How To Maintain A Knife Gate Valve

Here are a few tips on how to maintain a knife gate valve. Properly maintaining these mechanisms can definitely save a lot of money and can even prevent any disasters from happening.

In any plumbing system, valves are an important integral part. These mechanisms are important to regulate and allow the flow of any liquid or gas through pipelines, and if one of these valves would break, it can either cause flow disruption, leaks or worse, disaster. A knife gate valve is just as important as any other type of gate valve in the market. It just has a more compact and sturdier mechanism, but of course, it would still wear out eventually. It is best to properly maintain this valve to maximize its capability and prolong its life. Here are a few tips on how to maintain one:

1. Check if the shaft and knob is working smoothly

This is a type of gate valve that either only allows or restricts fluids to flow through, so most of the stress is on the valve when it is closed. One of the first things to check for wear is the gate shaft and knob. New valves and properly lubricated ones have knobs and shafts that move easier. If any resistance is encountered during opening or closing the valve, it is best to check for the shaft for any signs of corrosion. It should also be properly lubricated so that it can smoothly turn. If the shat corrodes, it can snap and either leaves the gate closed or open.

2. Check for debris on the valve seat

A knife gate valve has a valve seat that may be a bit deep for the gate to sit in and seal the flowing material on one side. However, as fluids pass through when the valve is open, it may carry some sediments or debris that can be lodged on the seat. As the valve is closed, this debris may be pressed in deep, especially if the seat is made of rubber. Once the amount of debris increases, the valve’s gate may not be completely shut and cause fluids or gases to leak through the gap. Always check if the valve seat is clean and free of any debris.

3. Check for the integrity of the gate

Most of these valves have a steel or brass gate, and through its lifetime, it would definitely show signs of fatigue or corrosion. If the gates have too much corrosion on it, it may snap clean from the shaft and either the broken materials gets pushed along with the fluids, or it gets completely lodged on the valve seat, rendering the gate valve inoperable. Although this may be inevitable, it is always best to properly check the gates of these valves for any bad signs. It may be expensive to replace a valve but the good thing is, especially for large ones, the gate, along with the other parts of a knife gate valve can be detached to be either replaced or cleaned.

The industry becomes very demanding indeed when it comes to these kinds of devices like the knife gate valve for their plumbing. No matter how small or big they are, they still play a vital role in a plumbing system. Properly maintaining these mechanisms can definitely save a lot of money and can even prevent any disasters from happening.