Spence Steam Pressure Reducing Valve Assembly Cutaway View

[@JD-hh9io]

Greetings from an actual Spence machinest. Retired in 2014. That valve was built in Walden NY. Started in1926 and sold in 2018 or 19ish to Emerson Valve or what ever they call them selves. Emerson fired every one and sent all of the work to India, China, and Mexico. Nice to see inside of one again. Worked there for 25 years. Made most of the parts in that valve at one time or another. Thanks for doing this. A little useless trivia, Spence valves were installed in the USS Nautilius, 1st operational nuclear powered submarine. Nice video.

[@johnkrim8377]

Took care of same thing for 20 years in a 100 year old boiler room in a nursing home. Produced our own steam 1- 100hp boiler, 2-200 hp boilers , pilot valve always needed attention . I had a blanket draped over the main so I didn't get burned working on it. Ran the boiler room and also was the master plumber for the facility and did most of the pluming repairs myself , had various helpers over the years but none stayed very long for one reason our another. When I retired they removed the three boilers and put in all new equipment that operated with out any body that had to do the daily work on them that I done. 👷🏻

[@gordonschweizer5154]

Thank you very much for sharing your story!

[@TrustGuz]

Bro when he said “mere mortals” had me die laughing 😂😂😂😂😂

[@gordonschweizer5154]

Thanks!

[@scottk0623]

Thanks so much for taking the time to explain it. Up here in the woods I’ll never see such a device. A true engineering marvel. So simple yet so complex

[@67tr876]

This is a great video ! Yes here in NYC tons of buildings have them.

[@gordonschweizer5154]

NYC. The Grand Capital of Steam.

[@67tr876]

@@gordonschweizer5154 yes sir ! As well use to be the capital of the No.6 oil burner too ! Now most buildings that have boilers have made the switch to gas with No.2 back up but there are still some No.4 buildings out there too. Mostly in the bronx

[@josephrodriguez1540]

Very dangerous room, I love my boilers...I have one 400Hp and 500HP. I teach a class and I do the same. Cutting a part in have and the way Mr. Gordon did, takes a lot of time and dedication. Mr. Gordon, you are a genius, but your are a TEACHER. What you get paid from KZbin is not sufficient, but I know that you enjoyed it.

[@gordonschweizer5154]

@@67tr876 Yes, I saw an article about those big NYC apartments burning #6, and efforts to get them to switch to #4 a few years ago. Amazing.

[@dannywilkins887]

Good explanation,good dissection, see these in hospitals, labs etc for throttling down pressure to autoclaves, steam coils in vats

[@CarpeDiamCoramDao]

I just watched a "professional" training video. I have just started learning about steam, I actually learned from yours! Thanks

[@gordonschweizer5154]

Thank you!

[@frankalbert1189]

The smutz had been many moons of overtime! Thank you , great video

[@jiangbian76]

I’m learning how to work on steam. Your video is really helpful. Thank you!

[@gordonschweizer5154]

You're welcome!

[@JamesBrown-db9pk]

the good old days i miss

[@keithglynn9237]

Thanks for doing this. I work on various steamcontrols and this vid helps explain the control pressures through the pilot valve and control lines. I am having problems with new valves filling up with condensate and remaining closed. I also found some pin holes in the main large valve diaphragm.

[@craigblair4764]

Such a great video ! I think the orifice is clogged on our PRV. I will check tomorrow and report back. Thanks for the great video on this!

[@gordonschweizer5154]

Thank you! Good luck!

[@Monaco_mechanical]

Havent seen one since I left NYC. Changed a few diaphragms but I never got a thorough understanding of how the D-pilot communicates upstream and downstream. Steam is fascinating

[@gordonschweizer5154]

Thanks for your comment! May I ask, what do you think caused diaphragm failure? Were they the "rubber" type shown or the stainless steel type?

[@Monaco_mechanical]

@@gordonschweizer5154 I'm honestly not certain. They'd develop a crack somewhere along the outer edge (stainless steel).

[@gordonschweizer5154]

@@Monaco_mechanical Thanks for your reply. It sounds like a fatigue crack.They must have been doing a lot of cycling open and closed over years of use. What happens to show that failure? I presume the main valve fails to open and the customer has no heat?

[@carminetrezza5427]

eric monaco was

[@rogerbettencourt9654]

Most excellent! Thank you for sharing Gordon. That is very cool.

[@gordonschweizer5154]

Very welcome

[@rickyhertz7250]

Great explanation and video , We have a lot of them in use , Have a bunch at a rail yard that uses 150psi steam boilers to heat and clean tanker rail cars , commonly found on deaerator and heat exchangers . I’m sure there’s a bunch in Boston

[@josephrodriguez1540]

Very interesting 👌 , nice job.

[@gordonschweizer5154]

Thank you very much!

[@atmeles]

Wow, that was a very informative video, thanks

[@gordonschweizer5154]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@jimsmith5756]

Thank you for the instructions and explanation, great video!

[@gordonschweizer5154]

You're very welcome!

[@rafaelcastro6466]

Helpful it is! Thank you 👍

[@gordonschweizer5154]

You're welcome!

[@JamesBrown-db9pk]

her in mpls have them here worked lots of them and dumham bush 50s 60s

[@shottputter]

You ever want to get rid of that E5 cut away, please let me know. It will go good with my ED cut away in my office.

[@gordonschweizer5154]

Thank you, but not now. I may use it as a classroom teaching prop.

[@allardlumber1]

Do you have any info about a Spence regulator valve that is controlled by a PLC via a temperature probe?

[@gordonschweizer5154]

I've only worked on them a few times, so I don't feel confident enough to offer much advice.

[@OWASIA]

Normally closed.when we exert pressure through pilot the pilot valve opens and steams goes to main diaphragm which opens main valve.now what is the function of bleed port,I am not getting that.i think it's taking in steam from upstream,at the same time it bleeds. It is not clear.can you explain this port.

[@shottputter]

The bleedport bleeds steam OFF the diaphragm of the main valve once pressure downstream is satisfied, allowing the main valve to close to the desired position to either maintain pressure or close completely if no steam pressure is required, depending on what the system is asking for. No downstream steam will enter this port because the pressure it bleeds will higher (inlet pressure). Some upstream steam pressure will escape through the bleed port, but not enough to have an effect on PRV performance provided the bleedport and PRV are properly sized for the application.

[@jeffreyjohn2037]

Never seent one of those

[@gordonschweizer5154]

I only have two customers with these in their basements.

[@jeffreyjohn2037]

@@gordonschweizer5154 today I saw a Stephen Gold mattress radiator in a very old house in Simsbury Ct. It still operates well. Amazing!

[@gordonschweizer5154]

@@jeffreyjohn2037 Excellent! Did you get pics?

[@jeffreyjohn2037]

@@gordonschweizer5154 I didn't take any pictures. Although if I have a chance to in the future, I will. It's the only one I've ever seen in person. The rest of the house had vintage ornate column radiators.