Which valve to choose: ball, gate valve, valve or plastic

Polypropylene tap and its main characteristics

Propylene ball valves are used to solve the same problems as their metal counterparts. But products made from this polymer compare favorably with those due to their light weight and ease of attachment. Due to this, the installation speed of polypropylene systems is significantly higher than that of metal ones. In addition, valves made of polypropylene provide low hydraulic losses; by the way, they do not require additional maintenance.

The mechanism of action of a polypropylene valve is absolutely identical to the operation of a brass ball shut-off device. To close the movement of the working medium, a ball-shaped valve with a hole made in the center is used. A rod with a ball attached to it around an axis reliably closes the movement of the flow.

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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Ball valves or gate valves - which is better?

When choosing shut-off valves, the following must be considered. A polypropylene faucet can operate without interruption for several decades. According to the statements made by the manufacturers of these products, they can last up to 50 years. Cone valves differ from them in that scale is concentrated on the surface, and you can be sure that sooner or later it will become an insurmountable obstacle when closing or opening the tap. In addition, it is impossible to compare the overall dimensions of ball and cone products. And yet, cone valves require regular inspection.

Polypropylene ball valves do not suffer from such disadvantages. In addition to their low weight and high reliability, they look much nicer than other models of shut-off valves. For the production of ball valves, the following materials are used:

• steel;
• brass;
• cast iron;
• polyethylene;

Taking into account all of the above, we can draw a simple conclusion - spherical products exceed conical ones in all respects.

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.

Basic parameters and design features

Each ball valve model has its own basic parameters. For example, taps made from PPRC propylene can operate in any environment. The maximum pressure for which these taps are designed is 20 MPa, and the maximum temperature can reach 95 degrees Celsius. You must understand that valves made of this material can operate at maximum pressures of up to 75 MPa.

The polypropylene faucet includes:

• a body with a handle installed in it;
• a valve in the form of a ball made of corrosion steel with a hole equal to the working diameter of the pipe on which it will be installed;
• several seals, etc.

Sectional view of ball valve

It has already been noted that the hole in the ball valve must be equal to the working diameter of the pipeline. This equality does not allow hydraulic losses during the movement of the working medium. Cranes of this class can be used on all types of polypropylene pipes, both reinforced and ordinary.

Popularity indicators for the use of water shut-off devices

The use of such fittings in everyday life is very common, but it is practically impossible to answer the question of which device (valve, valve, ball valve) is better. It depends on the system in which it is installed and the method of operation. Each device has its pros and cons. They must be taken into account when installing in a specific wiring diagram. One device may be a perfect fit, while others may not live up to expectations.

Before the advent of the ball valve, valves and valves were used in the water supply system.

Which faucet is better, plastic or metal?

Cranes differ primarily in their purpose. Some of them can be used to work with cold water, others to interact with hot water. The purpose of the cranes determines their design features. Some models of cranes are collapsible, others are detachable. PP taps with a detachable design are installed where the question of disconnecting it from the network may arise. By the way, the connector can be installed on one or both sides of the valve body.

There is also a three-way ball valve

When connecting a collapsible tap, union nuts are used. They are installed in systems where fittings made of metal are used, in steel pipelines and next to heating radiators.

Collapsible propylene taps have two designs - straight and angular. If everything is clear with straight taps, then the advantage of corner taps is that they are connected to the main line directly, without the help of auxiliary couplings. This design not only facilitates installation, but also increases the maintainability of the product. Thanks to the design of the valve, it can be quickly disassembled and repaired.

IMPORTANT! There are valves that are needed to work with different media. The cavities of such products can be made of stainless steel, brass, chrome-plated, etc.

Manufacturers produce valves in different colors. Moreover, at the manufacturing stage, color markings are applied to the body, which can tell what a particular faucet is intended for. For example, a blue stripe indicates that the product is intended to be used in cold environments.

The most common malfunctions

Mostly faucets used to supply hot water are subject to breakdowns. The most common causes of faucet malfunctions are:

• incorrect valve operation;
• abrasion of the threaded connection on the body;
• failed stuffing box;
• wear of seals.

