On 11/08/2010 09:43, Dave Liquorice wrote:
On Wed, 11 Aug 2010 01:45:04 +0100, Spamlet wrote:

The gate valves: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gate_valve should have
several turns on them and they are very often stuck.

Yes, ******* things.

They are meant to be fully open or fully closed.

Not *fully* open, that is a guaranteed way for the crud/corrosion to
jam 'em up very firmly. You stand slightly more chance of them not
jamming if you fully open then close them half a turn or so. Also
it's a good idea to fully close and reopen them every so often, like
once a year.

The advice on opening a valve fully and then closing it slightly applies
to any type of valve. If you can turn it, you know it is open, if you
can't, then you know it is closed.

Dave