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Career Details
49-9012.00 - Control and Valve Installers and Repairers, Except Mechanical Door
49-9012.00 - Control and Valve Installers and Repairers, Except Mechanical Door
Install, repair, and maintain mechanical regulating and controlling devices, such as electric meters, gas regulators, thermostats, safety and flow valves, and other mechanical governors.
Key Facts

Bright Outlook
Career Details
Green Job
Career Details
Current Employment
42,400
Estimate
Forecasted Employment
42,600
Estimate
Change in Employment
200.0
Estimate
Change in Employment %
+0.5%
Estimate
Tasks

Tasks
The tasks listed below can be performed to prepare you for a career in this field.
Core
- 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.
- Lubricate wearing surfaces of mechanical parts, using oils or other lubricants.
Supplemental
- 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.
- Disconnect or remove defective or unauthorized meters, using hand tools.
- 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.
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Knowledge

Knowledge
The items listed below are organized into sections that contain knowledge useful for pursuing a career in this field. Each section also contains a "Percentage of Importance" statistic that shows how relevant an item is to the occupation.
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Tools

Tools
The tools listed below include machines, equipment, tools, and software that is useful for individuals who are interested in this career.
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Technology

Technology
The technologies listed below include machines, equipment, tools, and software that is useful for individuals who are interested in this career.
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Certifications

Certifications
The certifications listed below are useful to pursue if you are interested in a career in this field.
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Licensing

Licensing
The licensing information below is organized into sections and is useful for pursuing if you are interested in a career in this field.
No specific licensing information is listed for this occupation in the area you have selected.
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Related Programs

Online Programs related to this career, offered by participating institution(s), are listed below.
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