Edmonton Valve Blog 2013: A Year in Review

Browse our archive of 2013 posts, and tell us what you'd like to see in 2014

We started this blog in the summer of 2012, which means 2013 was the first full calendar year of blogging for Edmonton Valve and Fitting. We had a great time putting together material last year and look forward to giving you more useful and fun posts this year.

If you haven't been following us from the beginning, we urge you to go back through our posts. We kicked off 2013 talking about tool rental, a low-cost way to get the right equipment for the job without breaking your budget. Throughout the year we posted about four dozen times. We introduced you to some of our staff members (hi, Tammy and Richard). We showed you how to pick the right parts and extend their life. We helped you speed up your orders, and answered some of your frequently asked questions.

Favourite How To video

Applying PTFE Tape to tapered pipe threads may seem like a simple procedure, but accuracy is essential to ensure a leak tight seal. This Swagelok How To video shows exactly how to ensure that your male connectors and pipe fittings provide unfailing reliability.

Skill: Applying PTFE Tape to Tapered Pipe Threads

Favourite services and training article

Here at Edmonton Valve, we strive to support our customers in any way we can. When it comes to heavy duty tools like our benchtop benders, we know that not every customer needs to have one in their shop full time. That’s why we offer equipment rentals by the day, week, or month – so you can get the job done when you need to.

Those Expensive Tools? Borrow Them from Edmonton Valve

Favourite fun and human interest piece

We’ve enjoyed featuring some of our outstanding associates over the past year and giving readers, especially those out of town that don’t get a chance to come to our customer service counter, a chance to get to know the faces of Edmonton Valve. Account Manager Jim Begg is the perfect example of the dedication and knowledge that our associates bring to the office every day.

Edmonton Valve Salesman Jim Begg Reflects On 39 Years Of Change

Favourite product and education blog

Many of the articles we have published over the last year focus on specific Swagelok products. Our customers need to know that the product they purchase is going to fit the requirements of their system every time they order. We’ve covered some of the most complex products that Swagelok offers – but the most popular product article of the year was about one of our smallest products – the Swagelok tube fitting.

Don't Throw Out Those Swagelok Fittings Upon Disassembly 

Favourite customer testimonial

At Edmonton Valve, we strive to be the customer’s first choice. That’s why we love to hear from our customers about products and services that we provide – it allows us to ensure that they are getting what they need. Our Value Impact Partnership program offers customers more than ever before, and in this article, you can hear it straight from the customer’s mouth.

The Customer's View: How VIP Services Make Business Better

On to 2014

Planning for 2014’s blog content is already in full swing! We will feature more Edmonton, Fort McMurray, and Drayton Valley associates. We have another FAQ article set for January, and we plan to feature more troubleshooting topics that will help you uncover your system problems in a faster and simpler manner. We also plan to cover a lot more products, and there are also some brand new topics that will be completely different than anything we’ve done in the past.

But for as much as we enjoy producing it, the blog isn't for us. It's for you.

Would you like to know more about gauges? Regulators? Tubing? Valves?

Do you wish you knew more about finding the right part number for a certain product? Would you like to better understand installation and maintenance? Do you have a steam system that could be more efficient if only you knew how to get the best performance out of it? Or perhaps the cold weather has convinced you that you need to do a better job of winterizing?

We have a lot of expertise locally, and we can tap into the worldwide network of Swagelok experts whenever we need to.

So please tell us what you'd like to see more of in 2014. As always, we'll do our best to deliver what you need. From everyone at Edmonton Valve & Fitting Inc., thank you for your support and have a safe and happy new year.