Rebuildable micro-fluidic valve assembly

A method of rebuilding a high pressure, multi-position shear valve assembly having a valve housing and a plurality of serviceable valve components including a stator element defining a stator face and a rotor element rotatably mounted about a rotational axis, said rotor element defining a rotor face disposed opposite said stator face, at a rotor-stator interface, said valve assembly further including a pressure adjuster assembly selectively generating an axial compression pressure between the stator face and the rotor face at a calibrated operating pressure, PC, to enable fluid-tight, selective relative rotation between the rotor face and the stator face between two or more rotor positions, said method comprising:

• removing the axial compression pressure at the rotor-stator interface by moving said pressure adjuster assembly from a stop position, hard stopped relative to said valve housing, to a release position;
• disassembling the stator element and the rotor element from opposed contact with one another;
• replacing one or more serviceable valve components;
• reassembling the rotor element and stator element back into opposed contact with one another;
• reproducing said operating pressure, PC, between said rotor element and said stator element at said rotor-stator interface by moving the pressure adjuster assembly to a said stop position;
• wherein prior to said removing the axial compression pressure, the selectively generating an axial compression pressure between the stator face and the rotor face at the calibrated operating pressure, PC, was performed by:
• orienting a retainer member, disposed between said valve housing and a pressure adjuster device in said stop position, hard stopped relative to said valve housing;
• selectively adjusting the pressure adjuster device, cooperatively disposed between the retainer member and the rotor device until the calibrated operating pressure, PC, is achieved at a set position, when said retainer member is oriented in the stop position;
• and
• locking the pressure adjuster device, at the set position, to the retainer member such that said pressure adjuster device and said retainer member move together as a single unit.