Well uh, we were talking about NFPA 13 and the notion that remote inspector's tests were essential to manage over-pressurization and air bubbles and a host of other maladies that may or may not have included rickets but I can't recall the entire thread at the moment. So if we draw NFPA 72 into the discussion then I guess we agree that it's now considered a good and recommended practice to locate the ITC at the riser, so long as the audible alarm sounds in 90 seconds? Mark's point was well made, and the changes made to 13 emphasize, that if you have pressure surges or trapped air issues, then they need to be addressed by air/pressure relief or other approved means, but that the purpose of an ITC is NOT to relieve or move water through a system. It doesn't say that in so many words, but it's a subintelligitur, if you know what I mean.
Steve Leyton Protection Design & Consulting San Diego, CA -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Rodney Hamm Sent: Tuesday, March 10, 2009 6:11 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Test/Drain at the Riser Steve, You failed to include the following requirements: NFPA 72 (National Fire Alarm Code - 2002 Edition): Section 5.10.2* Initiation of the alarm signal shall occur within 90 seconds of waterflow at the alarm-initiating device when flow occurs that is equal to or greater than that from a single sprinkler of the smallest orifice size installed in the system. A.5.10.2 The waterflow device should be field adjusted so that an alarm is initiated no more than 90 seconds after a sustained flow of at least 40 L/min (10 gpm). Features that should be investigated to minimize alarm response time include the following: (1) Elimination of trapped air in the sprinkler system piping (2) Use of an excess pressure pump (3) Use of pressure drop alarm-initiating devices (4) A combination thereof My region of the world has not adopted the 2007 Edition, but I will include it as well for clarity: NFPA 72 (National Fire Alarm Code - 2007 Edition): 5.11 Sprinkler Waterflow Alarm-Initiating Devices. <javascript:parent.loadDoc('/nfpa0050-0099/0072/codes-0107699',%20'',%20 'cod es-id00007208812')> 5.11.1* The provisions of Section <http://www.nfpa.org/codesonline/document.asp?action=load&scope=0&path=N FPA/ codes/nfpa0050-0099/0072/codes-0105228&sub=#codes-id00007208809#codes-id 0000 7208809> 5.11 shall apply to devices that initiate an alarm indicating a flow of water in a sprinkler system. <javascript:parent.loadDoc('/nfpa0050-0099/0072/codes-0107699',%20'',%20 'cod es-id00007208816')> 5.11.2* Activation of the initiating device shall occur within 90 seconds of waterflow at the alarm-initiating device when flow occurs that is equal to or greater than that from a single sprinkler of the smallest orifice size installed in the system. 5.11.3 Movement of water due to waste, surges, or variable pressure shall not initiate an alarm signal. A.5.11.1 Piping between the sprinkler system and a pressure actuated alarm-initiating device should be galvanized or of nonferrous metal or other approved corrosion-resistant material of not less than 9.5 mm ( in.) nominal pipe size. A.5.11.2 The waterflow device should be field adjusted so that an alarm is initiated no more than 90 seconds after a sustained flow of at least 40 L/min (10 gpm). Features that should be investigated to minimize alarm response time include the following: (1) Elimination of trapped air in the sprinkler system piping (2) Use of an excess pressure pump (3) Use of pressure drop alarm-initiating devices (4) A combination thereof There are more applicable standards than NFPA 13 for this topic. Rodney K. Hamm, P.E. President/Owner Falcon Fire Protection Office (478) 953-1677 Cell (478) 396-6988 Date: Mon, 9 Mar 2009 12:33:11 -0700 From: "Steve Leyton" <[email protected]> Subject: RE: Test/Drain at the Riser To: <[email protected]> Message-ID: <6d5a59f81dd82b448ceddaf9db6cfeb9788...@server.protectiondesign.local> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" And I just as respectfully re-disagree. The purpose of the ITC is to test each waterflow alarm device, and to be sure that an audible alarm sounds within 5 minutes - see 6.9.1 and 8.17.4.2 (2007 ed.). That's it - the standard even contains a new disclaimer regarding this issue - see A.8.17.4.2 (2007 ed.): "The purpose of this alarm test connection is to make sure the alarm device is sensitive enough to determine the flow from a single sprinkler and sound an alarm. The purpose of this test connection is not to ensure that the water will flow through the entire system." We can legitimately debate whether 5 minutes is a good number (most AHJ's don't, as evidenced by policies requiring 60-90 seconds nationwide), but I think that's a pretty clear summation of the TC's intent regarding the location of the ITC ... Steve Leyton Protection Design & Consulting San Diego, CA __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 3925 (20090311) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 3925 (20090311) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list http://lists.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum For Technical Assistance, send an email to: [email protected] To Unsubscribe, send an email to:[email protected] (Put the word unsubscribe in the subject field)
