Chinese SS Ball Valve Quality

[ProzHack]

I'm putting together my AG setup and was looking to cut costs and yet stay with stainless steel. I found some SS 1/2" ball valves on ebay from China for pretty cheap. Now the first thing I always think of when I see stuff from China for cheap is "am I getting what I pay for?" So I throw this question out to the forum... has anyone bought these ball valves and can you speak to their quality? Are they magnetic at all (they shouldn't be)? Do they corrode/rust/melt/laugh at you? And how do I know I wouldn't be getting the same stuff, at a higher price, from some other vendor/LHBS?

 

[JRems]

Can you post a link to them?

 

[Airplanedoc]

How much are you really saving? Is $X really worth trusting your beer to the quality workmanship of a 6 year old Chinese girl in a labor camp?

Have you tried ax-man?

 

[ProzHack]

Sure I guess... but there are several vendors if you do a search. Each seems identical/similar. You gonna buy them all and drive the price up?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NPT-316-1-2...295?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f16323af7


As for how much I'm saving... about $6/ valve, but that doesn't address the previous questions over quality or source of vendors purchasing.

 

[Airplanedoc]

Looking at your link, those are reduced port ball valves. That is why they are so cheap. Generally you want a full port valve.

 

[wilserbrewer]

Looking at your link, those are reduced port ball valves. That is why they are so cheap. Generally you want a full port valve.

Good observe there Airplanedoc...they are surely REDUCED in flow, not sure the reduction in flow is proportionate to the reduction in price.

 

[ProzHack]

Guess I'm unclear on the reduce port thing... are you saying their somehow more restricted inside than other options?

 

[Bsquared]

I'm not sure what you are looking to spend, but these guys have great prices. I personally like the 3-piece ball valves, because you can remove them and clean them really well with out separating them fully from the tank. But they have other ball valves too.

21.86 for a 3 piece full port ball valve.

 

[Airplanedoc]

Guess I'm unclear on the reduce port thing... are you saying their somehow more restricted inside than other options?

Yes, a full port valve is a full 1/2" all the way thru the valve. The valve in your link is reduced to at least 1 size smaller (prob more looking at the pic) thru the middle. If you look at one of the last pics of the valve you can see a much smaller diameter hole around the ball. A full port valve does not have this reduction and will flow a much greater amount of liquid

 

[ProzHack]

Great, thanks! Besides the standard/full-port issue, anyone else speak to their quality?

I'm not sure what you are looking to spend, but these guys have great prices. I personally like the 3-piece ball valves, because you can remove them and clean them really well with out separating them fully from the tank. But they have other ball valves too.

They look about comparable to other vendors' pricing. But thanks for the tip!

 

[TimpanogosSlim]

I'm not sure what you are looking to spend, but these guys have great prices. I personally like the 3-piece ball valves, because you can remove them and clean them really well with out separating them fully from the tank. But they have other ball valves too.

21.86 for a 3 piece full port ball valve.

http://www.bargainfittings.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=36_57&product_id=128 $17.99 for a 3 piece full port ball valve

 

[ProzHack]

All this makes me regret not picking up all my fittings and ball valves months ago when Brewhardware had a combo set for $17...

 

[OneHoppyGuy]

LOL!
where do you think all the ball valves being sold by other vendors are being made?

 

[Protto]

A full port valve is full port in respect to conduit size or pipe sizes. If you meashure a 1/2" full port valve you will find it's ID to be closer to 5/8". And if you are running 1/2" silicone tubing the ball valve will certainly not be the bottleneck in your system.

I do not have any of the chinese ball valves linked in OP. But I have a few fittings from a chinese ebay seller. The quality is not very good, they have a lot of rough surface inside and finish is generally pore.

But I also think a lot of stuff is made in china and sold in US/Europe as if it's made here.

 

[ChuckO]

Also, you might think in mathematical terms about the description.

Some of them are ( Stainless Steel Ball ) + Valves, while others
are ( Stainless Steel ) + ( Ball Valves ).

Significant difference.