Hello, I am new to this site and am enjoying the vast amount of knowledge available here.
I have a problem that I can't seem to find any information on and am hoping someone is familiar with.
I live on a 27 acre lake and am attempting to get the drain valve in the spillway operational. The lake was built about 50 years ago and has a concrete block spillway about 20 feet away from the dam. Inside the spillway is a drain valve that is approximately 15" to 18" in diameter. It is operated by a 3/4" steel rod attached to the valve that extends to the top of the spillway. The end of the rod is threaded and has a nut with a flange on it that is attached to an angle iron structure to secure it. As the nut turns it lifts the gate allowing the water to flow through.
The problem is that the valve hasn't been operated for at least 15 years and the nut was rusted to the shaft. I was able to free the nut and slowly turned it, The valve opened freely and closed securely when I turned it back. I only opened it a small amount. I repeated this several times, opening the valve a little further each time. When I thought everything was operating correctly, I opened it quite a bit and noticed a change in the sound of the water. I attempted to close the valve but it would not completely shut off the flow of water, even with a lot of pressure on the rod. I hit the end of the rod with a large hammer and managed to almost close the valve.
I'm thinking something was in the pipe that reached the valve and didn't pass through it. Opening the valve completely may flush the pipe and allow the valve to operate normally, or, I may end up draining the entire lake. (This would probably create a lynch mob of the other 20 something lakeside property owners.)
I plan to consult the lake owner before proceeding with this plan.
Does anyone have an idea what type of valve I'm dealing with? It would be a tremendous help if I knew what I am dealing with.
Any help, advice, or condolences will be greatly appreciated.
d2a2

Last edited by d2a2; 05/26/13 01:51 PM.