Giving Valves a Workout

A trailer-mounted valve-exercising system provides flexibility for essentially all valve sizes with full automation to simplify the process and collect complete data

Manual valve exercising is a time-consuming process, and one that poses risks of injury to employees and damage to valves.

Valve-exercising technology is designed to automate the process, so that employees do not subject themselves to the strain of turning large or stuck valves, and so that only appropriate levels of torque are applied to valves. Automation has the added advantage of enabling easy collection of data for upload to GIS or asset management software in the office.

E.H. Wachs offers the VMT-1 valve maintenance trailer as a platform for transporting all valve main-tenance and vacuum tools needed in the field. The City of Oconomowoc, Wis., a community of about 14,000 located 30 minutes west of Milwaukee, recently purchased a unit for its water department.

The city’s trailer includes both the ERV-750 extended-reach exerciser, and the TM-7 heavy-duty exerciser for large or old, stubborn valves. Jason Bertrand, Midwest sales manager with E.H. Wachs, demonstrated the unit on May 4 outside the water department’s headquarters.

Observing for the city were water operations superintendent Steve Roush, and six members of his staff: water foreman Andy Galasinski, water operators Kevin Jezak, Tony Stangler and Erik Voneiff, water operator/fleet manager Brian Friedi, and water operator/mechanic Dennis Stair.

Walk-around

Oconomowoc’s valve-exercising system rides on a trailer rated at 7,000 pounds gross vehicle weight; actual weight is 4,200 pounds with water and debris tanks empty.

The ERV-750 exerciser extends up to 13 feet on a hinged arm and swivels roughly 270 degrees so as to reach and turn most valves from the curbside. It develops up to 750 foot-pounds of torque.

The TM-7 exerciser delivers up to 1,500 foot-pounds of torque (up to 2,500 foot-pounds if mounted on a truck chassis). It slides out 27 inches from the stored position and also swivels about 270 degrees on a stainless steel rail.

Exercising with either unit is controlled by the same Recon control unit (manufactured by Trimble), which includes a keypad and touch screen. Each exerciser has its own docking station for the control unit, which acts as a data logger, GPS and microprocessor and controls the valve-exercising automation. The unit is hermetically sealed and highly water- and shock-resistant.

The unit also carries a vacuum system with a 500-cfm blower, a 2,500-psi/2.5-gpm pressure washer pump for hydroexcavation and cleaning of valve boxes, a 60-gallon water tank, and a 200-gallon debris tank. The tank has a sight glass on the side to indicate half-full; an auto-shutoff is triggered when the tank is full.

A control panel mounted on the trailer’s left side directs all vacuum system functions. For dumping, the tank extends, tilts and opens hydraulically. The same panel includes switches for work lights and an arrow bar (eight lighting selections) for safety when operating in traffic.

The system includes a water hose reel and two jetting wands — a shorter one for pressure washing and a longer one for hydroexcavation and pressure cleaning of valve boxes. Another reel supplies hydraulic hose for connecting auxiliary tools, such as jackhammers, dewatering pumps and handheld saws. Everything is powered by a 27-hp Kohler gasoline engine with electric start.

A tool storage area on the trailer’s lower level holds vacuum wands, a vacuum hose, valve keys and miscellaneous tools and supplies.

Operation

A city crew member used an equipment van to tow the trailer from the water department’s parking lot to a valve box in the street in front of the department offices. After a crew member removed the valve box lid, Bertrand started the engine, ran it at idle, connected the long pressure wand to the water hose, primed the system, engaged the engine, and aimed the wand into the valve box to loosen debris.

Bertrand then activated the vacuum from the control panel as Galasinski lowered a vacuum wand into the opening. Debris could be seen passing through the clear vacuum hose and into the tank.

Next, Bertrand connected an umbilical from the ERV-750 exerciser to the control unit and mounted the unit in its holder. He grasped a post on the unit’s arm and pressed a green button on the post’s top to release the dual disc brakes holding the arm in place. This enabled him to extend the arm with minimal effort to a position over the valve box.

He lowered a telescoping valve key into the opening and engaged the valve, then used a “jogging” function on the control unit to locate the exerciser directly over the key. He showed that with the green button released, the brakes held the arm in a rigid position. Finally, he connected the exerciser to the valve key.

Using a stylus on the control unit’s touch screen, Bertrand entered basic data on the valve, then turned on the GPS function to record the valve’s location. Setting the torque limit at 150 foot-pounds, he touched a start icon on the control to begin the exercising process.

“The system automatically determines if a valve’s normal position is open or closed, and whether it turns right-hand or left-hand,” Bertrand observes. It is programmed so that when it hits the preset torque limit, it stops and reverses two turns, then resumes. (The operator stepped up the torque limit in 50-foot-pound increments. This gradual increase ensures that only the minimum necessary torque is applied.)

In a series of forward and reverse motions, the system executed 19.9 turns, indicating a 6-inch valve. Using the control unit, Bertrand then instructed the system to reverse direction and touched the start icon. The system returned the valve to its normal operating position.

Bertrand used fields on the control unit screen to enter information about the test: condition (good), size (6-inch), depth (6 feet), normal position (open), turn direc-tion (right-hand), and other data. He showed a space on the screen for use in recording remarks, such as defects, and difficulty in locating. He then displayed an on-screen torque chart showing the test results (charts also can be printed).

With the test complete, Bertrand stored the ERV-750 exerciser. A city crew member then repositioned the trailer with the TM-7 exerciser beside the valve box. Bertrand loosened a pair of handles, pulled the exerciser out to a position directly above the valve box, and showed how to deploy and engage the valve key. (A demonstration of the automated exercising process was not necessary because the basic functions are the same as for the ERV-750.)

Bertrand concluded the demon-stration by accompanying the crew into the water department office and showing them how the control unit uploads all data into the computer system by way of a USB connection. Data from the control unit is compatible with all recognized brands of GIS and infrastructure management software.

Observer comments

The VMT-1 system with both exercisers appears to offer a complete package for routine valve exercising. Water operations super-intendent Roush notes that the unit replaces a manual exercising program that includes some valves more than 100 years old.

“It’s certainly going to improve our operational safety and our productivity in the field,” he says. The vacuum system will prove far superior in cleaning valve boxes than the portable wet-dry vacuums the crew had been using, he observes.

The automated system allows crew members to exercise valves in a hands-off mode and avoid the risk of back and shoulder injuries that can go with turning stubborn valves. The entire system functions with minimal physical effort on the part of users.

The control unit carried considerable power in a small package. Some sort of sun shield over the docking station might be a useful addition or accessory, as under the cloudy-bright conditions of the dem-onstration, the screen was difficult to see except from directly in front. The unit does have a screen brightness adjustment for this purpose.

Manufacturer comments

Bertrand notes that the valve-exercising system is designed to give municipal departments and utilities a single platform from which to perform all exercise functions.

“A crew should be able to move from valve to valve, open the boxes, clean out debris, put on a key, exercise all valves automatically, and gather pertinent information, which includes the number of turns and the torque each valve requires. They can go through a variety of fields and add as much or as little information as they need. One technician can operate this system, although many cities send two people for traffic control and safety reasons.”

He notes that E.H. Wachs fabricates essentially everything on the trailer at its own manufacturing facilities. This gives prospective users a great deal of flexibility to customize the system.



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