LV1 > LV1.6 conversion info

[tyronejk]

I've seen a couple people post about taking an LV1 with a dead solenoid and retrofitting a new LV1.6-LV2 solenoid into it. In both cases I've seen, they do some milling of the gripframe. I did this myself and found you don't need to modify the frame at all, just some a few clearance cuts on the manifold. It may even be financially feasible to modify and sell these manifolds on their own, since every other part is off-the-shelf. (edit: it looks like I may have bought the last LV1.6 manifold available.)

The 4 cuts I made are marked in red. If you're careful, you can probably remove less material in some places, but may want to remove more in some others. In my case, the clearance left is actually slightly smaller than the clearance in the manifold mounting screw holes.

parts required:
1) LV1.6 manifold (may be interchangable with the LV2, but Planet Eclipse has different part numbers for each)
2) LV1.6-LV2 manifold-to-body gasket
3) LV1.6-LV2 manifold-to-solenoid gasket
4) LV1.6-LV2 solenoid

optional:
5) LV1.6 circuit board (the LV1.6-LV2 solenoid operates on lower voltage than the LV1 solenoid, but apparently someone asked Jack Wood and was told the old board should run the new solenoid just fine. I opted to buy a 1.6 board just in case the old board's higher output reduces the lifespan of the new solenoid.)

[RPP]

Well... this is fantastic news. I love the LV platform.

[Hobbes]

The solenoid is always a concern with a lot of Egos and Geos and they are all still fantastic, so this is always welcome info.

[William the Third]

Funny this has come up again, as I was just on the phone hearing about LV1.6/2 manifolds (SPA050708B000/SPA101334B000 - as far as I can tell, the only differences are cosmetic) are, and have been, out of stock for a while.

I was working on such a project, making a universal LV manifold, as you can read here. Notice that post was made 2024-09-10, and on 2024-09-27 Hurricane Helene messed up everything, so the project went on hold again. Things are finally starting to return to normal, so I wanted to move forward again, but now the tariffs have me worried about cost. There is a part I have manufactured in China for someone, and they were wanting more, but due to tariffs, they have doubled in cost. Even so, that's still significantly cheaper than if they were made in the US.

[tyronejk]

Good to know that the LV2 manifold is the same. PE sells them for only $20, so the most cost-effective method might be to buy them from PE and do the final machining yourself. I'm not sure how PE can sell them for so little. They must be selling them close to their cost.

[William the Third]

tyronejk I'm not 100% sure if the LV1.6 and the LV2 are 100% dimensionally the same, as I've not measured a LV2 manifold yet. That said, everything else is shared between the 1.6 and 2, so the only part with a different part number is the manifold. Looking at the LV2 manifold, it does look to be basically the same, except for color and the number engraved on it. I have little doubt the LV2 manifold can be modified the same way to work with older LV.

The LV1.6 manifold (SPA050708B000) is cheaper at $15, and appears to come with the barb. Both are out of stock however. Also, I can tell you that PE does not approve of doing this, and if they know that you are doing this, will refuse to sell you the parts to do it.

[tyronejk]

Something may have changed recently because when I placed the order from PE directly, Fish@PE emailed me asking why I was buying a 1.6 manifold since they generally don't need to be replaced. I told him directly I was planning on putting it in an LV1 and he didn't respond but I did get the parts.

Maybe it'd be different if someone tried to order a large quantity of manifolds at once. But since these generally don't need to be replaced, I imagine PE may not keep a bunch in stock to sell separately.