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Valve Technology

The Valve Technology Blog is the place for conversation and discussion about liquid valves, valve actuators and control, air valves, solids and hazardous materials valves, among many others. Here, you'll find everything from application ideas, to news and industry trends, to hot topics and cutting edge innovations. This blog is inspired by the Valve Technology newsletter from GlobalSpec, which you can subscribe to here.

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10 comments

Who Fixes Your Valves?

Posted June 22, 2008 8:23 AM

Buying refurbished valves can be risky because you never know what you are buying. It may pay you to repair the valves you have. But who do you trust? One vendor says to use only OEM-certified technicians and OEM parts for your repairs. On the other hand, experienced valve repair shops are available nationwide. Some even will come to your plant and fix your valves on-site. How do you determine who is capable of repairing your valves?

The preceding article is a "sneak peek" from Valve Technology, a newsletter from GlobalSpec. To stay up-to-date and informed on industry trends, products, and technologies, subscribe to Valve Technology today.


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Guru

Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Piney Flats, Tennessee
Posts: 564
Good Answers: 13
#1

Re: Who Fixes Your Valves?

06/23/2008 3:49 AM

What is the application? What kind of valves? Mounted in a pressure head? in the block? Why are the valves being repaired?

Did a shaft break bending the valves? Are the valves just leaking from build up?

Do the valves need adjusting from long term use? Did a valve spring break or is it leaking causing blow back?

WHEN IN DOUBT GET HAVE NEW VALVES, SPRINGS and lock caps installed. Cut new seats grid or cut for proper length.

Be careful what you tell a mechanic to do. He will allow you to be the boss and do what he is told or he can check for problems the might have caused the valve problem.

Mechanic have learned over the years to let the people paying the bills to make decisions. So be careful what you decide. Tell the mechanic you think you need a valve job or the shop boss. Then ask if there is anything else that should be checked. Don't act like you know it all let them do their work.

Generally valves are the easy part of repair job so the tech who does it will be checked by someone. Just ask them what they check for like spring tension, spring height, valve length, valve seat width, and material the valve is made of.

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Guru

Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Wrong end of the yellow brick road in Oz
Posts: 634
Good Answers: 10
#2
In reply to #1

Re: Who Fixes Your Valves?

06/23/2008 11:11 PM

Silly me, I was thinking of Vacuum Valves, and was wondering how they were being refurbished... and trying to imagine a workman coming here and fixing them...

Power-User

Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Madrid, Spain
Posts: 390
Good Answers: 10
#3

Re: Who Fixes Your Valves?

06/24/2008 3:36 AM

We don't use to buy refurbished valves. Repairing is a different thing, valves can leak though the packing or seat (resilient ones more easily) or even through the bonnet to body gasket. They need to be maintained (greased, etc).

The valve world is too wide for a simple answer. For complex ones we use to ask the valve manufacturer when possible. If this is not possible (some manufacturers disappear) for that valves we use only very qualified companies.

For common globe, gate, butterfly, check, etc valves there are more suppliers that can give you a good service.

Even in some cases, we don't repair the valve, we change the complete valve for economical reasons, as for example in small valves which are seat leaking and have a seal weld between body and bonnet. It's cheaper (and quicker) to replace the complete valve than to cur the lip seal, repair the seat, reweld the lip seal....

Best regards

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Guest
#4

Re: Who Fixes Your Valves?

07/01/2008 10:43 PM

Please confirm the material of every part first, is confirming the situation that each part is being damaged, it is a tedious job that one is repaired in the valve, is ok.

Commentator

Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: kenya
Posts: 83
#5
In reply to #4

Re: Who Fixes Your Valves?

07/28/2008 12:30 PM

we have the problem regarding reparing of the ball valve, specially valve seat. to make the valve seat from teflon its very costly in kenya. can u please give another option material. can u please explain me what affects when we close the valve suddenly why we suppose to close it gradually. i want to explain my operators technically.

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Guru
United States - Member - New Member

Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Madera Ca
Posts: 1368
Good Answers: 10
#6
In reply to #5

Re: Who Fixes Your Valves?

07/28/2008 2:09 PM

Plastic or metal ball valves?

What size?

What materials [fluid ] are in the pipe.

what temprature?

Teflon is used because it is slippery, impervious to many chemicals & can take eleveted tempratures.

Other plastics may work depending on the conditions

Quickly closing any valve can cause damage from increased pressure.

The larger the pipe the the greater the possibility of damage.

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Commentator

Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: kenya
Posts: 83
#7
In reply to #6

Re: Who Fixes Your Valves?

07/28/2008 3:59 PM

metal ball valve

4 inch

material is soap slurry

temperature is 80-100 degree celcious

please explain me how the larger the pipe more damages

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Guru
United States - Member - New Member

Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Madera Ca
Posts: 1368
Good Answers: 10
#8
In reply to #7

Re: Who Fixes Your Valves?

07/29/2008 1:23 AM

I'll give it a shot.

The larger the pipe the more [force] energy is contained in the flow.

doubling the size of the pipe multiplies the volume times 4.

When you shut a valve quickly the energy in the flow bounces back, momentarily raising the pressure. The energy has to go some where!

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Commentator

Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: kenya
Posts: 83
#9
In reply to #8

Re: Who Fixes Your Valves?

07/29/2008 7:19 AM

i have one steam header which has 17 bar pressure and four lines are connected to it one of the line having pn 16 valve

what is this pn

if it means 16 bar what capacity of steam valve i have to put there

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thoughts becomes things.
Guru
United States - Member - New Member

Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Madera Ca
Posts: 1368
Good Answers: 10
#10
In reply to #9

Re: Who Fixes Your Valves?

07/29/2008 2:30 PM

Here's some info:

http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/temperature-pressure-ratings-valves-d_1182.html The chart shows bar having a 1:1 relationship to PN#

To follow up on the valve seats.

Because of the temperature you probably have to use teflon for the valve seats

http://www.boedeker.com/mtable.htm

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