Control System Components 213

the flow by an equal percentage. For example, an equal percent-

age valve has the following characteristics: for each 10% of stem
travel the flow is increased by 50%.
Stem travel Flow
30% 8%
40% 12%
50% 18%
60% 27%
70% 40.5%
80% 60.75%
90% 91.125%

Valve Actuator
Generally, normally open valves are used in heating applica-
tions and usually have lower spring ranges, 3 to 7 psig, 4 to 8
psig, etc. Cooling applications are valved normally closed with
higher spring ranges, 8 to 12 psig, 9 to 13 psig, etc. This will allow
sequencing of the valves without simultaneous heating and cool-
ing. For example, an air handling unit has a heating coil piped
with a normally open two-way valve, 3 to 7 psig, and a cooling
coil piped with a normally closed two-way valve, 9 to 13 psig. The
space thermostat is piped to both valves. It is a direct acting ther-
mostat with the setpoint at 73 degrees and a 6 degree throttling
range. The space temperature is 70 degrees. Since the space tem-
perature is below the setpoint the branch pressure going to the
heating and cooling valve is low, in this case 3 psig. With 3 psig
on the valve actuators the heating valve is full open and the cool-
ing valve is full closed. These are their normal positions. As the
space temperature rises, the branch output pressure also in-
creases. When the pressure rises to 7 psig both the heating valve
and the cooling valve are closed. If the space temperature in-
creases to 73 degrees or above, the output pressure will be 9 psig
or greater, opening the cooling valve and keeping the heating
valve closed. Should the space temperature start to drop, the pres-
sure will also decrease, closing the cooling valve. The heating
valve will remain closed until the output pressure is 7 psig or
214 HVAC Fundamentals

below. Between the dead band area of 7 psig to 9 psig there is no

heating or cooling.

RELAYS

Amplify/Retard Relay
The amplify/retard relay is a device used to change the
output start point. It is also called a bias start relay or ratio relay.
A typical application is when a heating valve and cooling valve
operating from the same controller do not have a dead band and
one is required. For example, the normally open heating valve is
3 to 7 psig. The normally closed cooling valve is 7 to 11 psig. A
retard relay is installed between the valves. The sequence is for
the output pressure from the thermostat to go to the heating valve
actuator then to the relay. The relay then sends a signal to the
cooling valve actuator. In this example, the thermostat output
pressure is 7 psig. The heating valve actuator receives 7 psig as
does the input to the relay. This relay is set for a 2 psig retard bias.
This means that the input to the relay is 7 psig but the output of
the relay to the cooling valve is 5 psig. Therefore, the cooling
valve would not start to open until the output from the thermo-
stat was 9 psig which would be 7 psig to the cooling valve.

Averaging Relay
An averaging relay is a device used when the application
requires the setting of a controller, or the operation of a controlled
device, by the average signal from two or more controllers. For
example, two direct acting thermostats each send a signal to the
averaging relay. One signal is 3 psig and the other is 7 psig. The
output from the relay to the heating valve is the average of the
two signals or 5 psig.

Electric-Pneumatic Relay
An electric-pneumatic relay, or E-P switch, is an electrically
operated device used to divert control air from one point to an-