Champion Quick-Lock Ball Valve - Tube to Tube Lockable Kits and NPT Shutoffs

Isolation valves are what let one person work on one part of an air system while the rest of the plant keeps running. Champion Quick-Lock ball valves come in three families covering every place you would want to put one.

• Lockable tube-to-tube kits, 20mm through 63mm. Quick-Lock push connections both ends, so the valve drops straight into a run of pipe with no threading and no adapters. Lockable in the closed position for lockout.
• 14mm tube valve, the small-bore equivalent for bench and station runs.
• NPT valves, threaded both ends, for everything that is not Quick-Lock pipe: manifold outlets, drops, equipment inlets, legacy iron.

Choose your valve from the dropdown above.

Model Selection Chart

Two Different Pressure Ratings, and Which One Governs

Champion publishes the lockable FNPT valves at 300 PSI and 300 degrees F. The Quick-Lock piping system as a whole is rated to 220 PSIG and 176 F, because the tube, its coating and the fitting seals are.

The lower number governs. A 300 PSI valve installed in a Quick-Lock line does not raise what that line can hold; it just means the valve is not the weak point. That is a good thing to have in an isolation valve, and it is also why these valves work equally well in a threaded iron or steel line where the 300 PSI rating is genuinely usable. Do not read the valve's rating as a system rating.

Where to Put Isolation Valves

The cost of a valve is trivial next to the cost of shutting a plant down to fix a drop. Worth one at each of these points:

• At the base of every branch off the main loop, so one area can be dropped without touching the rest. The tube-to-tube kits are built for exactly this.
• At each drop station, so a coupler, regulator or FRL can be changed in place. A valved outlet manifold builds this in.
• Between the compressor room and the shop, which is what Champion's own commissioning procedure assumes exists when it tells you to pressurize in 15 psig increments.
• Ahead of any equipment you will service: dryers, filters, separators, receivers.

Specify the lockable versions anywhere the valve is part of a lockout procedure. A valve that cannot be locked closed is not an isolation point as far as most safety programmes are concerned.

Shared Technical Specifications

Ideal Applications

Branch isolation on a loop main, drop station shutoffs, lockout points for maintenance, isolating a dryer or filter for element changes, sectioning a large system so a leak in one area does not take the plant down, and commissioning a new run safely by bringing it up in stages.

Building a Complete Quick-Lock System

• Quick-Lock aluminum tubing, 14mm to 63mm
• Outlet manifolds, including versions with an integral inlet valve
• Quick couplers and safety coupling bodies
• NPT bushings, nipples, plugs and gauges
• Pet cock, electronic timer and zero loss condensate drains
• Equal tees and reduction outlet tees

Ordering Notes

• All Quick-Lock products and accessories are NO CANCEL / NO RETURN, per Champion's current price list.
• Freight: freight collect from Huntersville, NC 28078 or Las Vegas, NV 89113.
• Shipping weights: Champion publishes no weight for the Quick-Lock accessory range, so no catalog weight is carried on these variants.

Why Buy from Air Compressor Store

Air Compressor Store is an authorized Champion Pneumatic distributor. Send us your layout and we will mark where the isolation valves should go. Most systems we are asked to look at have too few, and the ones they have are in the compressor room rather than where the work happens.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the tube-to-tube kit include?

Champion catalogs these as a kit with Quick-Lock tube connections on both sides, so the valve goes directly into a run of pipe. No threaded adapters, no stem adapters, no sealant. Cut the pipe, deburr it, push both sides home and torque to the figure for that tube size.

Tube kit or NPT valve, which should I buy?

If the valve is going into a run of Quick-Lock pipe, buy the tube kit. If it is going onto a thread, a manifold outlet, a piece of equipment or an existing iron line, buy the NPT valve. Using an NPT valve in a pipe run means two stem adapters and two more leak paths.

Why is the 63mm tube kit so much more than the 50mm?

$750 against $463 at list. The step from 50mm to 63mm is the largest in the Quick-Lock range on almost every fitting; there is considerably more brass in the body and the bore is nearly 60 percent larger in area. Both are shown here at Champion's list price.

Can I lock these open as well as closed?

The lockable models are specified for securing the valve, and a lockout programme normally secures the closed position. If your procedure requires a valve locked open, confirm the specific model with us before ordering.

Does a ball valve restrict flow?

A full-port ball valve open is close to the bore of the pipe and the loss is small. The bigger flow question in a drop is almost always the tube diameter and whether the main is looped, not the valve. If you are chasing pressure at the tool, start there.

Can I use these on nitrogen or vacuum?

Yes, across the Quick-Lock range: compressed air, vacuum, nitrogen and inert gases. Tube colour, not valve selection, is what identifies the service.