Gate valve or ball vales? What's your choice.

[Shadow_storm56]

Also stainless steel or brass? Stainless is like 1/3 cheaper.

My opinion is a ball valve, they trap water and can split on the side but this crack only leaks when opening or closing the valve. It does not leak in normal operation. You may wonder why I would choose this valve.

For me gate valves don't fully close, They always get a tiny bit of dirt in the wrong spot and will only 90% close or less. So if the ball valve splits and still works I'm good and if I have to replace it I'm not further behind because the gate valve leaks and also needs replacing.

I don't have much opinion on SS vs brass I only just started using SS and had no issues but it's much cheaper so thus why I'm curious of others opinions.

 

[Tarmy]

Every gate valve I have ever had...leaks or would not shut off after a few years of use. I replace them as needed with good quality brass quarter turn ball valves...

 

[Shadow_storm56]

Every gate valve I have ever had...leaks or would not shut off after a few years of use. I replace them as needed with good quality brass quarter turn ball valves...

That's currently what I'm doing because same problem. Although I did see a different type of gate valve but it's reducing style. The in side gets 1/2 the diameter and outlet gets the other. Plunger plugs the hole between the 2. But it's reducing so not a fan

 

[JimmyJazz]

Ball valves and Pex tubing are being used not only in weekend shacks but also high end homes in the Pittsburgh area. I am not sure if the valves are steel or brass. Whatever the you find in the "Pex department" at Home Depot is the product of choice. Price, selection, availability, ease of use....... I recently had my home air conditioner replaced. A $5,000 job by 3 seasoned HVAC guys with some soldering involved. I asked them to repair a nearby leaking copper pipe while they were there. Probably $15 worth of pex connectors was their solution. Looks like it came out of Frankenstein's laboratory. Kind of a sad testament to the "plumbing arts" in my opinion. It is what it is and thus concludes my rant.

 

[mcfarmall]

Gate valves on steam systems, ball valves everywhere else. Globe valve if I need to throttle a water line. Needle valve for throttling a hydraulic or pneumatic line. When you drain a cabin water system for the winter, leave the ball valves halfway open.

 

[ctfjr]

In the plumbing world (the northeast anyway) there was a big shift away from gate valves to 1/4 turn ball valves starting more than 30 years ago. Only the old timers held out. They are not around anymore.

The trade is again making a big shift from sweat to press joints and copper to pex.
A press fitting is typically much more expensive than a sweat one but the time savings is enormous. Press ball valves are now big time although they are more expensive than a sweat valve.

Pex is a double winner. Cheaper than copper and much less labor. If installed correctly there is nothing wrong with a pex job.

Hackers make everything look like crap.

 

[Crash277]

1/4 turn ball valve 100%, every Reno I do, I use pex and replace as much copper as is possible.

 

[random]

I have replaced almost every gate valve in and around my house with ball valves. And when the last gates start having problems, same for them.

 

[JimmyJazz]

I plumbed my hot water heating radiators with a special type of Pex recommended by the local Home Depot. 9 years now and its functioned flawlessly. If copper had been the only option I would have never attempted to install it myself. A fabulous invention for the do it yourselfer in my opinion.

 

[thebicman]

If the size of the valve permits I have always used ball valves. Either for residential or commercial.

 

[mikester]

I'm still really weary of plastic for pressurized water lines. I have memories from the 80's about plastic lines being promoted as the best thing since sliced bread ending up as leaky disasters 20-30 years later.

Nobody knows for certain how well pex will perform in the long run.

I wouldn't use anything but ball valves anymore.

 

[cmorningstar01]

I prefer ball valves but only if the ball opening is the same size as the water pipe it is shutting off, otherwise I either step up to a larger size pipe/tubing or go to a different type valve sometimes that being a gate valve, I have eliminated all of the frost free outside hose bibs on my home/shop/barn simply because they constrict the flow of water, I have ball valves inside the foundation/wall.
As for copper versus pex, I'll take copper any day, soldering copper is not rocket science and frankly I just do not trust a plastic water line in an enclosed wall.

I am a 67 year old woman and if I can sweat copper pipes/tubing then anyone can

 

[Shadow_storm56]

I prefer ball valves but only if the ball opening is the same size as the water pipe it is shutting off, otherwise I either step up to a larger size pipe/tubing or go to a different type valve sometimes that being a gate valve, I have eliminated all of the frost free outside hose bibs on my home/shop/barn simply because they constrict the flow of water, I have ball valves inside the foundation/wall.
As for copper versus pex, I'll take copper any day, soldering copper is not rocket science and frankly I just do not trust a plastic water line in an enclosed wall.

