Which way do you turn to open a valve?

When it comes to operating a brass gate valve, or a gate valve of another material on a main water line, observing a few simple rules can help you avoid a plumbing repair and aggravation. Opening a valve or closing a water valve properly will surely prevent damage and unnecessary repair work.

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Additionally, operating a main control valve properly will add years of service life to the valve, and prevent unnecessary valve repairs. A brass gate valve is one of three types of water valves used on water service lines. The other two types of water valves are a full port opening ball valve and an OS&Y valve.

The components of a brass gate valve

A brass gate valve, or any gate valve for that matter has some very basic components. If you plan on opening or closing a gate valve, it&#;s important to understand how these valve components work to avoid damage or a loss of water service. There are 2 major valve components to understand to avoid getting yourself into trouble:

1. The Valve Stem

A brass valve stem is what connects the valve handle to the gate inside the valve body. This allows the gate to rise or lower. Never use brute force to open or close a valve. That can cause the stem to break in either the open or closed position. If the valve handle will not turn, just loosen the packing nut a bit.

2. The Valve Body and Valve Gate

Be aware that debris, sediment, or corrosion can accumulate inside the valve body. This can prevent the gate from sitting properly inside the valve body and allowing the valve to close 100%.

As stated above, never apply force to try to fully close the valve. Simply open a nearby sink, remove the sink strainer, and work the gate valve handle back and forth. This will allow the sediment or debris to break loose, and then flow out from your sink. In many if not most cases, this simple trick will allow your water valve to fully close.

How to open a gate valve on a main water line

The proper way to open a gate valve is to gently turn the handle counter-clockwise (to the left) without applying excessive force &#; do not &#;jerk&#; the handle.

A typical 1&#; main control valve for a water line will take about six full turns to fully open. Stop turning as soon as there is any resistance.

Turning the handle or stem too far with excessive pressure can cause damage and very often will cause a leak.

Helpful Tip #1

If you meet resistance when trying to open a main control valve, if it is a gate valve loosen the packing nut one turn. The packing nut is on top of the gate valve body. That will allow the stem to move more easily. Always remember to tighten the packing nut after you are finished opening or closing the water to prevent a leak.

Helpful Tip #2

If there is no water in the plumbing system when opening the valve, always open a faucet on the top floor of the building to let air escape from the plumbing system. Air that is left in the plumbing can cause water hammer and this can blow apart your piping causing considerable damage.

How to close a gate valve on a main water line

Applying excessive pressure to a gate valve to make it close &#;all the way&#; has the effect of bending the gate, its seat, or seal and doing permanent damage.

Sometimes excessive pressure or jerking the handle will cause the stem to snap. Excessive pressure can cause the valve to break in the closed position and cut off the water supply to the property.

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Helpful tip: If a gate will not fully stop the flow of water, never apply excessive force. Frequently debris or sediment may accumulate inside the body of the gate valve preventing the gate from fully closing.

There is a method to get sediment or debris out of a valve body. With a faucet open inside the building gently work the handle open and closed to flush out the sediment of debris. In most cases, this will allow the gate to fully close. Never try to force the gate to close by using excessive pressure or force, this is the primary cause of the valve stem snapping in half.

If the water flow still will not completely stop call a licensed master plumber. Most skilled plumbers can perform a valve repair of a valve replacement at a relatively modest cost. Never risk damage to your property by trying to perform work you are not capable of or knowledgeable about.

One question that plagues both homeowners and professionals alike is: &#;Is my valve open or closed?&#; If you have a butterfly or ball valve, the direction of the handle indicates whether the valve is open or closed. If you have a stop or gate valve, it is harder to tell if your valve is open or closed because there are very little to no visual cues, meaning you have to rely on the amount of resistance to determine if your valve is truly closed. Below we&#;ll walk through four different types of valves, discussing the specifics of determining if the valve is closed or open.

Is My Ball Valve Open or Closed?

Ball valves are adeptly named because of the ball that sits inside the housing unit. The ball has a hole through the center. This hole faces the flow of water when the valve is open. When the valve is closed, the solid side of the ball faces the flow, effectively blocking further forward movement of the liquid. Because of this design, ball valves are a type of shut-off valve, meaning they can only be used to stop and start flow; not regulate the flow.

Ball valves are perhaps the easiest valve to see if they are open or closed. If the handle on top is parallel to the valve, it's open. Likewise, if the handle is perpendicular to the top, the valve is closed.

Common places you might find a ball valve are in irrigation and in sites where you need to control water supply from one area to another.

How to Determine if Your Butterfly Valve is Open

Butterfly valves differ from all the other valves in this post because not only can they be used as a shut-off valve, they can also be used as a regulatory valve. Inside the butterfly valve is a disc that rotates as you turn the handle. Butterfly valves can regulate flow by having the disc partway open.

Butterfly valves have a lever handle on the top that is similar to the ball valve. This handle both indicates if the flow is on or off, and can be used to turn the valve partway on by locking the disc in place. When the handle is parallel to the valve, it is closed, and when it is perpendicular to the valve, it is open.

Butterfly valves are suited for use in garden irrigation, and they are also commonly used in space-restrictive applications. They have a slender design that makes them ideal for tight-fitting spaces. Because of the disc inside, these valves are not the best to use in high-pressure applications as there will always be something in the way partially blocking the flow.

How to Know if Gate Valves are Open

Gate valves are a type of isolation (or shut off) valve that are found on pipes that require the complete turn off or on of flow. Gate valves have a knob on top that when turned raises and lowers the gate inside, hence the name. To turn on the gate valve, you turn the knob counter-clockwise, and you turn it clockwise to turn off the valve.

There is no visual indicator to see if a gate valve is open or closed. It is, therefore, important to remember that when you are turning the knob you must stop when you hit resistance; to continue to try and turn the valve could potentially damage the gate, rendering your gate valve ineffective.

The most common uses around the house for gate valves are for your main water shut off or, as you might see more frequently, the water spigot on the outside of your home.

Is My Stop Valve Closed?

The final valve on our list is a stop valve, which is another type of shut off valve. This valve looks similar to the gate valve, but it is more compact. It is also the valve that you might be the most familiar with. These valves are often used to connect appliances, like toilets and sinks, to the water supply line in your house. You twist the stop valve clockwise to turn the supply off and counter-clockwise to turn it on. Stop valves have a stem under their handle that rises and lowers as the valve is turned off and on. The stem is not visible when the stop valve is closed.

Final Tip: Know Your Type of Valve

At the end of the day, the most important part to knowing if a valve is open or closed is to know what type of valve you have. Ball and butterfly valves both have a lever handle on top that indicates if the valves are open or closed; whereas gate and stop valves both require the turning of a knob and have no or harder to see visual cues on if they are open or closed.

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