RE: Antifreeze, not enough
You would have to dump the antifreeze and start over. You shouldn't be using any solution other than a pre-mix and I don't think pre-mixing it yourself counts. -Original Message- From: Sprinklerforum [mailto:sprinklerforum-boun...@lists.firesprinkler.org] On Behalf Of Douglas Hicks Sent: Friday, January 16, 2015 11:33 AM To: sprinklerforum@lists.firesprinkler.org Subject: Antifreeze, not enough We was called to install an isolation valve in a wet system, and replace the antifreeze. Another company made the wet system into an antifreeze system. No signage, indicating the system was not a wet system but was an antifreeze system. I was told the system held about 50 to 55 gallons of glycol. I ordered 12 of the 38% 5 gallon pre-mixed buckets, 60 gallons. I also had some straight glycol, that we mixed, for a total of 80 gallons .We got to the job site and drained the system, getting about 75 gallons of fluid. The old antifreeze was dirty, but no lumps, no scale. After installing the isolation valve, and test ports at each end of the system, we flushed and drained the system. We filled the system with fresh water and held the pressure for 10 minutes and had no visible leaks. Again we drained the system, using the vacuum to make sure we got all the old fluid out. We put in 80 gallons, of pre-mix. Our pressure reading was about 5 PSI. I went into the highest att ic, loosened 2 heads and we had antifreeze leaking out. At least it tasted like antifreeze, nasty tasting stuff. I tightened the heads and we went to the sprinkler room. We added 12 gallons of straight water. Still not enough pressure, so we opened the main control valve. That is when I found out the 50-60 gallon estimate came from the alarm guy, when he flowed water for his annual test. So the maintenance guy I went to his office and finally found some information that noted there was 110 gallons of water in the system. So now I have a mix of antifreeze and straight water. My thought is to drain 15/20 gallons, then test the solution, and keep draining and testing until I get to 38% glycol. Then we will add 38% until the system is full. Or do we need to dump all the antifreeze and start over? We did have a problem filling the system with the pump. Should we go to the highest accessible head and remove it, replacing it with a ball valve that we can open and relieve the pressure? Our pump has filled other systems without any problems. Douglas Hicks General Fire Equipment Co of Eastern Oregon, Inc ___ Sprinklerforum mailing list Sprinklerforum@lists.firesprinkler.org http://lists.firesprinkler.org/listinfo.cgi/sprinklerforum-firesprinkler.org __ This email has been scanned by the Symantec Email Security.cloud service. For more information please visit http://www.symanteccloud.com __ ___ Sprinklerforum mailing list Sprinklerforum@lists.firesprinkler.org http://lists.firesprinkler.org/listinfo.cgi/sprinklerforum-firesprinkler.org
Re: Antifreeze, not enough
Doug, You should only use factory pre mixed solutions. It has been this way for years. Forest Wilson Fire Sprinkler Contractor PH: 937-516-8248 forest_wil...@aol.com -Original Message- From: Douglas Hicks fire...@eoni.com To: sprinklerforum sprinklerforum@lists.firesprinkler.org Sent: Fri, Jan 16, 2015 07:28 PM Subject: Antifreeze, not enough div id=AOLMsgPart_1_e341065c-cf67-4969-8aa8-79f27d2e77d3 style=margin: 0px;font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, Sans-Serif;font-size: 12px;color: #000;background-color: #fff; pre style=font-size: 9pt;ttWe was called to install an isolation valve in a wet system, and replace the antifreeze. Another company made the wet system into an antifreeze system. No signage, indicating the system was not a wet system but was an antifreeze system. I was told the system held about 50 to 55 gallons of glycol. I ordered 12 of the 38% 5 gallon pre-mixed buckets, 60 gallons. I also had some straight glycol, that we mixed, for a total of 80 gallons .We got to the job site and drained the system, getting about 75 gallons of fluid. The old antifreeze was dirty, but no lumps, no scale. After installing the isolation valve, and test ports at each end of the system, we flushed