In addition, leaks in faucets are often caused by foreign particles that settle between the seal and the valve seat, which leads to the destruction of the former. Also, the gasket is often damaged by very strong screwing of the device.

Recommendation! Due to breakdowns of faucets and drain tanks, water losses often amount to more than 30%. Therefore, it is necessary to get rid of leaks that appear in a timely manner.

You can change the seal for a water tap yourself, but it is still recommended to contact specialists Source ytimg.com
The most common cause of leakage is wear of the seal. If a breakdown occurs because of this, you need to urgently call a plumber who will perform the following work:

• the main valve shuts off the water in the house (most often it is located under the sink or in the toilet);
• unscrews the union nut using the appropriate wrench;
• then unscrews the handle with the spindle and takes out the seal;
• the gasket is replaced with another one - silicone is used for cold water, leather is used for hot water;
• the size of the seal must be approximately 1 mm larger than the diameter of the valve seat, this is quite enough for a tight fit and being in its seat;
• The edges of the installed seal are trimmed using scissors at 45 degrees around the perimeter.

Sometimes installing a new seal is not necessary, but repairs are still needed. Some residents of private houses are faced with the “roar” of pipes. In this case, too, it’s all the gasket’s fault. To get rid of extraneous noise, you need to disassemble the mixer and again cut the edges of the seal at an acute angle.

Features of purchasing a polypropylene ball valve

Before purchasing a polypropylene faucet, you must carefully inspect it; there should be no damage to its surface. When rotating the rod, you need to make sure that it turns with little effort.

And yet, it makes no sense to purchase a ball valve in markets or obscure stores. Practice shows that it is indeed possible to save money there, but there are no guarantees of quality and cannot be.

A valve manufactured by a serious manufacturer is sold only through specialized retail outlets.

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.

Some valuable tips

When choosing a polypropylene faucet, you need to remember a few simple things:

• the thread on the valve body must match the thread on the pipe;
• purchasing a used valve can lead to leaks, with all the ensuing consequences, in the form of flooded neighbors.
• The brand is important. The fact is that many European manufacturers move their enterprises to third world countries, but do not always carry out quality control.

It is advisable to invite specialist plumbers to install the faucet. Installing shut-off valves yourself can end sadly. We must remember that the working pressure is up to 8 MPa.

Mounting methods

Water valves can be connected to the process in different ways: fixed using special elements or mounted by welding.

Flange connection

This type of connection uses a special metal flange with a rubber gasket. Loose flanges are placed on the end of the pipe and the valve nozzle, a gasket is installed between them, then the entire assembly is bolted together.

Coupling fittings

The connecting pipe has an internal thread with a fine pitch, and the outside is shaped like a hexagon for ease of use with a wrench. The coupling is screwed onto the thread and sealed with flax strands or FUM tape.

Tsapkova

This method of fastening is characterized by the presence of an external thread at the end of the connecting pipe and a collar at the end of the pipeline.

The valve branch pipe is pressed against the pipe with its end and secured in this position using a union nut. The tightness of the connection is ensured by a metal gasket and special lubricants.

Choke

The fitting is a short piece of pipe (bushing) with internal threads at both ends. With this type of connection, the connecting ends of the fittings are screwed onto the pipe and secured with a union nut.

Welding

This is a one-piece type of connection, the tightness of which is ensured by welding.

Installation subtleties

The installation location is determined based on the fact that the crane handle should rotate smoothly. After this, you need to rewind the thread and screw it to the end of the pipe. The tap must be screwed on with some effort; this happens because the winding is pressed into the thread, preventing the formation of leaks. A similar operation is performed with the other end of the tap.

During installation, the use of KTR (gas) type wrenches is prohibited. To install these products, only plumbing tools are used.[art_yt id=»L-q8efMCeZA» wvideo=»640" hvideo=»360" position=»center» urlvideo=»https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= L-q8efMCeZA" namevideo="Polypropylene ball valve" desc="Types and principles of operation of polypropylene ball valves." durationmin=»4" durationsec=»35" upld=»2012-10-11" tmburl=»https://i.ytimg.com/vi/L-q8efMCeZA/maxresdefault.jpg» thumbnailwidth=»1280" thumbnailheight=» 720"]

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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.