All components of the heating system fittings are divided into two types, depending on the purpose:
- Shut-off valves. It is used if you need to stop the supply of the heat carrier to a specific section of the heating system, turn off one of the radiators or reduce the supply volume. For this purpose, various gates and taps are used;
- Regulating fittings. It ensures the safety and efficiency of the heating system, stable pressure in the pipes, controls the heating level of the heat carrier and the operation of automatic devices.
Taps and valves are used as shut-off valves on heating radiators. There are two types of cranes:
- Ball. The name is easy to explain – there really is a ball with a cross section inside the crane. By turning the handle of the tap, you can change the inner diameter and, accordingly, the volume of supply of the thermal medium. To close the channel allows turning the handle by 90 °;
- Rod. Equipped with ceramic or rubber gaskets. You can completely shut off the coolant supply channel by several turns of the handle.
Important! Rod valves allow smoother control of the heat carrier supply system. In addition, in the event of a breakage or “sticking” of the ball to the seal, the ball valve must be replaced entirely, but the stuffing box or washers of the rod valve can be replaced independently.
In principle, gate valves are generally similar to rod valves, but most often they are installed on large-diameter pipes, on central heating pipelines. Installing a tap on each radiator allows you to solve the problem of replacing or repairing it in the event of an unexpected leak. By cutting off the supply of coolant to a specific radiator, home owners get the opportunity to fix the problem without shutting off the entire system, which is especially difficult to do in a city apartment with centralized heating.
Heating system control valves include:
- Mayevsky cranes. Allows you to get rid of air in pipes and radiators. Mayevsky’s valve, in fact, is a needle valve, which is sealed when closed. The device is installed on the upper radiator pipe. There are Mayevsky taps that can be loosened to release air only with a screwdriver, other devices are simply unscrewed by hand. If a hissing sound is heard after opening the tap, air has accumulated in the pipes, which interferes with the normal circulation of the heat carrier;
- Safety valve. Able to withstand higher pressure than the Mayevsky crane. The valve serves to prevent pipe burst in the event of a sudden pressure surge, it removes an excessive amount of air or water from the heating system. When the pressure rises, the fluid presses on the seat and the valve stem rises, remaining in this position until the pressure level in the system returns to normal. The safety valve is installed on the return part of the pipeline before it is connected to the boiler;
- Check valve. Prevents the return movement of the heat carrier in the pipe system. The non-return valve is used as an element of shut-off valves, increasing the efficiency of its operation and the safety of the entire system; it is irreplaceable where the heating lines are highly branched;
- Mixing units, two- and three-way, used mainly when arranging a warm floor.
- Thermal heads, control valves. They allow you to save heat by setting the required temperature in the room. If the owners of private houses can control the temperature in the house by adjusting the boiler, then the owners of apartments will need thermal heads for each radiator. Such a special valve is installed at the radiator inlet, control can be mechanical, manual – the thermo valve is set to a certain position of the scale. There are also electronic thermal heads.
Additional devices in the heating system are thermometers and manometers for measuring temperature and pressure. In private houses, they are usually located directly in the heating boiler, they are installed on radiators much less often..
Radiator fittings are made of brass, bronze or ductile iron. When making a choice of such useful devices for your heating system, you should pay attention to the diameters of the nozzles and the radiator connection diagram.
What are the different types of shut-off and control valves available for heating radiators? And how do they function to serve their specific purposes?