Fawkes Thermal Manufacturing

[Eberardo Topher]

FawkesThermal Manufacturing is a thermal insulation manufacturing company specialising in the manufacture of Expansion Joints, Rubber & Metal Bellows, Loading Chutes, Boiler Joints & Gaskets, Fibreglass insulation, Glass and Ceramic Textiles, Welding blankets and other general thermal insulation.

The new space includes specialized areas for Aerospace and Defense engineering and manufacturing equipment and sections for prototyping, testing, and quality inspection. It also features new conference rooms and collaboration areas.

The company provides innovative thermostatic solutions for various applications, including freeze protection, scald protection, mixing & diverting, steam traps, thermal bypass, tepid water delivery, washdown, balancing, drain tempering, and many other applications where temperature control is critical. Key industries it serves include railroad, commercial plumbing, aerospace, defense, and industrial.

CircuitSolver is a brand of ThermOmegaTech, a leader in designing and manufacturing thermostatic temperature control technology. ThermOmegaTech has been a trusted provider of thermostatic valves to the rail industry spanning four decades. Over the past 25 years, the company has expanded its offerings to include industrial, aerospace, defense, and, notably, commercial plumbing applications through its CircuitSolver brand.

CircuitSolver made waves by introducing the first thermostatic balancing valve tailored for domestic hot water recirculation systems. Since hitting the market in 2012, CircuitSolver valves have been widely adopted, finding their place in thousands of systems across North America.

CircuitSolver revolutionized the commercial plumbing industry by automatically balancing domestic hot water systems (DHWS), alleviating the need for labor-intensive manual adjustments. While applicable to any DHWS, these valves are particularly well-suited for use in hotels, hospitals, schools, high-rise buildings, and multi-family residences.

Social media offers engineers, contractors and independent manufacturer representative firms a significant opportunity to connect with their audience, showcase their expertise and establish a robust online presence.

By adhering to these guidelines and actively participating in social media, plumbing professionals can effectively communicate their value proposition, engage with their target audience, and achieve greater visibility in the competitive market.

A tempering valve is used for tempering the hot condensate or hot water discharge from commercial or industrial equipment going to a drain to comply with local, national, and international plumbing codes. According to the IPC (International Plumbing Code) and most state codes, the maximum allowable temperature entering a sewer system is 140F (60C) to avoid damage to existing piping.

Thermostatic drain tempering valves monitor water temperatures and control the cold water supply that mixes with the hot discharge, eliminating the risk of water or waste exceeding 140F (60C) going down the drain. If the hot effluent is above the specified set point of the valve (offered in 5-degree increments from 120F to 140F), the actuator senses the rising temperature. It signals the valve to open to allow cold water to temper the discharge fluid.

The drain tempering valve (DTV) is a mechanical valve that eliminates the need for electrical solenoid valves or thermostats. It is open only when the effluent exceeds the specified set-point temperature, usually 10F below the full open temperature, so it conserves water by automatically turning off cold water when not needed.

Industries such as restaurants, hospitality, healthcare, and manufacturing have equipment that requires tempered water before draining. A steam condensate drain cooler, or Drain Tempering Valve (DTV), is typically used in commercial dishwashers, boiler blowdown drain lines, humidifiers, autoclaves, sterilizers, automatic cleaning equipment, or any application discharging scalding water.

If you are starting a project where there is a possibility of high-temperature discharge into the drain/sewer, it needs to be tempered with cold water so as not to damage the drains or piping. A thermostatic drain tempering valve is the most efficient solution to control the water temperature and prevent damage, fines, and scalding.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought attention to vulnerabilities in plumbing systems, including cold-water systems. Stagnation and warming of unbalanced cold-water systems during building closures have raised concerns about Legionella growth.

The CSU-CW valve utilizes the same reliable and precise thermal actuator technology as the original CircuitSolver. It addresses critical issues related to Legionella mitigation in cold water recirculation systems by maintaining a stable temperature. It accomplishes this by continuously monitoring the water temperature and modulating flow to maintain a set temperature at the end of each branch or riser.

