NITROUS OXIDE ( nos / n2o ) advice forum

Bottle valve comparison

The WON billet alloy bottle valve is unique and we are the only company in the world to supply a bottle valve to such a high specification as standard equipment;



1) The valve body is CNC machined from aircraft quality billet alloy, for maximum strength and minimum weight. Most other companies use plated cast brass, although NX have recently followed our lead and started offering an alloy bodied valve but as far as I'm aware it's NOT supplied as standard equipements.

2) The WON valve stem is machined from 13mm stainless steel for maximum strength and is coated with PTFE for minimum wear. Other companies use a much smaller o/d brass stem, some as small as 6mm, without any low friction coating.

3) The valve core is machined from brass with a PTFE coating for a smooth, light operating action and minimum wear, (other companies use a brass core, without any low friction coating).

4) The valve seat uses the same unique advanced material as used in our well proven Pulsoids.

5) The flow path through our valve is unique, being radial with a tangential discharge outlet, which produces a much higher flow rate than the designs used by other valves, (other companies use valves that have a linear flow path with a 90 degree discharge outlet which is not as efficient). Our valve has the highest flow rate of any standard equipment valve on the market.

6) The unique design of the operating hand wheel is such that it overlaps the body, so that in the event of an impact the valve knob will NOT break off, (unlike other valves which will break rendering them useless).

7) The hand wheel is a press fit to a spline on the stainless steel main stem, so that in the event of an excessive turning force being applied, the main stem can't be sheared (as with other valves, which renders them useless), rather the knob splines will strip and then the knob can be replaced.

8) Our valve is fitted with a unique 'gas' venting system controlled by our unique Safe Pressure Relief Valve - SPRV - while other companies use a 'liquid' venting system that is blocked by a rupture disc.
For full details of the benefits of the SPRV over a rupture disc please read;
http://www.noswizard.com/bboard/viewtopic.php?t=164

9) The valve has an optional extra 'gas' port that can be used for any of the following;
i) nitrogen boosting
ii) direct fitting of a bottle pressure gauge
iii) direct fitting of a pressure switch
iv) direct fitting of a pressure transducer
Most other makes of valve do not have this feature.

10) Last but not least on our list of advantages over other valves is that they are available in a selection of colours as well as polished, so they look better than any other valve as well as performing better.

One more fact that should be of interest to the high end guys is the enormous flow rate of our valve - which is a staggering 4,500 lbs/hr open flow, 3,300 lbs/hr through a dash 4 fitting and 2,000 lbs/hr with our standard outlet fitting.

The test was carried out with a pre-heated (only) 11lb bottle at 900psi

Here's video clip of the flow test to show the maximum flow rate with a dash 4 outlet fitted to the Maxflow valve.

To get an accurate flow rate for the valve I used a 1/4 turn high flow ball valve on the outlet of the Maxflow, as this is quicker to open and shut than the conventional handwheel method on the Maxflow.

The test ran for 5 seconds and vented of 2.03 Kg

VIDEO CLIP
http://www.noswizard.com/trev/bottle_valve.wmv

By the way sorry for the camera jumping, Ant was rather surprised by the "action" when I opened the valve.


All these figures could be substantially increased in any of the following ways;
1) we were using our standard 6mm bore dip tube and the valve is designed to take up to a 10mm bore tube and we will be testing that in the near future.
2) we could have used a larger bottle (15 lb).
3) we could have increased the bottle pressure
4) we could have added nitrogen boost to counteract the pressure drop of such a massive flow.

All in all exceptional results.

We're just introducing a new gauge adapter as shown below;



The Flo-Max valve has a blind gauge port but this sets the gauge to face sideways to the outlet pipe, which we've since discovered doesn't suit all people.
This new adapter sets the gauge at the opposite side to the outlet pipe and is therefore easily visible when the bottle is mounted in the car.

This adapter screws into the SPRV port and sets the SPRV at right angle to the original position.

