Insurance against water damage can be more than fire insurance. I was recently told by an owner that was required to retrofit sprinklers in his small manufacturing plant that his property insurance rates were going up significantly specifically because of the threat of water damage.
Alex Traw...
I service several (fairly recently built) Lowe's locations and they all have seven systems on a single manifold behind a huge pump. As for a "master" flow switch, if the pump is upstream of the systems, wouldn't the pump alarm serve as your alarm for the entire building? I may be assuming too...
I've been installing RPZ devices on antifreeze loops for years and I understand the principles of cross connection prevention. We service a "problem child" system that has an antifreeze system above the ceiling in a lobby of high traffic business. The RPZ is just inches above the grid and there...
I've got a 1973 copy of 13, and 5-2.3.1 has no mention of gridded systems.
Yeah, I've been reading through other parts of the 1973 handbook, just to get some perspective, not to mention that it's a quick read. The old style line drawings and the overall brevity invokes a word I seldom use; it...
Thanks SD2 for the wealth of information. I'm reading through the article now but your example is fascinating and like you say, counterinuitive from everything I've learned.
So, my system dates to 1989. Looking at the trip test record, other than one noted accelerator failure, water to test...
I was kind of kidding when I called it a gang drain. It isn't. I'm sure it was designed as a bulk main as if it was a wet system. I'm assuming the calcs were done manually and that the numbers on the data plate really don't mean much. I think my calc software would reject this design if I...
Situation- An existing (circa 1983) 29,400 sq ft open warehouse (235' E-W x 125' N-S) with a 6" dry system. The riser is in the NE corner of the bldg. The new owner wants to add 2,800 sq ft of offices in the SW corner. No problems so far...
The problem is that the dry system is gridded and...
I didn't go to the pic, but if the pendent head is within three inches of the wall , can't it just be changed to a vertical sidewall head and call it good?
Alex Traw
Rainbow Fire Sprinklers
Albany, Oregon
Thanks.
Yes, I did some further reading and the distinction of the compartments with beams or without was unclear to me. Reading code language can be a struggle, with them trying to be as unambiguous as possible yet still leaving things unclear. That's my own issue, though.
FWIW, the sleeping...
I'm looking at an old frat house that needs sprinklers. It's part of an overall "refreshing" of the building. They call for a 13R system. The basement and two floors up avg 2,800 sq ft and then a top floor is one big room where all the boys sleep, about 1235 sq ft. This is a typical frat design...
I have a site with nine Pacific States Cast Iron Pipe Company (PSCIPCO) M2 hydrants of 1971-1975 vintage. This is a Corey, or toggle type hydrant and it's clear to me that it is an obsolete model but I can't even find a decent diagram of one.
The problem is that one of them is broken, or I...
We conduct inspections and note deficiencies based on the code that was current when the system was installed. The first time we inspect a site we take it at face value. Some older places have multiple (often connected) buildings with a sprinklers in one and not the other, or maybe it's an...
I stated in my post the difference between the O-ring heads (recalled) and the Belleville style brass on brass seat (not recalled).
The neoprene O-ring would swell when exposed to oil (as in thread cutting oil)and cause the seat to not fall out when the fusible link broke, hence the recall...
Sorry for the tongue twister.
This is more of a field observation and I'm curious whether anyone else has encountered a similar problem.
Focus- systems built from the late '80's into the '90's and equipped with Central/Gem with Belleville (brass cup) seats.
Back story-
I'm sure most on here...
