'Now, where did I see that post about valves...'

Here's a quick list of links to some of our most popular posts about valves

	The VB04, manifold, block and bleed, and gauge valves illustrated here are just some of the valve offerings Swagelok provides.

Our blog has been running for a couple of years now, which means we have a lot of posts about a lot of different Swagelok products. Sometimes you might remember that we've covered a particular topic you want to revisit, but aren't sure when it ran. We don't want you to use up a lot of time browsing through the whole list (as entertaining as that might be) so here are some of our more popular posts about valves.

A Tutorial

This past April we took a tour through some of the different types of valves and how to best match them to different kinds of jobs. We started with simple on-off valves, then gave a bit of information on flow-control valves, directional flow valves, overpressure protection, and excess flow. The post includes a link to a complete tutorial by Michael Adkins, Swagelok’s valve guru.

Ball Valves

A ball valve is one of the more basic designs. Line up the hole in the ball with the tubing on either side, and fluid can flow through. Turn the ball 90 degrees and the path is completely shut off. Within that basic design, however, Swagelok offers various features. Within the 60 Series of ball valves are special designs for operation in the presence of heat, steam, chlorine and other conditions.

Check Valves

In some fluid systems, it's important that the flow always be in one direction. That's the purpose of a check valve. This post explains the importance of two key terms: "cracking pressure" and "reseal pressure."

Proportional Relief Valves

When your fluid system has too much pressure, how do you bring it back to where you want it? One way is with a proportional relief valve. Swagelok's proportional relief valves can be adjusted to activate over a wide range of pressure points. Don't confuse these with safety relief valves, however. That's an entirely different device.

Bellows and Diaphragm Valves

Most types of valves use a packing material to form a seal between the valve stem and the bonnet. But there are some applications when it's better to use valves without packing. Swagelok offers two kinds: bellows valves and diaphragm valves. This post explains the difference and describes how each design gets the job done.

Space Savers

Standard valves can take up a lot of space, especially when you need several in a single assembly. That's when our VB03 and VB04 process interface valves come in handy. They have the footprint of a single valve, but do the job of two or three.

Manifolds

Manifolds aren't as complicated as they look. A manifold is basically a block of steel with a series of stainless steel needle valves to control flow through the block. Like many of our posts on specific parts, there's a link that lets you download a catalogue for more information.

Questions from our Customers

We count on our readers to keep us on our toes. Our fourth FAQ installment, from this past May, was especially valve-centric. If you have a question that hasn't been covered in one of our posts, send it in and we may use it in our ongoing series of questions and answers. 

Click here to browse our entire library of valve content, or Ask Us your valve questions.