When buying for fire hydrant valves, it is essential to take note of different factors.
Online searching might be quick and convenient nowadays when it comes to selecting valves, but you can easily get exhausted from reading tons of information you find. You, as a layman, may also get frustrated by sources that are either too simple to get basic details or too technical to understand.
This article will help you pick your way through the minefield of buying the valves you need online. Please follow the following key points and easy steps with confidence before the purchase.
1.Consider the Type of Valve
You always determine what type of valve is the right one you need before making a purchase.Do you want something that can provide better water flow control, pressure regulation, or a safety measure? Have you thought about whether you need a valve to produce a steam or not? Do you need a valve that can seal for one direction or both?
You must make what you need the most a priority consideration before placing your order. It would, however, be much easier to make your decision when replacing an old or broken valve because you can always get the new valves of the same type based on the existing ones.
We at MAFCO have made every effort to categorize information of a great many different valves and their applications for our potential customers to make use of.
2.Consider the Valve Size
Normally to determine the valve sizes is not as complicated as we think because the valves are part of a piping system whose pipe size is arranged by default. Therefore, the size of a valve is identical to that of the pipe.
Despite the easy size selection, we should never overlook the negative aspects of valve sizes, such as max flow rate and max allowable pressure drop. These two factors are highly related to how you determine the valve size. In some cases, the valve size might be larger than that of the piping system, so you need to know the specifications for allowable max pressure drop, if any, before selection the right valve.
3.Determine a Pressure Class for Valves
Typically, a valve’s pressure class is defined by default by means of the pressure class of the piping system. Otherwise, it can be the combination of temperature, bonnet materials used, and pressure.
4.Choice of Bonnet/Body Material
The construction material (bonnet/body) can be one of the most important aspects when you choose the right valves, and the medium matters if you want to know the truth. Sohave your valve specifying engineer check whether the material is compatible with the medium.
The piping system is no less important. The material of the piping system, once determined, can be chosen as that of your valve. This will certainly simplify your selection process.
5.Choice of Trim Materials
The selection of trim material is about the same as that of bonnet/body materials, depending on the valve’s design, medium, and leakage rates as well as packings, gaskets, etc. All these are highly related to the trim and should be taken into consideration. Finally,if you care about the valve’s longevity (lifespan), higher grade trim materials might be your best choice.
6.Maximum Allowable Leakage Rate
Among valve factors, maximum allowable leakage rate is the one that most firefighters can be ambivalent on. It is often ignored and has few practical applications.Furthermore, its standards are not well-defined enough for you to decide which is appropriate.
7.Valve Connections (flange or screwed inlet)
Valves are typically connected by flanges and screws, and these valves connections are manufactured by default in terms of the entire piping system. Therefore, the valve connectors are perfectly compatible with those of the pipes. To stay in a state of combat readiness, proper maintenance as well as emission and safety need to be paid special attention to.
