flow check valve and swing check valve

heatingFun

what's the difference between the flow check valve and swing check valve?

 I need a flow check valve for a separate zone but the Lowes guy told me I could use swing check valve for that purpose. Is that true?

Jean-David Beyer

Is that true?

I think the guy working at Lowes is working there because he does not know enogh to be a heating and plumbing professional. A swing check valve might be enougb to prevent back flow in a multi-zone hydronic heating system, but it would do nothing to prevent ghost flow (forward flow, thermal convection flow). For that you need a real flow check valve.

Zman

Lowes

I don't think I have had a conversation that started with "the guy from lowes said..."that ended well. As the previous poster mentioned they are not the same. Flow checks or "spring checks" provide a tight seal against ghosting and most inadvertent flows ,they can be mounted in any position. They have the disadvantage a fairly high resistance to flow. This can be a disadvantage in some mixing pump situations.

Swing checks should only be mounted horizontally and are prone to ghosting  in many applications. They have the advantage of comparatively low resistance.