Rating of the best manufacturers of ball valves for water supply for 2022

• What will we compare?
• The first indicator is the maximum temperature.
• The second indicator is the nominal pressure PN.
• The third stage is the characteristic of throughput.
• Bandwidth
• Materials
• Weight
• Guarantees
• Features of design and configuration.
• Ball valve stem assemblies.
• Comparison of wall thickness.
• Final rating

Ball valve product is simple and straightforward. But even here there are nuances and differences. And many people who are involved in the field of plumbing, heating, and water supply want to know which brand is better, how it differs from another, or which specific brand has what advantages.

What will we compare?

And in the end you will find out which crane is better - Bugatti or Giacomini, Itap or IVR. Or maybe some other brand comes first.

10 brands will participate in the comparison.

• Bugatti Oregon;
• Itap Ideal;
• General Fittings 7100;
• IVR Evermid;
• Giacomini R254;
• FIV Perfecta;
• RUB S90;
• HERZ KV2162M;
• Bonomi Tamigi; —
• ICMA 87351.

The comparison will involve two sets of information - passport data and real measurements. In total there were 10 categories.

1. Maximum temperature,
2. nominal pressure,
3. throughput,
4. throughput,
5. materials,
6. weight,
7. guarantee,
8. equipment and design,
9. rod assembly
10. and wall thickness.

The number of points for different categories is not the same. More significant categories received 4 points. For example - materials, pressure, wall thickness. Less significant categories received one and two points each.

In the event that real measurements differ for the worse from the passport measurements, the given sample will receive negative points. I described the eighth category in more detail so that there would be fewer questions. The maximum number of points that one brand can receive is 27.

And of course, in the end we will see who will take first place, which brands will be the top 3, and who will be at the bottom of the list.

Briefly about the main thing

After you have described what kinds of water taps there are, you need to determine the main purpose of the purchase - what exactly this or that model is needed for. Taking this into account, the shape of the product, material of manufacture, design and other important points are determined.

Recommendations for choosing a crane:

• Material of the body and internal elements. Today on the market you can most often find devices made of materials such as brass and bronze - these are the highest quality and most durable devices. Silumin products do not have a long service life, the same applies to the plastic filling of the faucet.
• Design. Double-valve products are usually chosen for classic interiors, single-lever ones are characterized by ease of use, and touch and thermostatic ones will appeal to connoisseurs of new products and comfort.
• Form. For the kitchen, it is best to choose taps with a curved spout; for the bathroom, short models. Medium-length items with a slight bend fit perfectly into the washbasin.
• Fastening method. Faucets can be floor-mounted, wall-mounted, mortise-mounted, built-in - this will depend on specific preferences and the location of future installation.
• Maintainability. The most durable are modern touch taps and products with a thermostat. It often happens that the valve on a two-valve device rotates, and on single-lever devices the silicone seals fail.
• Dimensions. Connecting elements are indicated in inches, so it is advisable to find out this parameter in the store. The diameter of the tip is also important - the liquid pressure will depend on it.

Attention! When purchasing, you also need to pay attention to the aeration nozzle - the more holes, the better the water is sprayed.

Today, faucets in stores are available in a huge assortment, this allows all customers to choose the model and design that best suits their specific needs. By following all the rules for operating shut-off valves, you can extend their operating time.

The first indicator is the maximum temperature.

This indicator is important, since very often ball valves are installed in high-temperature heating systems. And therefore the maximum number of points for this indicator is 3.

Based on the passport data, we see that the samples were divided into 4 groups.

• Two taps have the highest temperature value - Bugatti and Ciacomini - 185 degrees. They get the maximum score.
• The RUB faucet operates at temperatures up to 170 degrees.
• As many as 4 brands have this indicator at 150 degrees and receive one point each.
• GF, Bonomi and FIV have the lowest rate. Therefore, they do without points.

Valve

This locking mechanism is similar to the previous version (latch).

By turning the flywheel, the spindle in the housing rotates. It moves and the spool lowers into the so-called seat, thereby blocking the flow of fluid.

pros

: maintainability, ability to regulate flow.
The spool gasket is often changed and the seal gaskets are tightened. The valve has fewer rubbing elements compared to a gate valve. Duration
: from 20 years. or 8,000 cycle. work.

The second indicator is the nominal pressure PN.

It is measured in bars. Almost all taps have this indicator registered, except for the Giacomini tap. Pressure is also one of the most important parameters of shut-off valves, so the maximum number of points here is 4. After analyzing the samples, they can be divided into five groups.

• The Bugatti tap has the highest pressure value - 64 bar.
• It is followed by Itap, ICMA and FIV - 50 atmospheres.
• Then Giacomini - 42 atmospheres.
• Then again 4 brands with a reading of 40 bar. They receive 2 points.
• And in last place in this category is the HERZ crane. Its nominal pressure is 25 bar.

Marking

The following is applied to the body:

• Manufacturer's emblem.
• Nominal diameter - DN - in mm and inches, but for small bodies the "inch" symbol may be omitted.

• PN - working pressure in bars. A bar is equal to 1 atmosphere and 0.1 MPa.

