Career summary

Details for Control and Valve Installers and Repairers, Except Mechanical Door


Description

Install, repair, and maintain mechanical regulating and controlling devices, such as electric meters, gas regulators, thermostats, safety and flow valves, and other mechanical governors.

Tasks

  • Turn meters on or off to establish or close service.
  • Turn valves to allow measured amounts of air or gas to pass through meters at specified flow rates.
  • Report hazardous field situations and damaged or missing meters.
  • Record meter readings and installation data on meter cards, work orders, or field service orders, or enter data into hand-held computers.
  • Connect regulators to test stands, and turn screw adjustments until gauges indicate that inlet and outlet pressures meet specifications.
  • Disassemble and repair mechanical control devices or valves, such as regulators, thermostats, or hydrants, using power tools, hand tools, and cutting torches.
  • Record maintenance information, including test results, material usage, and repairs made.
  • Disconnect or remove defective or unauthorized meters, using hand tools.
  • Lubricate wearing surfaces of mechanical parts, using oils or other lubricants.
  • Test valves and regulators for leaks and accurate temperature and pressure settings, using precision testing equipment.
  • Install regulators and related equipment such as gas meters, odorization units, and gas pressure telemetering equipment.
  • Shut off service and notify repair crews when major repairs are required, such as the replacement of underground pipes or wiring.
  • Examine valves or mechanical control device parts for defects, dents, or loose attachments, and mark malfunctioning areas of defective units.
  • Attach air hoses to meter inlets, plug outlets, and observe gauges for pressure losses to test internal seams for leaks.
  • Dismantle meters, and replace or adjust defective parts such as cases, shafts, gears, disks, and recording mechanisms, using soldering irons and hand tools.
  • Advise customers on proper installation of valves or regulators and related equipment.
  • Connect hoses from provers to meter inlets and outlets, and raise prover bells until prover gauges register zero.
  • Make adjustments to meter components, such as setscrews or timing mechanisms, so that they conform to specifications.
  • Replace defective parts, such as bellows, range springs, and toggle switches, and reassemble units according to blueprints, using cam presses and hand tools.
  • Investigate instances of illegal tapping into service lines.
  • Install, inspect and test electric meters, relays, and power sources to detect causes of malfunctions and inaccuracies, using hand tools and testing equipment.
  • Trace and tag meters or house lines.
  • Mount and install meters and other electric equipment such as time clocks, transformers, and circuit breakers, using electricians' hand tools.
  • Vary air pressure flowing into regulators and turn handles to assess functioning of valves and pistons.
  • Attach pressurized meters to fixtures which submerge them in water, and observe meters for leaks.
  • Measure tolerances of assembled and salvageable parts for conformance to standards or specifications, using gauges, micrometers, and calipers.
  • Repair leaks in valve seats or bellows of automotive heater thermostats, using soft solder, flux, and acetylene torches.
  • Clean internal compartments and moving parts, using rags and cleaning compounds.
  • Repair electric meters and components, such as transformers and relays, and replace metering devices, dial glasses, and faulty or incorrect wiring, using hand tools.
  • Recondition displacement type gas meters and governors, fabricating, machining, or modifying parts needed for repairs.
  • Cut seats to receive new orifices, tap inspection ports, and perform other repairs to salvage usable materials, using hand tools and machine tools.
  • Reassemble repaired equipment, and solder top, front, and back case panels in place, using soldering guns, power tools, and hand tools.
  • Calibrate thermostats for specified temperature or pressure settings.
  • Collect money due on delinquent accounts.
  • Recommend and write up specifications for changes in hardware, such as house wiring.
  • Splice and connect cables from meters or current transformers to pull boxes or switchboards, using hand tools.
  • Clean plant growth, scale, paint, soil, or rust from meter housings, using wire brushes, scrapers, buffers, sandblasters, or cleaning compounds.
  • Clamp regulator units into vises on stages above water tanks, and attach compressed air hoses to intake ports.
  • Calibrate instrumentation, such as meters, gauges, and regulators, for pressure, temperature, flow, and level.

Interests

  • Realistic - Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.
  • Investigative - Investigative occupations frequently involve working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. These occupations can involve searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.
  • Conventional - Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.

Education, training, experience

  • Education - Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
  • Training - Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.
  • Experience - Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.

Knowledge

  • Chemistry -Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
  • Education and Training -Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
  • Production and Processing -Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
  • Physics -Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub- atomic structures and processes.
  • Building and Construction -Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
  • Administration and Management -Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
  • Design -Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
  • Mathematics -Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
  • Public Safety and Security -Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
  • Computers and Electronics -Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
  • Engineering and Technology -Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
  • Mechanical -Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.

Skills

None found.

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