Thread: Клапан vs. вентиль

Because both of these terms translate as "valve", I was wondering if there is someone out there who can explain the difference between "клапан" and "вентиль". Thanks!

Клапан is a broader term and if there's no or a little context I think it's more safe to use this word. Here's the definition of вентиль from Ozhegov dictionary:

1. Клапан для регулирования расхода жидкости, пара или газа в нек-рых технических устройствах.
(A valve for regulating the liquid, vapour and gas flow in some technical devices)

In my mind (but be careful here, I'm not a specialist) вентиль is associated with taps and pipes. I doubt that if a valve doesn't involve a tap it would be called вентиль though I am not sure.

German has the same situation, with "Klappe" and Ventil". Not being an engineer I'm not sure what to do there either. It does seem as though "клапан" is generic enough to use most of the time.

BTW I like the quote on your reply, but I'm afraid that as long as the US government is in the hands of violent criminals, there will be no peace.

Originally Posted by DobeyMan

BTW I like the quote on your reply, but I'm afraid that as long as the US government is in the hands of violent criminals, there will be no peace.

Thank you.

imho "klapan" usualy automatic device (exhaust valve), while "ventil" is manual (faucet type), and also where is "kran" word, which means full manual mode faucet

Oh my. I wish I could understand all these technicalitites the way you do.

Originally Posted by ST

imho "klapan" usualy automatic device (exhaust valve), while "ventil" is manual (faucet type), and also where is "kran" word, which means full manual mode faucet

I would say that клапан is an autonomous device (works by itself) while вентиль is the device with external control (manual or automatic).

ага, я хотел именно это сказать