Nicet's New Testing (study help)
Nicet's New Testing (study help)
(OP)
Currently I am a NICET lvl 1 in water based fire protection. I am almost upon my 5th working year with design and plan to go for my lvl 2, and lvl 3 shortly this spring. Can anyone beyond the obvious NFPA standard books recommend some reading material, or possibly online classes. I have only done 1 hand calc ever as I have been using Hypercalc (an 80's dos calc program, run through a Virtual machine on my Windows 7 machine) since day one. So a training in hand calcs would be great, I have tried to get our design leader here to train but he is not what I would call the "teacher type". Most of my studies so far have been with the following 2 books.
NFPA 13 Automatic Sprinkler Handbook
h ttp://www. nfpa.org/c atalog/pro duct.asp?p id=13SET10 &cooki e%5Ftest=1
and
NFSA Layout, Detail, and Calculation of Fire Sprinkler Systems
ht tp://www.a mazon.com/ Layout-Det ailing-Cal culation-S prinkler-S ystems/dp/ B0028GB57G
Any help would be appreciated.
Thank you,
Jondoeiowa
NFPA 13 Automatic Sprinkler Handbook
h
and
NFSA Layout, Detail, and Calculation of Fire Sprinkler Systems
ht
Any help would be appreciated.
Thank you,
Jondoeiowa





RE: Nicet's New Testing (study help)
http://w
13 will teach you all you need to know but Gagnon's book is a great primer.
RE: Nicet's New Testing (study help)
http://www.emergencystuff.com/0879391715.html
RE: Nicet's New Testing (study help)
tony
RE: Nicet's New Testing (study help)
Sprinklers aren't terribly complicated, first determine the area of the sprinkler using the SxL method,second figure flow and pressures based on hazard classification and sprinkler K factor, third calculate friction losses back to riser and take out losses for devices and elevation back to the residual hydrant. This is all for CMDA method, the CMSA is a bit different by specifying minimum pressures but not so different as to be completely foreign.
Your Hazen_Williams coefficients will be 120 for wet pipe and 100 for dry pipe. For a line, include the fitting losses for the tee or ell at the top of the riser nipple in the line and include the fitting losses for the tee in the riser nipple where it joins the main.
It took me a few years to figure out all this with the help of some senior technicians. If you have any specific questions I'll try my best to help you out.
RE: Nicet's New Testing (study help)
As NewtonFP stated, it is really a simple procedure for a tree system. Just find starting flow and pressure, then go from the end head to the riser. The examples in NFPA 13 are even pretty clear on how to do it.
Travis Mack
MFP Design, LLC
www.mfpdesign.com
RE: Nicet's New Testing (study help)
i.e. branchline 1, gridline 1, cross main, feed main, feed to auditorium etc. Be descriptive. Its frustrating to make sense of a straight jumble of nodes.
Also you can use excel to figure out fitting adjustments for sch. 10 pipe vs. the sch. 40 values listed in 13.
There are some old threads between sprinklerdesigner2 and myself regarding this topic. For most calcs, rounding to the nearest tenth of a pound or gpm is sufficient; there is no gain to getting to 1/1000th of a psi or gpm.
Look up the hardy cross method also. that will be a great exercise to understanding how grids work; also balancing pressures by hand will get some appreciation of the computer programs doing 200 passes in a few seconds!
RE: Nicet's New Testing (study help)
tony
RE: Nicet's New Testing (study help)
RE: Nicet's New Testing (study help)
Thanks,
Jon
RE: Nicet's New Testing (study help)
Level 03 just requires a calc of a tree, I believe. If that is the case, NFPA 13 is pretty clear on the methods. It is rather simple. Just a few formula and plug it in. The loop and compound loop is a bit trickier.
Try setting up a very simple tree and doing the hand calc. Then, put the same system into your calc program and see how close you get. That should let you know where you are for your Level 3 test.
Travis Mack
MFP Design, LLC
www.mfpdesign.com
RE: Nicet's New Testing (study help)
After 2003 in order to be certified in NJ you needed to have a Level II in Water Based Inspection and Testing and Successfully pass an specific 19 elements combined from Level I, Level II and Level III Layout.
Couple of years ago it changed to just having a Level II on Water Based Inspection and Testing and successfully passing level I of Layout.
This gives you the poser to design, install, repair, inspect and test all type of systems including some consider special hazards such as Foam, deluge, pre action, etc. Also it covers hydrants, undergrounds, fire lines, etc.
Keep in mind you still need a PE to stamp drawings for permits.
RE: Nicet's New Testing (study help)
I think the best way to approach this test is to:
1) read the standards everyday and afternoon
2) contact someone you know that understand hand calculations and give you some tutoring for a small fee
3) request an engineer to produce like questions from NICET just for practice or purchase NICET sample questions
This will save you some money and give you some confidence to ensure you are prepare for testing.
RE: Nicet's New Testing (study help)
I am looking into buying the sample tests for Calcs once I have practiced them a bit. We have one level 4 designer here in the company who I'm trying to work with to have my calcs checked. I found one online college course to train in calcs but it seems they don't cover much, I asked them to send me a course outline.
With 5 years down and moving onto my 6th and over 150 different projects completed (might seem a small number to you guys). I feel confident if I keep studying my books like I had for Lvl 2 I can pass my Lvl 3 in layout.
Calcs I feel overwhelmed. I really wish I had been forced from day one to do every other project by hand before putting it into the computer. It would have likely helped me understand them better. If I cannot convince our LVL 4 to train, would any of you be willing to for a fee possibly do a Go-2 type meeting online once a week for say a month to give some lessons?
Thank you,
Jon
RE: Nicet's New Testing (study help)
Many people get overwhelmed with tree calcs because they seem to think it is some high level math and crazy computation. It is just a couple of simple formulas and that is all. Try doing a tree as shown in NFPA 13 and then enter the same tree into your calc program. See if you get close. If you are way off, then come back here and we can try to help you.
Travis Mack
MFP Design, LLC
www.mfpdesign.com
RE: Nicet's New Testing (study help)
RE: Nicet's New Testing (study help)
Ever since the new requirements took place you will need to be certified in Level II inspection, testing and maintenance of water based based and successively pass level 1 layout. Game on after that.
RE: Nicet's New Testing (study help)
RE: Nicet's New Testing (study help)
RE: Nicet's New Testing (study help)
DID YOU OBTAIN YOUR LEVEL 1 SPRINKLER LAYOUT THROUGH CBT?
RE: Nicet's New Testing (study help)
tony
RE: Nicet's New Testing (study help)