Slow to respond isn't so bad. We've been having problems with not just SLOW to respond, we're having NOOOooo response to loss of air pressure. On a freeze up last winter, one didn't trip and that was sort of a good thing, avoided water damage.
But when a maintenance man watches my inspector let the air off the ITC and it wooshes out, then no water No water No water No water ????? Let's just say its not a confidence builder. Today I got a call from my inspector and the maintenance man observed these systems protect $15m worth of product and they're not feeling warm and fuzzy. I'll quote my inspector:"All this tearing it apart and pulling on the piston with pliers while my helper gets the lube around my fat hands on the piston-its bs! And it takes so long- I haven't got time to do all this!" So now we're losing our butts on ITM since we're to do it 2x a year when we're only getting paid for it 1x a year. And we need two guys to do it, not one. And it takes a lot longer when you need to lubricate the piston. And you need to remember to carry enough cleaning kits with you. And if you don't do it 2x a year it doesn't work, and frankly I'm not real wild about that scenario either. I do know of buildings we've saved, and I don't know of any buildings I've lost in 35 years and I sure don't want a rash of them now. And you have to block out all the ones you installed but don't do ITM on and hope they don't burn down......and hope 2x a year IS enough for the ones you do ITM on, as the mfr recommends. Frans, I'd like to know if any others emailed off-Forum about problems with Vic valves, too, if you wouldn't mind sharing. I believe we'll be having further discussion with the manufacturer because over time it would be cheaper for us to replace them with a competitor's valve than at all the extra ITM and still not know if they're going to work. -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Damien Shannon Sent: Wednesday, June 17, 2009 12:55 PM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: Slow responding dry pipe valves Frans, Very curious to know how you got on with the Victaulic valve w/ 1300 gallons to make the 60 sec requirement after making the adjustments discussed (or anywhere close). I need to do a building with 8 dry systems (new construction) that requires all the valves at a main header. The bulk main to the actual area of protection for some of the systems is forcing capacity well beyond 750 gallons (approx 900). The client originally was going with Victaulic valves, based on the premise that the lower air pressure would lead to less air to be exhausted prior to water being discharged. Trying to find out if there's a 'sweet spot' where the low air pressure versus 'higher pressure' Dry Pipe valves work best. Thank you for any insight you can provide. Damien Shannon QED Sprinkler Designs Inc. (773) 704 2571 -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Frans Stoop Sent: Tuesday, April 28, 2009 8:25 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Slow responding dry pipe valves Dear colleagues, Our client has a rather large dry pipe system supplied by a Victaulic dry pipe valve complete with an accelerator. The system responds to slow to the ITC: more than 3 minutes. The contents of the system is approx. 1300 gallon. The air pressure in the system was set lower (in compliance with the Victaulic installation sheets) than we are used to with dry pipe valves of other manufacturers. The sprinkler contractor and the local Victaulic representative couldn't find the cause yet. My personal impression is that the Victaulic mat take much more time between opening the test valve and water delivery than dry pipe valves of other brands. Does anyone share this impression or had the same experience ? If you prefer, you may react off-forum. Frans Stoop TOS architecture & fire protection Netherlands <[email protected]> Tel. +31-24-324 0112 _______________________________________________ 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) _______________________________________________ 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) _______________________________________________ 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)
