3-piece ball valve alternatives

[diymechanicalguy]

I like the 3-piece design as you can fully take them apart and clean components, which is obviously crucial. However, I'm not a fan of the 4 bolts it takes to disassemble. Does anyone use an alternative ball valve that still allows for complete disassembly? I'm not a fan of butterfly valves due to the disk being in the middle of the flow, but open to suggestions. I use these all over the place in my home brewing.

I typically use one of these: https://tameson.co.uk/ball-valve/bv-2-way/bv-2w-stainless-steel/bv-2w-ss-iso-top-3-piece/

 

[singybrue]

I use these: https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/tc15_2pbv_ez_npt12.htm
I take them apart and boil the guts every once in a while.

 

[CanAm]

“Regular” two part ball valves come apart into - yes - two parts. Two wrenches and they unscrew exposing the same ball and gaskets as the three piece.

Here’s a demo:

Mine is open and apart in 15 seconds. I leave half attached to the kettle. Simpler design, same inside. And cheaper. Not sure what’s the benefit of the three piece.

 

[augiedoggy]

From what I could gather It seems the "3 piece" design is only more popular because it looks cooler or people dont realize the regular valves come apart so easily to be cleaned.. Thats the only thing I could think of as Ive asked about this many times here and never got an answer. I just use a bottle brush and starsan spray to clean the inside of mine on the cold side... the hot side gets cip with actuating the valve and once in a while ill pull them apart and check the inside.

 

[Jayjay1976]

Oh man, I gotta change out my valves now. I have two 3-piece valves in my system, took them both apart at the same time for a thorough cleaning and learned the hard way that the parts weren't interchangeable. Bolt flange spacings were slightly different and it took an hour to sort out which parts belonged together. What a PITA! Then i couldnt get the tension right and they both leaked, WTF!?

That easy clean from brewhardware looks like just the ticket.

 

[mongoose33]

Hmmm....didn't know a 2-piece could be disassembled like that. Nice.

Given that's the case, the only advantage to a 3-piece valve I can see is that once you have installed it, you can rotate the position of the handle if it ends up in a poor position. Four positions 90 degrees apart.

 

[augiedoggy]

Hmmm....didn't know a 2-piece could be disassembled like that. Nice.

Given that's the case, the only advantage to a 3-piece valve I can see is that once you have installed it, you can rotate the position of the handle if it ends up in a poor position. Four positions 90 degrees apart.

you can also turn a regular valve and re tighten though.. at least thats what I've always done.. sometimes it requires more teflon tape though.

 

[Jayjay1976]

Hmmm....didn't know a 2-piece could be disassembled like that. Nice.

Given that's the case, the only advantage to a 3-piece valve I can see is that once you have installed it, you can rotate the position of the handle if it ends up in a poor position. Four positions 90 degrees apart.

If you use weldless bulkheads as many people do, the handle position can be adjusted there regardless of valve type.