Must have been George and his peppermint schnapps. I'm big on colored smoke. I want one one-liner on that.
On Mon, Dec 12, 2011 at 5:42 PM, Steve Leyton <[email protected]>wrote: > Ron and George, crawling through attics looking for the peppermint smell. > Out of respect to Commodore Muncy, I will refrain from articulating the 25 > or 30 one-liners that are bouncing around in my head at this moment. > > Steve Leyton > Protection Design & Consulting > > David deVries <[email protected]> wrote: > > I think it was George Church or Ron Greenman who had a way of finding > leaks > in dry pipe systems by putting peppermint oil in the DPV and then pumping > up the system with air. Follow the smell in the attic back to the > leak(s). Never tried it myself, but would like to know more about how to > do it and how well it works. > > Long term, you are looking at replacing leaky pipe and/or figuring out how > to convert the system to wet. > > *Dave* > > On Mon, Dec 12, 2011 at 5:04 PM, Tom Duross <[email protected]> wrote: > > > This is kind of a rant/long winded digression/request for opinion kinda > > thingy.. > > I have a group residence built in the late seventies with a dry system. > > I-2, ranch style building with attic. > > Steel pipe, attic and living space coverage, 13 design (closets, > bathrooms, > > concealed spaces, everything covered). > > I've mentioned it to this forum before. The dry system has become a > real > > source of frustration this past month. > > When we did our annual testing this summer all went well. This is our > 3rd > > year here so we did a full flood trip. > > Been fine as far as I know since August. This past Saturday it tripped. > > When I got there, reset it, noticed air pressure dropping and air > > compressor > > cycling every 30 minutes. > > I climbed into the attic (more like lumbered) and found several > locations > > of > > pinhole leaks in the underside of mains. > > This is old 2 1/2"-3"-4" threaded pipe sitting on the bottoms of the > > trusses. Great. > > With it being a Saturday afternoon, the supply house is closed. > > I managed to find a couple of plumbing supply houses ready to close and > > bought three saddle type repair clamps. > > Went back and installed them and once back up, the cycling dropped to > about > > every 90-100 minutes for about a 20 minute run. > > I tightened up the differential on the pressure switch so it ran for > only > > 3-4 minutes but it started every 45 minutes or so. > > I felt that better since it was a riser mount and got hot in that 20 > minute > > cycle. > > The clients were all still out at a day program and needed to return, > > feeling for them as I do I told the manager to bring them home. > > I called the Deputy, told him I did a temporary patch and fix for the > > weekend, pretty sure it would be OK, and would return Monday. > > I returned Monday morning, still cycling every 45 minutes or so, > squeezed > > back up (with some lights this time!) and found one more. > > Right under the pipe, as you slide your hand along the pipe, just a > little > > hiss of air. I had brought gas leak detector with me in a spray bottle. > > I sent baby brother out for another repair saddle (I just wanted to get > it > > tight first) while I balanced across 24" OC roof joists with a trouble > > light > > in one hand and a flashlight in my mouth. I sprayed every fitting I > could > > see, even the high uprights, no bubbles. We put the 2" saddle on, > > compressor started and stopped, we sat there in the attic for over an > hour, > > quiet as church mice. About ready to get up and pat each other on the > > back, > > the air compressor started again. UUGH! We climbed back down, watched > the > > gauge again, sprayed half a bottle of leak detector all over the dry > pipe > > valve, air supply, inspectors test, went in and sprayed the faces of the > > dry > > pendents. That's all that was left. Nothing found. > > I think I'm just almost causing small leaks to appear after I stop the > > larger ones. Almost chasing my own tail (if I had one). > > Remember Curly standing in the bathtub putting one section of pipe into > > another and the water won't stop? Am I a victim of circumstance? > > > > Well, it's still this way as I write this and thinking of options for > the > > Owner, I wanted to (get to the point Tom) run something by the forum. > > I'm past the point of no return weather-wise, I don't want to flood it. > It > > was 28 degrees last night. > > What if I pumped glycol (I know, I know) to not only maybe find a drip > but > > maybe to stabilize it for the winter? Has anyone done this? > > The other question, and the reason behind the title, could I just > abandon > > the dry system? > > Could I just change the system from a '78 NFPA 13 dry system to a '07 > 13R > > in > > an existing building that's already sprinklered? > > The attic isn't used for living purposes, storage, has no mechanical > > equipment or anything serviceable. Just an 18x18 access panel. > > I think if it wasn't sprinklered and I was asked to install a system, > > that's > > what I'd do. A soffitted wet system with sidewalls. > > > > Scratching my head and removing splinters. > > > > TD > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Sprinklerforum mailing list > > [email protected] > > http://fireball.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum > > > -------------- next part -------------- > An HTML attachment was scrubbed... > URL: > <http://fireball.firesprinkler.org/mailman/private/sprinklerforum/attachme > nts/20111212/12c45b59/attachment.html> > _______________________________________________ > Sprinklerforum mailing list > [email protected] > http://fireball.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum > > _______________________________________________ > Sprinklerforum mailing list > [email protected] > http://fireball.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum > -- Ron Greenman Instructor Fire Protection Engineering Technology Bates Technical College 1101 So. Yakima Ave. Tacoma, WA 98405 [email protected] http://www.bates.ctc.edu/fireprotection/ 253.680.7346 253.576.9700 (cell) Member: ASEE, SFPE, ASCET, NFPA, AFSA, NFSA, AFAA, NIBS, WSAFM, WFC They are happy men whose natures sort with their vocations. -Francis Bacon, essayist, philosopher, and statesman (1561-1626) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://fireball.firesprinkler.org/mailman/private/sprinklerforum/attachments/20111212/4f7f47e1/attachment.html> _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://fireball.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum
