I agree Tom. Here is what I plan to respond unless I hear words of wisdom from you guys. One must accept the fact that there are variables which affect the life of a sprinkler system. They include: Proper original design and installation Proper inspection and testing Whether they are wet, dry, preaction or antifreeze Environmental conditions, like salt air, high humidity, corrosive atmosphere. Presence of microbiologically induced corrosion (MIC) Type of pipe, Schedule 40, thinner wall pipe, galvanized pipe, plastic pipe Corrosive nature of the water Earthquake A new or existing wet pipe system which has been tested free of the conditions leading to MIC, and is properly maintained, can pretty much be expected to last for the life of the building. Examples of this are the sprinkler systems at The Presidio and Fort Mason in San Francisco. I know the system at the Headquarters Building at Upper Fort Mason is in the neighborhood of 70 years old. I took apart portions of another 70 year-old sprinkler system in San Francisco, during a building demolition. The exterior and interior of the pipe was like brand new. Dry pipe systems do not have such a good history, mostly because of internal corrosion. I know of no statistics, but would expect at 30 to 40 years. Antifreeze systems will not get proper maintenance, so it is anybody's guess. Other fire extinguishing systems will likely have shorter lives, partly due to obsolescence.
Tom Duross <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: That's kinda like asking how long is a piece of string Ed. Tom Go Pats eBay At 06:39 PM 1/25/2008, you wrote: >Here is a question I was asked today: > "Where can I find a list that indicates the Estimated Design life > for a fire >suppression/sprinkler system? > > What say ye? > > >Ed Vining _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://lists.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum To Unsubscribe, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] (Put the word unsubscribe in the subject field) Ed Vining 4819 John Muir Rd Martinez CA 94553 925-228-8792 [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://lists.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum To Unsubscribe, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] (Put the word unsubscribe in the subject field)