I am a 67 year old woman and if I can sweat copper pipes/tubing then anyone can

Copper pipe isn't that hard to solder, joints don't have to be picture perfect as long as they are really strong

 

[bronc71]

Ball valve. Gate valves fail to close completely over time. Id only use a ball valve in my trade.

 

[NCL4701]

I prefer ball valves but only if the ball opening is the same size as the water pipe it is shutting off, otherwise I either step up to a larger size pipe/tubing or go to a different type valve sometimes that being a gate valve, I have eliminated all of the frost free outside hose bibs on my home/shop/barn simply because they constrict the flow of water, I have ball valves inside the foundation/wall.
As for copper versus pex, I'll take copper any day, soldering copper is not rocket science and frankly I just do not trust a plastic water line in an enclosed wall.

I am a 67 year old woman and if I can sweat copper pipes/tubing then anyone can

I know busloads of young guys who can’t sweat copper!

 

[JimmyJazz]

I prefer ball valves but only if the ball opening is the same size as the water pipe it is shutting off, otherwise I either step up to a larger size pipe/tubing or go to a different type valve sometimes that being a gate valve, I have eliminated all of the frost free outside hose bibs on my home/shop/barn simply because they constrict the flow of water, I have ball valves inside the foundation/wall.
As for copper versus pex, I'll take copper any day, soldering copper is not rocket science and frankly I just do not trust a plastic water line in an enclosed wall.

I am a 67 year old woman and if I can sweat copper pipes/tubing then anyone can

Its not unheard of to have a copper line develop a leak within a wall after a period of time. Just sayin. Pex is being used today almost exclusively in high end construction in my area. Time will tell.

 

[Botamon]

I'm still really weary of plastic for pressurized water lines. I have memories from the 80's about plastic lines being promoted as the best thing since sliced bread ending up as leaky disasters 20-30 years later.

Nobody knows for certain how well pex will perform in the long run.

I wouldn't use anything but ball valves anymore.

Through about 1996 the plastic lines were called Qest - a grey color. They were discontinued in 1996 because it had been discovered that certain oxidizers (like chorinated water) would react with the tubing and weaken it, causing the tubing to leak and even burst. Pex lines were developed in the 90s to replace Qest and are not reactive to anything commonly found in water systems. They are holding up well. Copper lines can corrode from the inside out, again depending on what minerals are dissolved in your water system.

I live in an older house that is plumbed with the Qest tubing. However, because I am on my own well there have been no chemicals in the water to react with the Qest and so I've had no leaks whatsoever.

 

[Old_Paint]

I am a 67 year old woman and if I can sweat copper pipes/tubing then anyone can

Don't sell yourself short. Not many folks after our generation have learned "the old ways". There is enough talent/training needed to do it that the FFA made it part of Vo-Ag classes in high schools back in the day when high schools still had shops and taught trades as options to going to college. Plumbers are some of the highest paid trades people, but sometimes, they have to do some REALLY 'crappy' jobs and make 'em look good. I'll just about draw the line on sewer work. Too stinky and too much digging.

It amazes me how few young plumbers can actually work with copper. I went' to high school in the good ol' days, too. Wood shop, welding, plumbing, small engine repair (2 and 4 cycle), animal care/husbandry were all very valuable experiences in my life. It saved me a lot of money knowing how to do a lot of things without having to call "professionals", especially when I lived in rural areas. Some of the skills I got in high school shop class paid my rent and fed me while I put myself through college. Plumbing skills were REAL handy when I worked for a swimming pool company.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

re:

It amazes me how few young plumbers can actually work with copper.

it doesn't really surprise me... they're 'PEXpeople', only seen plastic all their lives.....been told solder is 'bad'. Kid who came to replace water heater used 'pushon' fitting...NO soldering required.

We live in a disposable world, virtually nothing gets fixed,just replaced with a premade module of some kind.

 

[fruitcakesa]

While our house was originally plumbed all copper, I used pex with crimp and sharkbite fittings when we put an addition on that involved running both domestic and heating water lines from the basement, up 2 stories, through and within walls.
With the pex, snaking it through that maze was a snap and done in single pieces with the joints generally in accessible areas or with access panels installed.
It has only been about 4 years so long term issues have yet to rear its head although I do have 1 ball valve that has started leaking past the shaft. It is in an exposed location and easily replaced when heating season is over