:) Thanks George, I'll try to clarify briefly: This whole thread is simply a tweak to "my proposal", and it has been misunderstood by some due to my colorful miss-use of English. I want to tie density to sprinkler height and area to occupancy: Area LH=1000, OHI=1500, OHII=2000, density .008 gpm/s.f. times sprinkler height in feet. This is what I have come to realize from some limited modeling I've done so far, and it gets rid of the QR Reduction at 20' glitch. It is the reason I said I think the demands are too high for low ceilings and too low for high ceilings. I am not sure about the actual testing phase of the whole process, but I am not advocating any new products. (And when the head pops, we usually have far more than 7 psi Pt on it). Thanks again George, Brad
-----Original Message----- From: George Church [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Monday, June 04, 2012 3:10 PM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: 7psi Minimums for Fire Sprinklers You DO understand the cost of the path ahead of you, especially when you're trying to get fire tests done? There is a large item you may have missed: Economic feasibility Since I'd guess there is but a small number of these sprinklers that would be sold in a year. Various manufacturers have their own little "Edsels" that they invested R&D $ into, but aren't getting the return for them. Even when times are good, they are prudent about what they invest in, and I'm not certain that saving a couple PSI is one of them. If they have enough water to make the plumbing work, they've got 7 PSI up to a certain flow. But for the cost required to get the listing done and the sprinkler on the market, you'd prolly need a quantum change in the min EHP, not 2 PSI. It would look better as a % saved (save 28% of your EHP!) but when it comes right down to it, its 20% of what we generally leave as a throwaway cushion. I have had a lot of ideas I scrapped quickly because of the risk/reward economic viability measure. At one time, folks were putting up bar joists with the chords made of pipe so we could connect and use them as our sprinkler system, I believe in the 80's. Obviously, that idea's time hasn't come (yet). We see very few commercial multipurpose systems, despite what appears at first to be great cost savings. I keep a pad of paper and a pencil in the drawer of my nightstand. I don't remember the last time I awoke with an idea great enough to write down, but maybe I just sleep better than I used to. Or I've grown to appreciate rolling over and going back to sleep. George L. Church, Jr., CET Rowe Sprinkler Systems, Inc. PO Box 407, Middleburg, PA 17842 877-324-ROWE 570-837-6335 fax [email protected] _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://fireball.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum
