Ball or Gate Valves?

Zacco · Jan 4, 2015

OK Guy's. What's the better of the two? I've been told that you CAN NOT fine tune your drain and return with ball valves. Any truth to this? Also I know a PVC Ball Valve has no metal parts so there's no chance of anything corroding or rusting out. What about a PVC Gate Valve. Any metal parts in a PVC Gate Valve that could corrode or rust out or is it constructed entirely out of PVC?

ksed · Jan 4, 2015

The gate valve is designed to be used to control flow and ball valves were designed to be in the on or off position.

rayn · Jan 4, 2015

Gate valve! Ball valves work, but they are much more touchy then gate valves.

joekool · Jan 4, 2015

I concur pvc gate valves for control of flow and ball for on and off. Ball valves way to touchy for flow especially on drains.

phillrodrigo · Jan 4, 2015

If you buy ball valves from a good plumbing supply they are much better. I used home cheapo ball valves on my 75 and they are just so hard to turn them. I went to fw webb and bought the ones for my 20 and a big reef build we just did and they are just so much better. They turn in small increments if needed. Gate valves are usually expensive and usually have to order online but are definitely better

Thunderfan · Jan 4, 2015

I put a gate to tune my bean animal drain and I'm glad i did. I got a 1" at grainger for about $16. Bulk reef wanted over $30. I will say that the Spears from brs has some things mine doesn't and I may wish I had done that over time but, for now it does what I need it to.

saltyhog · Jan 4, 2015

If the only thing you need the valve to do is turn on or off then a ball valve works and is less expensive. If you want to control flow (return, flow to reactors, etc.) a gate valve is a must.

Fin · Jan 4, 2015

I use gate valves when I need to tune flow and ball valves when I need to stop the flow. Same as everyone else has mentioned. I also like that some of the gate valves can be completely disassembled to be cleaned, if ever needed. One thing that I do on ball valves is to take a bit of Dow 111 valve lubricant and apply some to the ball inside of the valve. This makes them a little easier to turn and hopefully will help keep them from locking up down the road. I have used it many times around the aquarium with no ill effects.

AZDesertRat · Jan 5, 2015

Gates are designed to be fully open or fully closed and not to throttle but we do use them for that purpose in our hobby. Unless you are looking for gnats butt precision like on a modified protein skimmer a good ball valve is fine. You should not need a valve on the overflow unless you have dual overflows and are using one as a back up.

Rob Top1 · Jan 5, 2015

I have used both many times over the years and agree with everything, but will add a few thoughts.
Online supplier of both, savko.com was cheapest last I checked but its been a while.
At some point the ball valve will seize and the handle will break. May be years down the road but it will. For that reason if possible leave room to cut it out and replace it.
From my experience out of the big box stores, Menard's are better quality and they have the best selection of other PVC parts and pieces.

AZDesertRat · Jan 5, 2015

Believe it or not in my 40+ year career in municipal water production and treatment I have replaced many more Sch 80 PVC gate valves that I have PVC ball valves. The threaded plastic stem in a gate valve is much weaker than the stem or shaft in a 1/4 turn ball valve. We used tons on PVC to supply water to pump control and actuator valves, for chemical solution lines such as chlorine and just for yard piping much like in your home. I will say always use a threaded valve versus a glued socket type valve and place a union close or use true union valves (expensive) so you can replace it one day down the road. The Spears ball valves on my reef system are over 11 years old now and still turn and seal just like they did when installed though. I even throttle the return pump with a 1" ball valve and it has been like that for years and still closes easily when needed.

Thunderfan · Jan 5, 2015

AZDesertRat said:
You should not need a valve on the overflow unless you have dual overflows and are using one as a back up.

You absolutely have to have a valve for bean animal or herbie overflows to work. Gate valves work best to be able to more precisely control flow but, puerile have used ball valves with success. Gate valve are used to control flow in many applications other than this hobby. I have worked in many refineries power plants and other industrial environments they only use gate valves to control flow. You can control flow with ball valves for flow but, gates are much better for fine tuning.

hart24601 · Jan 5, 2015

Thunderfan said:
You absolutely have to have a valve for bean animal or herbie overflows to work. Gate valves work best to be able to more precisely control flow but, puerile have used ball valves with success. Gate valve are used to control flow in many applications other than this hobby. I have worked in many refineries power plants and other industrial environments they only use gate valves to control flow. You can control flow with ball valves for flow but, gates are much better for fine tuning.

+1, totally agree.

Thunderfan · Jan 5, 2015

Valves of all types should be "exercised" periodically to keep them from freezing up. All mechanical things needs to be used from time to time. Even simple things like gfcis need to be operated every quarter.

Zacco · Jan 5, 2015

Thunderfan said:
Valves of all types should be "exercised" periodically to keep them from freezing up. All mechanical things needs to be used from time to time. Even simple things like gfcis need to be operated every quarter.

I totally agree. I learned this when I replaced my hot water tank a few years back and could not fully shut the supply valve off because of the crud built up inside of the valve..... I think im going to purchase some good quality Spears Gate Valves for my project. I don't want to install ball valves only to kick myself in the butt later.

Thunderfan · Jan 5, 2015

Buy once and cry once.

AZDesertRat · Jan 6, 2015

While gate valves are sometimes used to throttle, talk to any valve manufacturer and they will tell you they are not designed to do so. If you notice in post #9 I specifically mentioned using a valve if you have a dual overflow set up so "absolutely" was a little strong if it was aimed at me.

Thunderfan · Jan 6, 2015

My "absolutely" comment was not meant to be strong or harsh towards you. I was just making sure that if anybody was working on one of those types of drains it is required for them to work. I apologize if it came across that way.