Better valve, ball or globe?

[tao_of_howe]

Is one type better than the other? Ball valves or Globe valves? I have had trouble with stuborn globe valves in the past, and less trouble with ball valves. Is it just that the globe valves are more common, more chances of finding a bad one, or are they less reliable? I have replaced every globe valve with a ball valve that I have had to work around. Am I right in doing this? Or, did a couple of bad globe valves give me irrational bias?

[hj]

You must live in a "weird" area if you have that many globe valves around. I see a globe valve about once every five years. But that being said, typically the two valves are designed for different functions. A ball valve, or gate valve, is design to give the maximum flow with the least restriction and should be fully open or fully closed. A globe valve is for use when flow modulation is required, but maximum flow is not a factor. It can be operated at any degree of modulation from fully open to fully closed. The quality of the valve usually determines its functionality, as it does with any other valve. Here there are mostly imported gate valves used and many of them have broken after a few years of service.