The valve operates over a 10F temperature range. For example, a valve specified for a desired return temperature of 60F will open at 70F (10F above the desired return temperature). At 60F, the valve is in its closed position. A bypass in the design always allows water to flow back to the pump so that the pump is never dead-headed.

ThermOmegaTech is a world leader in designing and manufacturing self-actuating thermostatic valve technology. They recently turned their attention to battling the Legionella risk in cold water systems.

To achieve stability, system balancing must continually address the ongoing changes occurring within a building. Thermostatic balancing valves adjust dynamically, providing the best opportunity for sustainability and Legionella mitigation.

We were honored to welcome our principal Representatives to our CircuitSolver Summit in May. This critical Summit focused on the benefits of connecting with partners in the industry, and discussed ways to reach new customers, new products and initiatives, and more.

CircuitSolver is the ideal solution for balancing recirculation systems, and we thank our Representatives, engineers, and contractors who spoke about their experiences with the CircuitSolver line.

Watch the anniversary video!

David Texter, Lead Plumbing Engineer at Browne Engineering, discusses the benefits of specifying CircuitSolver Thermostatic Balancing Valves for an installation project at the Twin Lakes Assisted Living Facility in Montgomery, Ohio.

The balancing issues for this project were easy to identify because there was a lack of installed balancing valves on all the loops. CircuitSolver valves were chosen to help minimize the amount of individual balancing in the system.

The team experienced significant time savings during installation by not needing a third-party balancer to balance the system. The contractor installed 20 CircuitSolver valves and turned on the system, and it automatically started to balance itself.

Comparing CircuitSolver with manual balancing valves, Texter highlights that the intelligence integrated into CircuitSolver allows the valve to balance itself automatically in response to system demands and temperatures. Texter concludes that CircuitSolver is markedly superior in this regard.

CircuitSolver can help you with any balancing needs; even if your project was installed with manual balancing valves, CircuitSolver will eliminate those balancing issues with a retrofit installation. See the full CircuitSolver line here.

More than ten years ago, ThermOmegaTech developed the CircuitSolver, the first thermostatic balancing valve used in domestic hot water systems to overcome the challenges inherent in traditional manual balancing methods.

PHCP Pros recently spoke with Tom Ruggierio, Director of Sales for Commercial Plumbing at ThermOmegaTech and the subject matter expert on thermostatic balancing valve technology and the CircuitSolver thermostatic balancing valve.

TR: The manual balancing valves and the pressure-independent valves are both flow devices; the challenge is determining how much flow is required in a branch or riser to offset the heat loss. Building engineers constantly try to determine how much flow they need to cancel the heat loss by manipulating the manual balancing valve or selecting specific flow cartridges with pressure-independent valves.

Two characteristics separate CircuitSolver from the other types of balancing valves. First, it is inherently a temperature device solving a temperature problem. The other two devices are flow devices trying to solve a temperature problem indirectly. Second, CircuitSolver is dynamic, continuously changing the flow rate to maintain a constant temperature. The other types are fixed devices; once you set them, they do not react to changing conditions that may require re-balancing.

TR: We have enhanced the product by adding different features based on the feedback from engineers and contractors. We added an integrated union and check valve to CircuitSolver about five years ago. Combining these elements into one valve provides a solution with a better cost-benefit and a more integrated solution with fewer leak points.

In addition, we started creating assemblies with ball valves, strainers, and thermometers, providing temperature measurement capability to the CircuitSolver. We also added several different types of end connections.

TR: The basic CircuitSolver, which has no union or check valve, ranges from 1/2 inch to 2 inches. The CircuitSolver with the union and check valve comes in 1/2-inch, 3/4-inch, and 1-inch sizes. The assemblies are combined with our union and ball valves with optional strainers and thermometers; all those can be combined with different end connections.

This product is still in its infancy but has been installed in several VA hospitals to recirculate cold water. This reverse-acting valve works the opposite of a hot water valve because it starts closing its position based on cooling water. Recirculating the cold water in the system eliminates stagnant lines and helps mitigate Legionella and other waterborne pathogens that can develop in the plumbing system, creating health risks.

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