Gate valve adjustements when and why

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jaws7777

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I don't know where I read this may have been here. Read that sometimes after a wc the gate may have do to be adjusted. True ?

Also can anyone describe some instances when the gate would need to be adjusted and why?

The setup in question will have to overflows teed to one gate then teed off again to separate drains
 
I don't know much about the whys and why nots of plumbing. I just read up a little about gate valves. According to this article, they should be used either fully open or fully closed. "If left partially open, the gate may vibrate and become damaged."

http://www.finehomebuilding.com/2012/11/08/whats-the-difference-shutoff-valves-ball-gate-and-globe

Why use gate valves at all? On our 300 gallon system, we have nine ball valves. So easy to turn off and on and adjust. Glad we have ball valves on the uptakes from the tank. When something breaks, that particular pipe can be shut off until it can be repaired. The flow back to the tank can be adjusted very easily with a ball valve. The only time it is used on our tank is when my husband refills the tank...he adjusts the flow to the main tank to the flow rate of the faucet feeding our holding tank (which is much less than what we can pump out). (I prefer filling the 55 gallon tank, then opening the valve all the way, quickly draining, closing the valve and refilling the tank, then opening again.) By how we refill our main tank, I can see how the return from a sump might have to be adjusted if you are using a very powerful pump and the rate of water entering the sump is less than what is pumped out.

Why are people using gate valves? What are the arguments for using them? Are there arguments against using ball valves? After eleven years, out ball valves work flawlessly. Can we anticipate some kind of catastrophic fail? We have a big tank that has to be plumbed. I'm sure we will be using ball valves, unless someone can tell why I need gate valves.
 
Gate valves are much easier to fine tune than ball valves. Ball valves you only get a quarter turn from fully open to fully closed, most gate valves take several complete turns to open or close fully, making it a bit easier to adjust the flow exactly where you want it.

If you buy nice ball valves it isn't as much of an issue as cheap box store valves, those tend to be terrible, but the idea is still there. In our systems there isn't nearly enough pressure to damage a gate valve.
 
fishguy306 said:
If you buy nice ball valves it isn't as much of an issue as cheap box store valves, those tend to be terrible, but the idea is still there. In our systems there isn't nearly enough pressure to damage a gate valve.
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Ha ha! ..... Unless you are using a Hammerhead pump to return water... But most people use smaller pumps. Thanks for your response...makes sense. I can see that dialing down flow rate on a sump return line might be critical, especially on a smaller sump. And you are right that the adjustment capability is more limited with a ball valve, but since we use them primarily for off/on, they work great for our application.
 
I have three hammerheads and a 1/3 HP Reeflo pump in my basement at the moment, I love those things lol. But you are right, way to much flow for most. The other thing you can use it for is dialing in the drain line if you are doing a herbie or bean style overflow.
 
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fishguy306 said:
The other thing you can use it for is dialing in the drain line if you are doing a herbie or bean style overflow.
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This is where I see the benefit of a gate valve. A Herbie system can be a little finicky to get right where you want it. I have a nice ball valve on my drain line, but can still be real touchy to fine tune.

For the most part, I don't have to mess with it much at all once it's dialed in. When the filter sock starts to clog up, the water level will rise and start to trickle through the emergency drain. But once I put a clean sock in the water level in the overflow goes back to where it was originally dialed in at.
 
slippery slimecoat said:
This is where I see the benefit of a gate valve. A Herbie system can be a little finicky to get right where you want it. I have a nice ball valve on my drain line, but can still be real touchy to fine tune.

For the most part, I don't have to mess with it much at all once it's dialed in. When the filter sock starts to clog up, the water level will rise and start to trickle through the emergency drain. But once I put a clean sock in the water level in the overflow goes back to where it was originally dialed in at.
Click to expand...

Aahh i see so no issues when you fully turn the system off and on ?
 
I may need to adjust my gate valve (for Herbie) twice a year at most. I also use ball valves and unions for hard plumbing to shutoff and disconnect as needed. I use DC pumps, so ball valve never required there.
 
DN328 said:
I may need to adjust my gate valve (for Herbie) twice a year at most. I also use ball valves and unions for hard plumbing to shutoff and disconnect as needed. I use DC pumps, so ball valve never required there.
Click to expand...

What causes the gate to need tuning ? How do you know the level in the overflow rises/falls
 
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