator works perfectly on an old valve body

These were easy-ish to install and seem to work fine. They're not Honeywell, but they seem to be totally compatible, with identical dimensions, wiring colours, etc.The only minor complaints are: - our Honeywell powerheads were mounted using T-10 screws, whereas these use normal cross-head screws. While that's nothing like a big issue, it does mean that when the valves are mounted in a hard-to-access location (as in our case), it's not always easy to tell what sort of screwdriver to use, as a lot is done by feel. So, if they need work doing in the future, there may be a bit of confusion when a T-10 doesn't work. Also, cross-head screws don't hold the screwdriver head in as firmly as Torx screws, which is a bit harder when working by feel.- the screw holding the cover on falls out when unscrewed fully. On the Honeywell powerheads, the screw is (deliberately) deformed so that it holds in the unit when it's unscrewed. Again, when you're working by feel, having the screw fall out is not ideal as it's pretty much impossible to put back in by feel. I ended up having to fit and unfit one of the powerheads three times because of this (so I could see it while I screwed the cover screw back in). (The screws connecting the powerhead to the valve itself ARE designed so those don't fall out, otherwise it would have been a nightmare).

I replaced a Honeywell part with this and the build quality looked similar. The original part only lasted two years, so I thought this was worth a try. It has been woring well since fitting.

These are a good choice if you have to keep the plumbing unaltered. The powering of a motor against a spring, leaving the motor stalled for the entire time the valve is open is spectacularly stupid and is why these things fail every few years. I'm still looking for a sensible stepper motor driven solution that only powers the motor when the valve position needs to change.

You can see that the end of the brass lever doesn't contact the microswitch. This is with the manual control pushed fully open, so no way it would work any better if opened by the motor.I looked at bending out the lever end but it needed more than just a millimetre or two, so in the end I bodged it by cutting a slot in a piece of wooden dowel and pushing it over the lever to extend it by about a centimetre, which has been working perfectly for a few days now, but if you didn't know how these things worked then you'd probably have no idea how to make it work.As far as the rest of it goes, it's a straight replacement for a Honeywell, looks solid enough, wiring fairly tidy, no obvious problems due to cost-cutting attempts, etc. Fitting was standard and springs are strong enough.I'd known this wasn't a top quality unit so was prepared for it not to be perfect. Fortunately the fix seems to be easy enough but time will tell. Just be aware of this yourself if you're thinking of buying.Really, I should have asked for a refund and bought a more reputable brand (I replaced a defective Honeywell with a much cheaper Tower a few years ago which has been working solidly since) but didn't want to have to wait any longer for hot water control.