Rahe, All the points you made are valid, and I'd like to add two more. Hangers.
In some situations these flexible drops work well and eliminate the need for additional hangers and restraint. The elimination of trapeze hangers on armovers can add up quickly in the cost savings category. Anyone who has worked in a building where the electrical conduits and the like are embedded in the floor above can attest that sometimes finding somewhere to weasel a hanger up through can be a challenge in and of itself. One other advantage is being able to test with the sprinkler heads in the drops even prior to grid or sheet rock installation. And not waiting till all the drops are hard piped. As far as being able to move sprinklers to accommodate new wall layouts....it's case by case. I imagine in 10 years we will all be scrounging around for the flex drop cut sheets of a particular model just like we do with old dry valves today. When these new installations become old installations. As far as cost....I do believe it is different for every company and a sell sheet doesn't give the whole picture. It's a SELL SHEET people! If you factor in the advantages above...the flexible drop can save a lot of headaches and or money. They are AN answer. Not THE answer. And definitely not always the "cheapest" answer. These same flex drops may inhibit the use of other advantages like OH EC sprinklers. Each situation must be weighed out individually. One size does not fit all. I implore you to keep in mind that project may present itself to even you Mr. Loftin that "screams" for this kind of technology. So now that I have kicked the dead horse, I will close with a phrase from Mr. Forrest Gump. "That's all I got to say about thaaat" Ken Holsopple Off the Soap Box -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of [email protected] Sent: Thursday, November 12, 2009 11:43 AM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: Flex Head Friction loss So very well put Ken. One of the many advantages touted by the manufacturers and contractors alike is the layout flexibility that flexible sprinkler fittings provide. I have found that when using even 6 feet lengths, there is extremely limited flexibility provided for moving heads for wall and room changes. So, using 2 and 3 feet lengths will, in all practical senses, not provide the flexibility to move heads at all. Looks to me like that the chief advantages of flexible sprinkler fittings is that they are simply less expensive, in regard to labor, and can provide center of tile layouts. Otherwise, they could have more friction loss than hard piped systems thus increasing main sizes in some situations. Thank You Rahe Loftin, P.E. Region 7 - GSA Office - 817-978-7299 Fax - 817-978-8644 Cell - 817-371-3102 _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://fireball.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)
