Fire tests conducted by TYCO and the Mattress industry showed no delay in fire spread, because all of the mattresses are wrapped in poly to keep them clean until they are sold, and the exposed poly burns really good. At that point the covering can't and doesn't slow down the fire spread. Stored in racks on edge in less than 2 min. the hoses had to be brought out, because the .45 Gpm/sf (density a guess from memory) wasn't doing it. After the test TYCO suggested that rather than lower the design density they would have to consider raising it.
Thom McMahon, SET Firetech, Inc. 2560 Copper Ridge Dr P.O. Box 882136 Steamboat Springs, CO 80488 Tel: 970-879-7952 Fax: 970-879-7926 -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of [email protected] Sent: Monday, February 08, 2010 3:16 PM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: L'il Abner-Mattress Tester The covering was intended to help prevent fires from exposure to direct ignition sources like cigarettes. Polyurethane foam degrades at around 600F and the flashpoint of the foam is still somewhere near or slightly above 200F so the fire resistant covering isn't going to change the combustion properties of the underlying foam material. So from a fire scenario standpoint, it's an unknown just what delay the covering would really have against fire. But heat is heat, when the fire gets to a certain temperature, the foam is going to either ignite or the pile collapse. Craig L. Prahl, CET Fire Protection Specialist Mechanical Department CH2MHILL Lockwood Greene 1500 International Drive PO Box 491, Spartanburg, SC 29304-0491 Direct - 864.599.4102 Fax - 864.599.8439 [email protected] http://www.ch2m.com -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of George Church Sent: Monday, February 08, 2010 4:01 PM To: [email protected] Subject: L'il Abner-Mattress Tester Back in 2007 the CPSC required a fire-resistant outer (fabric) shell on all mattresses and box springs for sale in the USA. Is anyone familiar with this to be able to tell if this reduces the hazardous classification of the foam when stored in a retail store stockroom to 12' high? Stored on floor, flat, as if prepared for a princess and a pea. Owner would prefer not to take .2/1500 to .6 for obvious reasons, one being tenant fitout of a portion of an existing retail center. George Church Rowe Sprinkler _______________________________________________ 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)
