This happened to me at a previous employer. There is some sense to it in that foam absorber is quite flammable, even with modern precautions and flammability requirements. We had to install sprinklers. The system was set up so that the sprinklers are dry until a smoke alarm signal allows charging. And only after a sprinkler fusible link melts does the sprinkler go off. This gives you a shot at saving your room. You used to be able to outfit a room with halon, but that is now an environmental no-no, and although halon was quite expensive, its replacement is even more so (natch). The halon was not a replacement for sprinklers, but if the halon put out the fire before the sprinklers sprinkled, you saved your absorber.
I don't have a feel for the economics anymore, but if the frequency range is right, what is the tradeoff of replacing your cones with ferrite tiles and skipping the sprinkler installation? ---------- >From: "Price, Ed" <[email protected]> >To: "'[email protected]'" <[email protected]> >Subject: Shielded Enclosure Fire Hazard >Date: Tue, Nov 16, 1999, 8:22 PM > > > Hi Listmembers! > > My lab just had an annual inspection visit by our friendly fire hazard > inspector. Seems that after 4 successive years of inspections, I suddenly > failed this year. The reason is that my 24' x 35' x 10' modular shielded > enclosure doesn't have internal water sprinklers. > > Now I'm all in favor of sprinklers; there's several in the ceiling of the > parent room that contains my enclosure. But that doesn't protect the > contents of the shielded enclosure. What if a fire started inside the > enclosure and then had time to grow? The parent room sprinklers might not be > able to stop the blaze then! Never mind that there's almost no fuel within > the enclosure; just fire-retardant rated anechoic foam and a 10' long table > made out of wood 4x4's. > > So I don't suppose this is really about common sense. Has anyone recently > addressed the issue of fire protection within a shielded enclosure? Or > should I move right on to the sprinkler RFQ phase? > > Regards, > > Ed > > > :-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-) > Ed Price > [email protected] > Electromagnetic Compatibility Lab > Cubic Defense Systems > San Diego, CA. USA > 619-505-2780 (Voice) > 619-505-1502 (Fax) > Military & Avionics EMC Services Is Our Specialty > Shake-Bake-Shock - Metrology - Reliability Analysis > :-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-) > > > --------- > This message is coming from the emc-pstc discussion list. > To cancel your subscription, send mail to [email protected] > with the single line: "unsubscribe emc-pstc" (without the > quotes). For help, send mail to [email protected], > [email protected], [email protected], or > [email protected] (the list administrators). > > --------- This message is coming from the emc-pstc discussion list. To cancel your subscription, send mail to [email protected] with the single line: "unsubscribe emc-pstc" (without the quotes). For help, send mail to [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], or [email protected] (the list administrators).
