Hi,
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.
Thank you in advance,
Aaron
yeah ball valves are way better, they appear to last forever and never
leak.
they cost more new, which may be why there not the standard.......
in my home all valves changes, replacements or alterations get ball
valves ONLY.
there are only a few old style valves remaining
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.
Quarter-turn style is a BALL valve.
Multi-turn style is a GATE valve.
You were one step above "water-turny-offy-thingy," but now you know,
and knowing is half the battle.
Ball valves are definitely the standard where all you need is on and
off.
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.
http://www.valvedirectory.com/valve_glossary.html
I have had them leak, which another poster said doesn't happen.
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.
HTH
Twayne
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.
YMMV,
JK
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