and drained the system. We filled the system with fresh water and held the pressure for 10 minutes and had no visible leaks. Again we drained the system, using the vacuum to make sure we got all the old fluid out. We put in 80 gallons, of pre-mix. Our pressure reading was about 5 PSI. I went into the highest att ic, loosened 2 heads and we had antifreeze leaking out. At least it tasted like antifreeze, nasty tasting stuff. I tightened the heads and we went to the sprinkler room. We added 12 gallons of straight water. Still not enough pressure, so we opened the main control valve. That is when I found out the 50-60 gallon estimate came from the alarm guy, when he flowed water for his annual test. So the maintenance guy I went to his office and finally found some information that noted there was 110 gallons of water in the system. So now I have a mix of antifreeze and straight water. My thought is to drain 15/20 gallons, then test the solution, and keep draining and testing until I get to 38% glycol. Then we will add 38% until the system is full. Or do we need to dump all the antifreeze and start over? We did have a problem filling the system with the pump. Should we go to the highest accessible head and remove it, replacing it with a ball valve that we can open and relieve the pressure? Our pump has filled other systems without any problems. Douglas Hicks General Fire Equipment Co of Eastern Oregon, Inc ___ Sprinklerforum mailing list a href=mailto:Sprinklerforum@lists.firesprinkler.org;Sprinklerforum@lists.firesprinkler.org/a a href=http://lists.firesprinkler.org/listinfo.cgi/sprinklerforum-firesprinkler.org; target=_blankhttp://lists.firesprinkler.org/listinfo.cgi/sprinklerforum-firesprinkler.org/a /tt/pre !-- end of AOLMsgPart_1_e341065c-cf67-4969-8aa8-79f27d2e77d3 -- /div ___ Sprinklerforum mailing list Sprinklerforum@lists.firesprinkler.org http://lists.firesprinkler.org/listinfo.cgi/sprinklerforum-firesprinkler.org
Antifreeze, not enough
We was called to install an isolation valve in a wet system, and replace the antifreeze. Another company made the wet system into an antifreeze system. No signage, indicating the system was not a wet system but was an antifreeze system. I was told the system held about 50 to 55 gallons of glycol. I ordered 12 of the 38% 5 gallon pre-mixed buckets, 60 gallons. I also had some straight glycol, that we mixed, for a total of 80 gallons .We got to the job site and drained the system, getting about 75 gallons of fluid. The old antifreeze was dirty, but no lumps, no scale. After installing the isolation valve, and test ports at each end of the system, we flushed and drained the system. We filled the system with fresh water and held the pressure for 10 minutes and had no visible leaks. Again we drained the system, using the vacuum to make sure we got all the old fluid out. We put in 80 gallons, of pre-mix. Our pressure reading was about 5 PSI. I went into the highest att ic, loosened 2 heads and we had antifreeze leaking out. At least it tasted like antifreeze, nasty tasting stuff. I tightened the heads and we went to the sprinkler room. We added 12 gallons of straight water. Still not enough pressure, so we opened the main control valve. That is when I found out the 50-60 gallon estimate came from the alarm guy, when he flowed water for his annual test. So the maintenance guy I went to his office and finally found some information that noted there was 110 gallons of water in the system. So now I have a mix of antifreeze and straight water. My thought is to drain 15/20 gallons, then test the solution, and keep draining and testing until I get to 38% glycol. Then we will add 38% until the system is full. Or do we need to dump all the antifreeze and start over? We did have a problem filling the system with the pump. Should we go to the highest accessible head and remove it, replacing it with a ball valve that we can open and relieve the pressure? Our pump has filled other systems without any problems. Douglas Hicks General Fire Equipment Co of Eastern Oregon, Inc ___ Sprinklerforum mailing list Sprinklerforum@lists.firesprinkler.org http://lists.firesprinkler.org/listinfo.cgi/sprinklerforum-firesprinkler.org
