Control Valve Position

[4Liberty]

General question regarding a hydraulic control valve. Is there an “up” or “down” consideration with control valves in general or is gravity irrelevant to the function of them?

 

[workinonit]

For me, I think of them more in terms of IN and OUT. Gravity depends on what they are attached to.

 

[oldnslo]

Is this a question about mounting orientation or plumbing?
If mounting No a normal valve does not care what orientation it is mounted.
If plumbing it depends on the spool type or function. Example: You would not normally have a valve plumbed to raise a load by pushing on the lever and then push a little harder and go into float so loads drops.

 

[4Liberty]

Is this a question about mounting orientation or plumbing?
If mounting No a normal valve does not care what orientation it is mounted.
If plumbing it depends on the spool type or function. Example: You would not normally have a valve plumbed to raise a load by pushing on the lever and then push a little harder and go into float so loads drops.

Question was regarding mounting not the ports. My first thought was it shouldn’t matter, but I was after second opinions thanks for the reply!

 

[4Liberty]

For me, I think of them more in terms of IN and OUT. Gravity depends on what they are attached to.

Thanks for the reply, but I was trying to ask about the ports facing up or down not the plumbing.

 

[oldnslo]

Question was regarding mounting not the ports. My first thought was it shouldn’t matter, but I was after second opinions thanks for the reply!

4liberty
One exception to mounting orientation not being a concern is an FEL valve with mounted joystick. Changing mounting orientation changes how the joy stick functions vs FEL movement.

Example: If valve is assembled for ports up mounting where moving lever left or right is curl - dump. Mount same valve with port to the right and now left or right is raise - lower.

 

[rScotty]

This thread made me remember old motorcycles and their controls. Bad enough that the levers themselves were shaped differently - there were toe shifts as well as "heel and toe" shifters.

But even more strange was that some motorcycles shifted with the right foot and braked with the left - while others were exactly opposite. In an effort to solve that problem, a few makes could be bought either way!

Once we figured out which side it shifted on, we found that sometimes we lifted the to lever for higher gears, and others that same motion was a downshift.
Finding Neutral was another mystery. Sometimes above first, and sometimes between gears. A few models even had "rotary shift" with neutral at the beginning and then up through the gears until neutral appeared again in a never-ending circle.

I still get on tractors where things are backwards. Our old JD has the loader controls on the left while the right hand controls the throttle and clutch.

 

[4Liberty]

Not a

4liberty
One exception to mounting orientation not being a concern is an FEL valve with mounted joystick. Changing mounting orientation changes how the joy stick functions vs FEL movement.

Example: If valve is assembled for ports up mounting where moving lever left or right is curl - dump. Mount same valve with port to the right and now left or right is raise - lower.

No problem there, I wanted a loader that could be attached easily. So I started out with a Ford 19-117 loader frame, cut it apart and welded in the uprights from a 776B Quick Tach. Using the valve from the 776B and it’s in an uncomfortable position. By rotating it 90 degrees forward the handles are straight up and in a much better position.

 

[4Liberty]

This thread made me remember old motorcycles and their controls. Bad enough that the levers themselves were shaped differently - there were toe shifts as well as "heel and toe" shifters.

But even more strange was that some motorcycles shifted with the right foot and braked with the left - while others were exactly opposite. In an effort to solve that problem, a few makes could be bought either way!

Once we figured out which side it shifted on, we found that sometimes we lifted the to lever for higher gears, and others that same motion was a downshift.
Finding Neutral was another mystery. Sometimes above first, and sometimes between gears. A few models even had "rotary shift" with neutral at the beginning and then up through the gears until neutral appeared again in a never-ending circle.

I still get on tractors where things are backwards. Our old JD has the loader controls on the left while the right hand controls the throttle and clutch.

Funny you say that, all the farm tractors I owned had the 2 brake pedals on the Right side, and it became a reaction to go for those pedals when stuff started going wrong. Then we got a newer John Deere mower with the hydrostatic pedals on the right side for forward/reverse I’ll never understand why they did that.

 

[Lstlk2hi]

General question regarding a hydraulic control valve. Is there an “up” or “down” consideration with control valves in general or is gravity irrelevant to the function of them?

Some apply down force instead of letting gravity and weight do it. When it is a gravity based function they tend to float up as your work/material builds up to the point of pushing a few hundred pounds of steel up. Downward pressure from hydraulic pump(s) will keep the bucket or scraper in place where the weight of attachment will be over run by pressure of material or angle. I am using 50+ years of experience on 'ranch' tractors as the basis for reply. AC scraper had no down 'force' and needed constant fiddling with up/down control to grade roads. Deere John kept the gannon in place once I learned how to set it correctly then lock the setting with a thumb wheel on lift/lower control arm. Rocks and root balls will cause a bounce that is dealt with on 2nd pass.