Category: Newsletters

Why a Remote Inspector’s Test Valve is Not a Good Air Vent

Proper air venting is essential when designing and installing a wet pipe fire sprinkler system to reduce corrosion risks and ensure system performance. While NFPA 13 allows for different methods of venting air from a sprinkler system, including a manual valve, an automatic air vent, or a remote inspector’s test valve, it is crucial to understand why a remote inspector’s test valve is not an effective air venting solution.

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Air Vents for Wet Fire Sprinkler Systems: Understanding NFPA 13 Requirements

Air management is critical in wet fire sprinkler system design that utilizes Model 7930 end cap automatic air ventmetallic pipe. Trapped air can contribute to corrosion, leading to costly maintenance and potential system failure. NFPA 13 recognizes this and mandates at least a single air vent on wet pipe fire sprinkler systems, but the code allows the system designer to determine if additional vents are necessary.

8.1.5.1 NFPA 13 (2019) – “Venting from multiple points on each system shall not be required.”

The NFPA 13 Code Requirement

NFPA 13 requires at least one air vent near a high point in the system to help exhaust air. However, the code does not specify a maximum number of vents, leaving it up to designers to assess whether additional vents are needed to remove air that causes corrosion. While some manufacturers design vents with redundant air vents or drip pans as a necessity, AGF Manufacturing provides a smarter solution with its innovative automatic air vent design.

Why Choose an Automatic Air Vent?

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AGF Introduces Flood Eliminator for Auxiliary Drains

Flood Eliminator is installed above the outlet of an auxiliary drain AGF Manufacturing is excited to introduce the Model 5900 Flood Eliminator, an attachment that prevents broken auxiliary drains from flooding a facility. The Model 5900 allows condensate water to collect normally in a standard drum drip. Pressurized flow from a failed drum drip automatically trips the auxiliary drain flood eliminator to cut off that flow. This eliminates the flooding and damage that would result from the system’s failure. The Flood Eliminator can be pre-assembled to AGF’s COLLECTanDRAIN auxiliary drains or retrofitted to existing auxiliary drains.

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Inspection, Testing, & Maintenance in a Post COVID-19 World

No one knows for sure how our world will change as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, but there will be changes. In the short term, as the United States starts to re-open facilities, we need to prepare for additional building entry procedures and ITM post-COVID-19.

Security will likely include temperature taking and health screening questions. Service, maintenance, and inspection personnel need to be provided with masks, gloves, and other PPE. Disinfectant wipes will need to be added to toolboxes so for use on the fire control panel.

Gone are the days when a crew can easily access a building and have free roam of the stairwells to access sprinkler system valves. Bottom line, property owners and occupants will want to limit the number of outsiders entering their buildings, limit the areas of the building they access, and limit the amount of time they will be on site.

The fire protection industry can’t let interruptions to inspection, testing, and maintenance undermine long-term fire sprinkler system integrity. That will mean using products that ease the time service contractors need to be on-site and the areas they need to access. Although developed to solve other system-related issues, AGF Manufacturing has products to address concerns of a post-COVID-19 environment.

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Improve Your Fire Sprinkler System Maintenance with These 5 Tips

Fire sprinkler system maintenance keeps a system ready that could save your life. Everyone hopes fire sprinklers never need to activate–that there’s never a fire. But the worst scenario for building tenants and property is a system that doesn’t work when they need it.

Maintenance doesn’t need to cause a headache for facilities professionals, though. With these five tips, building managers can maintain a safe fire sprinkler system with ease.

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How to Offer a Better Five-Year Obstruction Investigation

and Differentiate Yourself in a Crowded Marketplace

With the increased emphasis on the 5-year obstruction investigation, one might be left to wonder when it became a requirement.  Well, the requirement has been lurking in NFPA 25, the Standard for the Inspection, Testing, and Maintenance of Water-Based Fire Protection Systems, for over 20 years but became clearly defined in the 2002 edition. Most insurance companies now require 5-year internal pipe inspections as a condition of their coverage. Some have denied claims for damage done by system-related issues if a building owner can’t prove that the system has been maintained correctly and internally inspected every 5 years.

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