Just a final message to let anyone who might be interested (yeah, right) know how this came out.

I ordered and got the Goldline valve actuator replacement and installed it yesterday. It was actually simplicity itself, but it took a little longer than it should since the instructions were sketchy and I didn't quite understand the fairly obvious (now) part of the way the thing fit on the valve itself (there is one smaller tab/slot that is the only way a actuator or handle can fit properly, but if you don't know this you can spend a lot of time wondering why the @#$#! the thing doesn't fit on).

While I could have spent $140 and let someone else do it for me (and at my ancient age this isn't such a bad investment) I'm really glad I did it because I now understand the valves part of my pool *so* much better, including the electrical panel the stuff all wires to. And next time an actuator goes bad (and it *will* happen :>) I am confident I can replace it in just a few minutes.

Thanks to waste and hinesjs who helped on this thread -- you really helped a lot, guys, and I never would have tried this without your encouragement. It's nice not to be at the mercy of the Pool Guys (even though some of you *are* those guys <g>)

(And the wife and I enjoyed our spa time greatly last night -- the spa will tide us over until pool season starts in another two months).