Warm wet air being compressed to hot wet air in the valve room and then being pushed into cold pipes. What you describe is a regular thing here in the Pathetic Northwet.
On Fri, Jan 8, 2010 at 3:09 PM, Mark Sornsin <[email protected]> wrote: > I suspect your second example is what's happening - the system piping is only > 5 yrs old and they claim the compressors don't run much (never ran for the > 1/2 hour I was there - for whatever that's worth). Except, they 'reportedly' > drained the drum 8 or 10 times over a few months and still get this much > water. Seems remarkable. > > Mark > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Chris Cahill > Sent: Friday, January 08, 2010 4:24 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: RE: Excessive Condensate > > Yep and many times it's due to a leaky system where the compressor runs a > lot. Put a 40 psi test on the system to see how tight it is. That will > confirm whether this is new water or from the past trip. > > I've also see a cycle where the DD wasn't drained in fall and they have a > freeze up in a DD. Then a couple week later another. What's happening > there is the first trip adds water and some of it freezes to the inside of > the pipe. Then a few weeks later with weather changes it melts and collects > in the DD only to freeze during the next cold snap and so the cycle starts > again. > > Chris Cahill, P.E. > Fire Protection Engineer > Sentry Fire Protection, Inc. > > 763-658-4483 > 763-658-4921 fax > > Email: [email protected] > > Mail: P.O. Box 69 > Waverly, MN 55390 > > Location: 4439 Hwy 12 SW > Waverly, MN 55390 > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Mark Sornsin > Sent: Friday, January 08, 2010 3:59 PM > To: '[email protected]' > Subject: Excessive Condensate > > I have a client with a parking garage. Large enough for two dry-pipe > systems. Each are piped relatively flat (pitched per NFPA 13, but no more); > each on a big loop of 4 in main with side feed branch lines out the side of > the mains. > > This system was last flooded last summer (say August). Since that trip test > and subsequent draining, the client has blown out all 6 low point drum > drips twice a month, every month. But even still, over Christmas, and only > two weeks after blowing out the drum drips, they froze 4 of the 6 drum drips > to the point of breakage - 3 of the 6 were filled with ice throughout the 2 > in. x 12 in. drum, and up the 5 or 6 ft. of 1 inch pipe. > > The contractor that replaced the drum drips noted that there was no > appreciable water on top of the dry valves, so the water in the pipes > appears to be entirely from condensate. Or maybe, somehow, residual from > the trip testing 5 months ago (???). > > Has anyone of you seen this amount of condensate coming from a dry system? > The air compressors are floor mounted with no tank. The riser room is > somewhat damp (large sump pit located here, too) and maintained at about 55 > degrees. But I still have a hard time imagining how that much water could > come from condensate. > > Any thoughts? > > > Mark A. Sornsin, PE > Fire Protection Engineer > Ulteig Engineers, Inc. > Fargo, ND > Direct: 701. 280.8591 > > _______________________________________________ > 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) > > _______________________________________________ > 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) > _______________________________________________ > 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) > -- Ron Greenman Instructor Fire Protection Engineering Bates Technical College Tacoma, WA Member: SFPE, ASCET, NFPA, AFSA, NFSA AFAA, WSAFM _______________________________________________ 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)
