Nickel-plated brass ball valve male/male EZFITT Smart - 3/8 to 1 inch

A ball valve in hot-forged brass, nickel-plated on its outer surfaces, with a male thread at each end. It comes in four diameters, from 3/8 of an inch to 1 inch.

Male on both sides: what it changes when fitting

Both ends carry a male thread, in BSPP parallel pipe thread. This is the connection to choose when the valve screws straight into two female parts already in place — a manifold, a pump body, a threaded union — without adding a nipple on either side.

The gain is twofold : fewer fittings, so fewer places to leak, and less room taken up. Where a female/female assembly calls for two nipples and four seats to seal, this one needs only two.

If both of your sides are male, the female/female version is the one you need ; if you have a male on one side and a female on the other, look at a male/female valve. Check before ordering : a thread cannot be converted without an extra part.

Hot-forged brass, not cast brass

The body is hot-forged, then machined. Forged brass is denser and more even than a moulded part, without the porosity that makes a valve weep after a few years in service.

The nickel plating covers the outside only. It protects against surface oxidation and makes cleaning easier ; it is neither chrome plating nor armour. The valve is turned by hand, not with a wrench.

Nominal pressure PN 32, temperature range -10 to +120 °C. It therefore takes domestic hot water as readily as cold water lines.

Tightness: twin O-rings and a blow-out proof stem

Two EPDM O-rings seal the stem, where an entry-level valve carries only one. The stem is blow-out proof : even with the handle removed, line pressure cannot drive it out of the body.

Every part is tightness-tested as it leaves the factory, unit by unit and not by sampling. On a valve shut away behind a wall or under an inspection cover, that is the check that really counts.

Design, manufacture and inspection follow the European standard EN 13828, the one for ball valves carrying water intended for human consumption.

A reversible handle, and traceability from a phone

The red flat handle carries the direction marking. It is reversible : turn it over to clear your hand when the valve sits close to a wall or inside a tight enclosure.

A data matrix is engraved on the handle and repeated on the label. Read with a phone, it gives the part's technical sheet, its date of manufacture, its nominal pressure and its size. On a job where an older installation is being revisited, that is what saves dismantling to identify.

Four diameters, and how to pick the right one

The range covers 3/8, 1/2, 3/4 and 1 inch. These figures are thread sizes, not the outside diameter measured with a calliper : a 1/2 inch measures about 21 mm across the thread, a 3/4 inch about 27 mm.

In the French convention, that corresponds to 12x17, 15x21, 20x27 and 26x34. If you are replacing an existing valve, read the size engraved on it rather than measuring : it is safer.

Weight runs from 111 g for the smallest to 322 g for the 1 inch, which tells you how much metal is there : these are not hollow valves.