Valve Info needed?

[aamcle]

I'm considering a build and the neatest option requires a controllable valve that take one input tube but allows the selection of 3 outputs. It needs to withstand boiling water and be sanitary/easy to clean.

I can design such a valve but I have no facility to machine one so I need to buy something.

Unfortunately I don't know what valves of that general type are called so it's very hard to research them, if you could point me in the right direction I'd appreciate it.

Thanks All. aamcle

 

[bruce_the_loon]

It depends on how you want to control the valve and how you want the output selection to work.

There are 4 way valves out there, but I suspect they might be costly and assembling a solution using a manifold pipe and three single valves might be cheaper. 3 way valves are common and either work in a L or a T switching pattern. The L has a ball with a L-shaped bore and can switch between the vertical port of the T and either horizontal port. The T has a T-shaped bore in the ball and can link either the vertical port of the T to both horizontal ports, just the horizontal ports and all three ports.

4 way valves can be configured in countless ways that depends on your switching requirements. A bottom entry valve has an input port on the bottom size and three exit ports in a horizontal T arrangement. Depending on the bore shape and orientation, different ports can be connected together. At the most simple, a L-shaped bore with one end on the bottom port can switch individually through each of the horizontal ports.

One site with details on the valves and their switching patterns I found is 4 Way, 5 Way Sanitary Multi-port Valves -

The PDF brochure has details on the various switching patterns on pages 26 and 27.