Doug,
We had the exact same issue with our large chamber. The insurance company knows little to nothing about chambers but what they do know is that your employer wants them to pay for a new chamber if it is damaged in a fire which would be in the millions of dollars so they will do everything to be on the safe side. After they walk through, I’m sure the insurance people did a little research and found out that 20 years ago an anechoic chamber caught on file and burnt down an entire facility. What they don’t know is that they were putting out 10,000 watts of RF power with the antenna pointed at the rf absorber material and got it hot enough to catch it on fire, so yes, even though your TDK absorber material is UL recognized it will catch on fire if you get it hot enough. Another new area of concerns is below elevated floors (mostly do to recent fires in server rooms) where cables runs are done. Over-current in a cable or power run can start a fire below the floor. Or a fault in the AC system can cause electronic equipment to heat up quickly and possibly catch fire. Burning plastics/liquids above the floor can run down beneath the floor where it gets plenty of air to burn even hotter because this area is used as the Cold Air Return for the AC. Smoke below the floor would not be detected by your Air Sampling Smoke detector system in your chamber (Vesda System?). The Cold Air returns in our chamber have Smoke Detectors in the ducts just outside the chamber which seems to make the insurance people happy. These smoke detectors are very common (and required by code) which shuts down the heat/AC if smoke is detected so the blower doesn’t blow/suck air and make a fire worst. If you check you may already have them installed. Our chamber fire protection system, the smoke detectors in the cold air returns and a separate fire protection system for the entire building all reports incidences to ADT who depending on the type of alarm notified the fire department or police (for break-ins). I’m surprised the insurance company didn’t get you with the fact that if the power goes out there are no emergency lights inside your chamber. We fought and fought over that one. We ended up putting Glow in the Dark tape on the floor to mark the doorway and on the inside chamber door handle. Have fun. The Other Brian ________________________________ From: emc-p...@ieee.org [mailto:emc-p...@ieee.org] On Behalf Of Doug Kramer Sent: Wednesday, December 10, 2008 10:34 AM To: emc-p...@ieee.org Subject: semi-anechoic chambers and smoke alarms Good morning, I’ve got a question for the chamber experts and experienced folk here. Please respond off-line unless it would be to the betterment of the group at large. We’ve just received the results of a business insurance audit. The only area of our building with a fire suppression system/monitored smoke alarm system is the 10m semi-anechoic chamber, essentially an ETS FACT 10 with TDK Closed cell Styrofoam over ferrite tiles. As we were walking through the facility, we had the turntable open, the auditor inquired as to the reason. My response when she asked the questions as to why it was opened was ”I don’t know, I’ll have to look into it”, and then she did not follow up and I did not further answer. The reason to the curious, was to move some auxiliary equipment placed there during testing and to unplug the 160A service to the EUT. We have since received her recommendation letter. In which she recommends “In order to promptly notify the fire department in the event of a fire, an approved fire detection system should be installed in all areas of the building including below the elevated floor in the Semi-anechoic chamber, in accordance with the latest edition of NFPA 72 National Fire Alarm Code, and alarm signals should be automatically transmitted to a UL listed central station or directly to the fire department or public dispatcher.” The general fire detection portion I’ve always wondered why it was never installed, but under the raised floor of the chamber? The questions: 1) Why is a 10m chamber required to have a fire suppression system when testing is monitored (or should be as some of the last posts point out), any personnel in the room have 2 exits, there is normally not any personnel in the chamber, and besides the EUT, is there any combustible material in the room? 2) In the crawl space under the floor, besides the turntable motor, ODE converter, power receptacles and occasionally auxiliary equipment, is there anything that is combustible? Thanks, Doug Kramer Lab Manager NCEE Labs Product Compliance Solutions Phone: 402.472.5880 Toll Free: 1.888.567.6860 Fax: 402.472.5881 Email: dkra...@nceelabs.com <mailto:ldie...@nceelabs.com> www.nceelabs.com <http://www.nceelabs.com> CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This e-mail message, including any attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. 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