I need some pointers on servicing a manual gate valve.
I disassembeled my recent ebay purchased gate valve and was wondering about cleaning and lubricating it. I see that the threads have some type of grease on them. From what I know of vacuums I thought grease was a no-no. Can someone enlighten me?
Jon Rosenstiel
Gate valve maintaince
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- Real name: Jon Rosenstiel
- Location: Southern California
Re: Gate valve maintaince
Well, yes an no... Moving parts need some sort of lubrication, and there are a few greases that are formulated for use in vacuum. Anyway, if my memory of gate valve mechanisms serves me right, the moving parts in the valve will only be exposed to the chamber vacuum when the valve is open. That is, if you connect the chamber to the correct side of the valve. The actual elastomer seals for the gate itself should not be greased, or even touched with bare hands.
As for lubricants for the moving parts (assuming you want to strip the old lubricant and apply new) Krytox might work, but it is expensive. If the valve interior is clean, it may not be necessary to do anything. For other suggestions, you might want to drop a nice email to the folks at Duniway (Duniway.com). The people I have talked to there seem pretty sympathetic to amateur practicioners.Their catalog is a good one to have for inexpensive (relatively speaking) vacuum parts and supplies. They also have a large store of archival information on old vacuum stuff and may even have some information on your valve. They helped me out with data on some old CVC diffusion pumps and a Veeco thermocouple gauge. Since thay also refurbish valves, they may even have new elastomer seals if they are necessary.
As for lubricants for the moving parts (assuming you want to strip the old lubricant and apply new) Krytox might work, but it is expensive. If the valve interior is clean, it may not be necessary to do anything. For other suggestions, you might want to drop a nice email to the folks at Duniway (Duniway.com). The people I have talked to there seem pretty sympathetic to amateur practicioners.Their catalog is a good one to have for inexpensive (relatively speaking) vacuum parts and supplies. They also have a large store of archival information on old vacuum stuff and may even have some information on your valve. They helped me out with data on some old CVC diffusion pumps and a Veeco thermocouple gauge. Since thay also refurbish valves, they may even have new elastomer seals if they are necessary.