I'm talking about valves that you find in various places in your home's water supply system. It seems to me that a quarter-turn valve with a biggish (typically red) lever is most convenient type to use. It gives you good leverage it doesn't look like it's going to break off. I have had bad luck with multi-turn valves. Sometimes they are invonvenient to use if they are hard to reach. the handles have broken on a number of occasions and two main ones - the ones that control the water coming in - do not shut the water off completely. So when replacing all of these, I was planning on using the quarter-turn-big-lever types. So I am wondering if my choice is sound and whether I am missing something.
A gate valve is only one kind of multi-turn valves. Not suitable for throttleing. Full open or closed only. Globe valves are another. They are suitable for proportional opening needs.
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I have had them leak, which another poster said doesn't happen.
Ball valves are better and easy to use but I just replaced one 7 yrs old that would not shut off completely, maybe when these were all US made they didnt leak, but nobody knows what they get these days.
The internals of a partially closed gate valve tend to erode over time. The outside of the valve may give no indication that the insides are completely missing. I personally have seen this happen, and cause a great expense to the owner.
Ball valve: Work well where seldom used. Design makes them sort of clean themselves when they are opened or closed. Sometimes if one won't completely stop flow, turning off/on/off a couple times "fixes" the problem if it's not too worn. Turn harder. Can get pretty hard to turn if several years pass between uses. Wear faster; often designed metal ball to metal casting. Not meant for frequent use; will begin to leak and can not be repaired by changing parts. More susceptible to ionization/attachment of water impurities, esp some well waters. Wear out much faster there, esp for seasonal operations. .
Gate Valves (multi-turn): Are a gate that gets screwed in/out to close/open water flow. Can be most any material but usually the part that wears out when it won't stop water flow is a rubber washer. Wear is =/> ball valves, usually >. More prone to leaking at the stem, not completely stopping water flow in areas with a lot of solids in the water, when used seasonally. Dirt/sand in the water can wear the stopper quickly but it's easily replcaeable. Easily repairable: washers, stoppers, o-rings, etc. can all be replaced without removing the valve. Two pieces as a rule: Head with stem, stem oring or washer, and stopper washer. Case, which the gate slides into when the handle is turned. Less expensive that Ball Valves, often by a substantial amount; possibly $3 to $20 respectively, at least around here for plastic vs brass ball valve. 8$ brass gate to $20 brass ball IIRC at local hardware but not in the market, so ... numbers may be off a bit depending on your source/s.
You might want to check your local codes. Where I am, the valves before and after the meter have to both be gate valves, and they have to meet a certain standard. The one between the street and meter has to be a "meter code" valve, which is a special gate valve with a non- rising stem. They aren't cheap, costing about $30 for the 3/4" size. I would suspect they would last for 50 years or more, and aren't available anywhere but a plumbing supply house.
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