If you are the owner , the contractor should have provided you with a copy of NFPA #25. If they are an astute contractor, they would have asked you to sign a piece of paper stating that you had, in fact, received a copy of 25. In any event. www.nfpa.org has copies for sale, not very much. Or you could always ask for your copy from the contractor. In this manual you will find ALL of the items required for the owner of a sprinkler systems.
R/ Matt -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Robert Tarrall Sent: Monday, January 29, 2007 1:52 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Drum drip (condensate trap) maintenance in dry system "Scott A. Futrell" wrote: -> NFPA 25 gives the basic inspection and testing frequency. However, -> experience teaches us that they are all different. Some systems will -> have more water or condensation than others. So, you need to check -> them frequently at first, and frequently after water has been -> introduced (system trip, testing, etc.), then less frequently until -> you get a feel for how much water is there and how long it takes it to accumulate. -> Some systems are dry all the time, others there can be ounces to cups -> of water (or more) each time you check. -> -> They freeze and break nicely if they aren't properly maintained. Thanks to all for the great answers. I don't have NFPA 25; would be curious to know what it says. Summing up everyone's feedback I think the above is the way we'll go, modified some for the weather (no point trying to drain 'em when it's below freezing.) I've been logging which traps are damp so hopefully can get a feel for which ones need the most attention. Here's what prompted the question: original sprinkler system (I think from the mid-80's) had no provision for drainage, tended to freeze and trip (surprise) and the fire dept was getting annoyed at all the calls (big surprise). Pinhole leaks developed which I'm sure accelerated this process. So, we completely replaced the system this summer; work was completed in Aug I think. First decent cold spell we had (end of Nov, 10F lows) 7 out of the 30 drum drips blew. Installer says our fault, they have to be drained weekly. Seemed to think this was just obvious - everyone knows you drain drum drips weekly. Don't get me wrong... we live over this garage and wouldn't want to be without the sprinklers. But we sure would've liked to know about draining it *before* it blew, and getting invoiced to repair a system we just bought was a bit of a slap in the face. (Had a great time deicing the garage too. Pour that much water into a garage that's mostly ramps and you've got a great luge run. Wish I had a video camera with me to tape the guy that walked out there in flat-soled dress shoes.) Anyway, thanks again to all for the responses. I wasn't sure whether the contractor just failed to properly drain the system after install & test and was now trying to cover his butt, or whether his (post-failure) explanation that we need to drain it weekly for the life of the system was really a standard that we as owners were morons to not know. Sounds like the answer is neither - weekly isn't the general standard(?) but a good idea in this area at least till we get the system dry, and we should probably ask them to write us up an O&M manual so we can find out if there are any other maintenance items we're neglecting. -Robert.- _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://lists.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://lists.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum
