Retired valve found its way home to AVK headquarters
At AVK, we continuously develop new and better products, but the older versions still apply safety to your pipelines - even after half a century of duty. 07-08-2020
By John Koch,
Technical Supporter,
AVK Holding
Almost 50 years old, a valve from the 1970’s was returned to our offices from Padborg Water Company, who thought we should experience its condition first-hand.
Back in the 1970’s, the valve was sold from AVK Maskinfabrik; the original AVK machine shop which we now know as AVK International A/S. It was sold to Nordisk Wavin A/S, was then further distributed and ended up at Padborg Water in the South of Denmark.
Many years later, in 2018, the valve was returned to AVK International offices in Skovby, Denmark. It was sent to be inspected only, as customer was simply surprised that the valve was in such a good shape after almost 50 years of active use.
Since then, the valve has had a good brush-up and inspection here at AVK Tech’s tool shop, as we are always very interested in understanding the conditions of our products after so many years of use.
The valve body, bonnet and wedge are produced from cast iron, and the rubber was, naturally, somewhat worn out. The old valve’s body and bonnet had been coated with red primer, where after it had been top coated with blue epoxy.
After a thorough clean-up, the stem was rotating, the valve was able to keep tight and was basically fully functional. The valve has a bronze stem, which now-a-days is mostly manufactured from steel.
The design of the 70’s
Back in the 70's, the design of such a valve was slightly different than it would be today. The bonnet, body and wedge core was in grey cast iron, and flat bonnet gasket. The wedge (first generation) had part of casting epoxy coated, meaning not fully encapsulated and stem thread cut directly into the casting. The thrust collar was mounted with a lock ring.
All in all, the valve is a good example of how quality design and construction assures long-lasting, reliable products.
As our CEO Niels Aage Kjær celebrated his 50-year jubilee this June, the old valve joined the table as a symbol of many years of solid contributions to the water industry.
