Anyone know how to clean/grease graduated, packless supplyi valve?

Fizz

I have a Richardson vap/vac system with radiator graduated packess valves. Some of valve handles are missing, and some of valves are frozen.  How do you remove,or unfreeze, grease them?

fizz

Hap_Hazzard

I'm thinking removal is the first step.

You're probably going to end up needing to replace one or two of them, so I'd buy a couple of new valves, maybe take one apart to see how they're assembled, then replace a couple of valves that need work and take them apart. You might want to start with a couple that aren't in terrible shape so you can get the hang of it before you take on the tougher ones.



If they have a lot of scale, soak them overnight in white vinegar or dilute muriatic acid. seized shafts might need to soak even longer to free them up. The most important tool you need to take apart seized valves is patience. If you twist them too hard they can break, and even if they start to turn, they can seize back up if you continue twisting them while there is abrasive material inside, so once you break one loose, let it soak again to dissolve the particles that have loosened up. If you try to spin the shaft out before it's ready, you'll get some metal exchange going, and things will go downhill fast. Sometimes it's easiest to tap the shaft through with a soft hammer, but take it easy or the shaft will mushroom. Then you've got yourself a rivet.



I usually use a fine wire brush mounted on a bench grinder to clean and burnish brass, but if it's heavily corroded you're out of luck. There's no real way to fix that. You can build surfaces back up with silver solder and machine them back down, but it usually doesn't last very long.



Handles and handwheels came in a variety of forms, so I'd need to see what you have and what needs fixing or replacing before I can suggest anything.