I'd just like to remind everyone that by having the gauge in the SPRV port it avoids causing disruption and expansion of the main nitrous flow to the solenoid as this port is uniquely seperate to the main flow unlike generic valves. A further advantage is that the gauge will read the bottle pressure even when the bottle valve is turned off.

Fitting a 'T' piece in the solenoid feed line is the worst method of connecting a gauge to a nitrous bottle.

Here's a video clip of a test to show how much stronger our Flo-Max billet alloy bottle valves are than generic bottle valves.
The test consisted of dropping a heavy steel bar down a guide pole from a fixed height of 8ft onto each bottle valve.

VIDEO CLIP
http://www.noswizard.com/videos/Valve%20drop%20test.wmv

When the knob is broken off of a generic valve, it means the contents can't be removed without bleeding it to atmosphere.
After the test was carried out the generic valve was useless but the Flo-Max valve could still be operated to use the nitrous before repairs or replacement can be carried out.

Hi Board

Why was the bar sent from 8 foot - why didn't you use the industry standard drop test criteria of 1m? Thats what they use for laptops and stuff to mimick people dropping stuff from their hands onto ground I think.

We don't only push the limits with innovative designs, we push every aspect of our products to the limit in all respects.

If we'd have had a taller building we'd have dropped the weight from even higher.

Even at 1m the generic valve would still have broken and it's because we'd had a few customers do so, that we designed a valve that could withstand not only a 1m drop but also as much as we could throw at it.

If we were the kind of company that "just" worked to the lower limits of regulations, we wouldn't have introduced the SPRV, as a rupture disc is the accepted industry standard and we'd be selling generic parts just like every other company.

Hi Trev thanks for that view point - I guess its always a good idea to build in plenty of tolerance into released products.

I guess its not just about regulations though - its more pride in a job well done too I should imagine. The brits pride themselves on the quality of their work.

I have a question on your soon to be released smooooth system-

What is the benefit in terms of "feel good" factor to the younger drivers over a hit you in the face bam bam type shot?

Pride in my work certainly plays a major part and another contributor is the fact that 25 years ago I set out to manufacture the best nitrous system in the world.
A growing number of people throughout the world appreciate the superior quality and performance of my products and now all I need is the track results across the spectrum to rubber stamp that fact.

With regard to the Smooooth system, don't be mislead by the use of the word smooth. The new system will still have the "potential" to deliver a "sharp" fixed power delivery but unlike existing systems it will also be able to genuinely deliver lower and higher power levels as well as progress smoothly from one to the other.

Every aspect of the new system will be superior to and produce greater results than any existing system.

I got that one, for now..

I think you should be able to order from our shop on the net http://www.noswizard.com otherwise give us a call.

Do you want the whole valve or just the gauge and adapter?

If you have our valve and you want to add the top adapter you will also need to replace your currently large SPRV, with the smaller option that fits the adapter.

To use the blind side port for the gauge, you just need to finish the machining which involves drilling through with a 3mm drill & tapping with a 1/8" BSP tap.

It's not in web shop.
I already have your valve, gauge and Tee. Tee is the worst option for fitting gauge. So I wanted to go with that adapter on SPRV...



Yes, this is option no.2

The adapter is £18 and we can exchange the SPRV for you but if you don't want to do the exchange the SPRV would normally be £27 but I'd do that for you at £15.

All prices are plus post & VAT

Sorry it's not in the shop yet but for now to place your order, please use either our contact page and send us your details by email, or call 01302 834343.

OK. I would see if my friends from croatia is planing to order something from you and I would put it in that order.

If not, I would try option no2 (bolt on blind port)...

It's not a 'bolt' in a blind port, you convert it to accept the gauge thread in the port and just break through the blind end with a small drill.

We can supply the parts to do this work but it is better to use the SPRV adapter as it's easier to view the gauge and it's more robust.