A three way stainless steel electrically actuated ball valve operates on the same principle as a two way electrically actuated ball valve but instead of a complete isolation or completely open (2 states, closed or open) it will have one line open and one line closed. It is important to note that during its 90 degree turn from one line to another there is a point where all lines are partially open to each other even though this is for a limited period of time (the time for one cycle is around 12 seconds depending upon the actuator size). The 3 way ball valve itself is made of cast stainless steel (CF8M) with a polished stainless steel ball and a a direct mounted IP67 electric actuator. The size of the actuator will get bigger with the size of the valves as the torque required increases. We match all of our actuators with at least a 30% safety margin in torque.

The 3 way ball valve will work by the electric actuator rotating the ball 90 degrees in the valve. This will be in a clockwise or anticlockwise direction depending upon the actuator involved (ours usually open anti clockwise). The actuator itself is controlled by an external relay that you wire in upon installation (eg. a switch). This will then turn the ball 90 degrees as the actuator is mated to the shaft of the ball valve, switching the ports to the other configuration. It is important to note that if power is lost during its cycle the actuator will remain in that position as it has no power to continue (similar to a double acting pneumatic actuator). The actuator itself has a visual indicator as well as an extra set of limit switches for end of position voltage free feedback. Power to the electric motor is cut once the valve does a 90 degree turn (1 cycle) by a switch which is fixed by a cam to the shaft inside the actuator.

This depends upon the usage case of your valve, its environment, media and how many times it is cycled. For instance if it is on a clean media, in a clean environment and not cycled regularly the life will be decades. If it is on a corrosive media and in a dry application with a high cycle rate the life will be much shorter. We conduct regular lab testing and 30,000 cycles is a reasonable life cycle for the ball valve depending upon the application. The actuators life will depend upon how clean the environment is, its correct installation, its duty cycle and electrical supply. Been CE certified they have been tested to 6,000 life cycles for general purpose applications btu can last much longer. One common mistake we see is an incorrectly rated cable gland been installed. Our actuators are IP67 which gives you great water ingress protection but it will only be as good as the cable gland installation. You need to bear in mind the duty cycle of the actuator model you are using and do not exceed that eg. (if it is 75% you can use the actuator for 75 seconds with a 25 second down time out of 100 seconds). If you do it can lead to premature failure of the actuator.

This really depends upon the application it is going into. As this 3 way valve is female threaded it will need a male thread to fit into each of its ports (eg. male nipple). These should be sealed with thread tape or a thread sealant. As the body is full stainless steel if dissimilar metals are used this can be a potential corrosion point so make sure they are isolated from each other with some PTFE thread tape. The actuator must be wired in accordance with the wiring diagram which is on the front of the actuator and also inside the housing. This varies between models so if in doubt please consult us.

These three way electric ball valves are used on a wide variety of applications. Everything from the food industry, power generation, mining and irrigation. The common theme though is where either a diversion (switching from one line to another) or isolation of one line to change over to another is used. The media can range from water, steam all the way through to corrosive chemicals that are compatible with the materials of the valve. Being power open/power close they are not typically used on fail safe applications however you can get a spring return electric actuator however these are quite rare in application due to the pricing.

This depends upon where you are based and the freight method chosen. If the express freight option is selected it is usually next day delivery to metropolitan areas in Australia for under 5kg. If free freight has been selected it will go by road freight which can be anywhere from 1 to 10 days depending upon your location. It usually averages 3 days.

All of our products come standard with a 12 month warranty. The good news is we have very strict quality controls and all valves leave our warehouse tested (full material and testing certificates to API598 are available) and inspected so there are rarely any issues. Also once your valve is in and operating it will most likely continue to do so for a very long time.