Quality PVC Ball valves that dont break the bank?

[bh750]

Anyone know where I can get quality Ball Valves, better than the $4 Home Depot ones that are heard to turn and less expensive than the $25 ones I've found so far?

 

[Billdogg]

www.savko.com or www.usplastics.com are my go-to places.

And FWIW - Gate valves > ball valves every single day. They might cost more but most are rebuildable so that you can take them apart to clean them from time to time.

 

[Doug6952]

I bought these from Amazon.

 

[bh750]

Awesome. Exactly what I was looking for. Thank you!

As far as Gate vs Ball I always seem to see ball valves used and never gave a thought to the different Hmmm. Ok will do some reading.

 

[smallcrpt]

FWIW, if you need flow control gate valves are the way to go. Ball valves aren't the best for flow control, i've got one in my mixing station that i tried to use as flow control and it leaked.
I got some double sided union american valves from lowes, better than the regular one but still aren't as good as the cepex

 

[Malcontent]

Globe valves are the best for flow control. Ball valves aren't ideal but can be used. Gate valves are pretty much on/off only.

The shutoff valve for my home was an old gate valve. Its shaft broke while being operated so it was replaced by a much better ball valve. I pretty much avoid gate valves for any purpose nowadays.

 

[Cell]

Globe valves are the best for flow control. Ball valves aren't ideal but can be used. Gate valves are pretty much on/off only.

The shutoff valve for my home was an old gate valve. Its shaft broke while being operated so it was replaced by a much better ball valve. I pretty much avoid gate valves for any purpose nowadays.

Ball valves are on/off, gate valves allow fine tune adjustment of flow.

 

[bh750]

FWIW, if you need flow control gate valves are the way to go. Ball valves aren't the best for flow control, i've got one in my mixing station that i tried to use as flow control and it leaked.
I got some double sided union american valves from lowes, better than the regular one but still aren't as good as the cepex

Got it. I've been reading similar stuff. All the items on Savko, US Plastics and even amazon seem like they're what I'm looking for. Just cant see spending $25-30 a piece for how many I need, if I dont have to.

 

[piranhaman00]

You only want ball valve for on or off

Gate valve for flow control, spears is the only way to go, they cost a lot but work, don’t cheap out here

edit if you truly want a ball valve then you can get a cheap one

 

[KStatefan]

I have had good luck with the cheap ones from Supplyhouse on my mixing tanks.

 

[Malcontent]

Ball valves are on/off, gate valves allow fine tune adjustment of flow.

 

[piranhaman00]

That’s referring to pressurized lines, we have no pressure in normal reefing plumbing

 

[bh750]

So after some research on various sites (Savko, US Plastics, Amazon and BRS) I think I'm of sourcing as follows:

- Ball Valves: Hydroseal Kaplan 3/4" PVC True Union Ball (Amazon) $12.50
- Gate Valves: PVC Gate Valve, Slip (Savko) $14.33
- Unions: PVC Schedule 40, Slip Union (Savko) $3.25
- Rest of PVC straight pipe, elbows, tees, etc (Lowes) as needed

I just need to plan out how many I need of each, and of course will overbuy.

Thanks so much! This may have saved me several hundred dollars in the end.

 

[Paul.martin]

BH,
Are you happy with the valves you purchased? Do you recommend them?
Thanks,
Paul

 

[vetteguy53081]

Truly, the ones from BRS do not seize up like the hardware versions and confirms you get what you pay for.

 

[bh750]

BH,
Are you happy with the valves you purchased? Do you recommend them?
Thanks,
Paul

Paul, glad you asked. I never posted results. So I wound up going with the ones from Amazon. My big thing was something easy to turn. I wound up putting it right back in the box and returning it to Amazon. It was just as hard to turn as the basic ones from the big box stores.

So.. after returning it and claiming the description on Amazon was misleading, I went back to the big box (lowes). I wound up going through like 25 different ones until I found a few that turned easily. So guess when they're mass produced like that they're not all equal. I'm very happy so far with that decision. I have 2 or 3 in place now that I used to turn flow on and off and they work just fine.