Materials

It is very important what the ball valve is made of. The ball valve consists of approximately 10 parts. However, from the point of view of materials, three main components can be distinguished - two half-bodies and a handle nut. And if regarding the body, I have no questions about all the samples.

In all cases, brass grade CW617N is used. And spectral analysis confirmed this. In the case of the nut, not everything is so good. Very often, ball valves are installed in rooms with high humidity. For example, such rooms are bathrooms. And all the moisture and condensation accumulates on the outer surface of the ball valves.

This leads to premature failure of all elements that are made from steel. The butterfly fastening nut, if it is made of stainless steel, will not have any problems. But if ordinary steel is used, the nut may stick to the rod due to intense corrosion processes.

And what did I see when I checked the sample nut material. For all of them it is made of ordinary steel. But we can highlight one faucet - HERZ. It also has a steel nut, but it is covered with a polymer cap. And therefore moisture will not get on the nut.

• therefore, in this section the HERZ crane earns 4 points,
• and all the others are 3.75.

Why are shut-off and control devices needed?

More recently, batteries were connected to the rest of the heating system without any additional elements. Today, the installation of almost every radiator automatically involves the installation of taps. The reason for such changes is related to savings and the possibility of unplanned situations.

If the seal of the radiator is broken, it leaks, or becomes clogged, you can simply turn the valve, blocking the access of water, and remove the battery for repair or cleaning. To do this, you don’t even have to drain the water from the entire system. Such taps are called shut-off taps. They are installed on pipes through which fluid is supplied and discharged. In open mode, they do not interfere with the free flow of water, but in closed mode, they completely block its supply.

Shut-off valves for radiator

The tap is necessary to remove air accumulated in the heating system. Usually it is called "Maevsky".

Mayevsky crane

Some taps allow you to adjust the heating temperature of the heating system. With their help, you can save on heating by lowering the heating temperature of the radiators or turning them off if it’s warm outside. This is true for both private houses and apartment buildings.

Mechanical thermostat

Weight

This parameter is also important, and therefore the maximum number of points here is 4. Weight shows the reliability of the housing design. Namely, the housing absorbs all mechanical loads from the pipelines. At this point there will be a separate table and several columns. This is the weight according to the passport, by the way, it’s strange for me, but few manufacturers indicate this information in the passport.

Next - the actual total weight, deviation in one direction or another, the weight of the crane without the butterfly, the weight of the butterfly and the weight of the body.

Total

• The Rub tap has the heaviest weight - 207 grams.
• Next are ICMA, Bugatti, HERZ and Giacomini.
• IVR has the lightest sample.

In terms of deviation, none of the samples has a deviation of less than 2%. And the Bugatti crane is even in the black at 3.1%. Weight without the bowtie - and again Rub, ICMA, Bugatti are ahead. But Itap approached Herz and Giacomini. The last thing on the list is not IVR, but FIV. Since his butterfly weighs almost 20 grams.

Accordingly, the faucet body without a butterfly will be much lighter. And at the end of the comparison is the weight of the clean case, without all the parts and components.

Screenshot from video 8 min

And here we see that Rub is no longer the only leader. It was joined by a Giacomini crane. And the difference between them is only 1.5 grams. In third place is ICMA. The lightest cases are from Bonomi, IVR and FIV.

Guarantees

I will say right away that it was extremely difficult to find information about the guarantee in official sources. In the end, I was able to find this information for all brands except FIV. Since this value was not indicated anywhere in official sources. Therefore, for this brand I equate the warranty period to the minimum - 1 year.

The most interesting fact about the warranty is that the manufacturer provides a lifetime warranty on Rub ball valves. I've never seen anything like this before.

These faucets receive the maximum score at this stage of comparison - 2.

Next come General Fittings and Giacomini - 10 years warranty and 1.5 points, respectively.

Hertz and Bugatti provide a 5 year warranty. Itap, ICMA, IVR - two years.

And Bonomi is 1.

By the way, for those interested, here is a table of passport data.

You can also do subtotals a second time now.

Intermediate rating 2

The first two places remained unchanged - Bugatti and Rub. Giacomini came in third place. Next come ICMA, Itap, Herz. The General Fittings crane moved up one position in the ranking. Behind it is IVR and Bonomi. FIV closes the list.

Features of design and configuration.

The maximum number of points for this category is 2, and the number of subcategories is 6.

Protection against self-unwinding.

Some faucets have a protective ring on the butterfly nut. It protects the nut from self-unscrewing when opening/closing the tap. HERZ has such a ring. The Giacomini tap is also protected. Its nut is soldered to the rod using plastic. They have +0.25 points each. Notch on the thread. None of the samples have it.

Number of thread turns.

Giacomini and Herz have the largest number of turns - 6 each. They are awarded +0.5 points.

Ears on a butterfly.

Ball valves from Bugatti and Bonomi have lugs on the butterfly.

Housing coating.

If the tap will be used for drinking water, it is important that the body does not have a nickel coating on the threads. So that water does not come into contact with this heavy metal. Faucets that do not have a coating on the threads receive +0.25 points. These are all screens except Bugatti, Giacomini, Herz and Bonomi.

