Custom HVAC Valves

Value-added engineering simply means just that. It enhances and customizes a standard solution so that it works better; offers cost, reliability and performance benefits; or uniquely solves a long-standing challenge.

Providing value-added engineering is more than lip service and empty claims. It requires that an engineering team be in place, tasked with improving project quality and employing a high level of skill, communication and collaboration that adds value at every step along the way.

Specialty Manufacturing takes standard, off-the-shelf valves and components and adds application-specific value to designs for its customers. The ability to listen, evaluate, customize, test and deliver solutions — ranging from a minor tweak to a major redesign — defines Specialty Manufacturing and its missions. Here are four examples that illustrate the types of challenges it routinely solves.

Fuel Line Backflow

When a major industrial equipment manufacturer experienced fuel line backflow problems on fuel lines used in fork lift tractors, a variety of standard valves were considered. Possible solutions ranged from ball check valve prototypes to a simple brass check valve, with modifications for cost and function. After collaborating with Specialty Manufacturing, the solution, created over the span of three months, modified a standard design for a precise fit for the specific application footprint. It involved the addition of a spring that regulated valve activation, custom barbed inlet and outlet ends and nickel plating, resulting in effective operation.

In this case, the customization provided a reduction in long-term costs for the successful product, as well as a reduction in warranty repairs.

One of the largest family-owned pork producers in the United States needed to improve the flow of water and subsequently find a valve design that could efficiently and effectively deliver water to their hogs. Addressing an inconsistent water flow through the valve was the first step to improve the valves performance. To improve water flow Specialty engineers recommended a redesign of an internal plastic nozzle that could be used with the existing valve. Prototypes were developed and tested successfully. The result was more consistent and predictable water flow.

The second phase, implemented after the use of the new nozzle design for a year, involved improving the overall valve design’s manufacturing inconsistencies and early valve wear and tear. Specialty Manufacturing would need to engineer a solution that could eliminate leaks, last seven to 10 years and work with the existing water distribution system as well as a new, planned water system. The Specialty solution involved changes to threading, internal springs and a new toggle design. While major design customization was required, Specialty took only eight weeks, accessing its in-house engineering, machining, prototype and testing capabilities.

With an operation that spanned 44 farms and four Midwest states, the stakes were high. Specialty engineers reengineered the valve to eliminate design flaws and optimize water flow. Once implemented, the customization yielded an annual savings of millions of gallons of water and thousands of dollars in manure transfer costs.