Housing connection.

When comparing samples, you will find that the Bonomi faucet is different from the rest. Since the junction of the two half-hulls is located in a different place. And this solution has a major flaw. In the case when the body breaks, and often this happens just together with half-bodies, the shut-off element is not on the side of the pipeline.

And in the event of a breakdown, the Bonomi tap will not be able to shut off the flow of water. Therefore, this sample does not receive 0.25 points for the type of half-shell connection.

Bolt ball.

I would also like to draw your attention to the Herz crane ball. This ball has a through hole along with the rod insert.

Water will flow through the hole into the space behind the ball. And this will be additional pressure on the rod assembly. And that's not good. Because of this, this faucet receives minus 0.5 points.

Total for this comparison round.

• For us, one faucet gets 1 point.
• Bonomi -0.25.
• All others - 0.5 points.

Principle of operation

Different types of water taps have their own design features, but they have the same operating principle:

• if water supply is required, the user activates an external device for this, for example, in sensor devices it is necessary to bring your hands to the sensor, in valve structures special caps are used on the valves, in single-lever taps you need to raise the flag upward;
• after performing these manipulations, cold and hot water begins to flow from the pipes, which is mixed in the faucet structure itself, so at the outlet the user has a liquid of the required temperature;

For a kitchen sink, it is best to choose a long valve tap with a high curved spout Source kabel-house.ru

• to adjust the temperature, an external device of the plumbing fixture is again used: the flag is moved to the required side, the valves are screwed or unscrewed;
• touch and thermostatic taps contain a special element that independently regulates the temperature before serving, that is, the equipment can be pre-set to the required temperature.

Ball valve stem assemblies.

A total of 10 ball valves have 5 different types of stem assemblies.

The first type is a repairable unit with two Teflon gaskets and one NBR ring.

I consider it to be the best of all the knot types that are on this list. This unit belongs to a Bugatti crane.

The second type is a repairable unit with one Teflon gasket and an NBR ring.

Here we see a standard clamping nut, which is found in many faucets of popular brands in the former CIS countries, for example, Valtec, MVI and others. But unlike the latter, there is also an annular gasket on the rod. Which adds reliability to the node. This is the unit at the IVR crane.

The third type is a unit with two Teflon gaskets and two NBR rings.

Everything is fine here, except that the unit is not repairable. However, the reliability of such a design is still at a very high level. This is a Giacomini faucet.

4th view of the Herz tap.

It is almost identical to the Valtec Base valve assembly. In addition, there is an additional brass ring. This design in itself is excellent, but there is a nuance. Here the rod is inserted outside the valve body, which, together with the through hole in the ball, creates a potential threat of the rod flying out when the system is running. Because of this, the Herz ball valve stem assembly will receive the lowest rating from me.

And the last type is a rod with two O-rings.

This type is presented in 6 samples at once. However, they also differ in the material of the rings. They are made of two materials NBR and FPM. The latter is also called Viton. The latter material has its own advantages in terms of technical parameters over NBR elastomer. Therefore, valves with an FPM seal have an advantage. Rub has 2 Viton gaskets. Itap, Icma, Bonomi have one each.

I also checked the maintainability of those components that perform this function. Each of the three did not fulfill the necessary conditions 100%. But they still perform the function of maintainability.

As a result, at this point of comparison

• The Bugatti Oregon crane gets the maximum number of points.
• It is followed by IVR and Giacomini.
• And Herz, as I already said, gets the lowest rating.

Types of kitchen faucets

Each mixer offered by the modern plumbing market has its own advantages and disadvantages.

The division of kitchen plumbing occurs according to several parameters:

• type of construction - method of opening water;
• spout features;
• type of installation;
• manufacturing material.

Let's take a closer look at each item separately.

In order to select equipment that fully meets financial capabilities, functionality and comfort requirements, it is important to understand how cranes are classified and what are the features of each type

Comparison of wall thickness.

To do this, I performed autopsies on all samples. And I measured the wall thicknesses in four places: two of them are the thicknesses of the external and internal threads. 3 is the place under the ball and the fourth place is the connection of two half-bodies.

The best indicators in the following parameters have:

• in thickness A1 the leaders are Rub and General Fittings.
• According to A2 - Giacomini.
• By A3 Giacomini, Itap, RUB and Herz.
• And on A4 - Herz.

In total, at the last stage, Giacomini, Rub and Herz received the most points.

The smallest are IVR and FIV.

Final rating

I think that now you are eager to find out what the final rating will be for this comparison. Therefore, we immediately move on to the final table.

Final rating

• And the first place is taken by the Bugatti Oregon crane.
• 2nd and 3rd places were shared by Rub and Giacomini.
• 4 - Itap,
• 5 - Icma. These taps are almost identical, both externally and by comparison. That's why they ended up next to each other in the ranking.
• The 6th place was taken by the Herz crane.
• Closely behind him in seventh place is General Fittings.
• In eighth place is IVR.
• Ninth place goes to Bonomi.
• And the ranking is completed by FIV Perfecta.

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