Need a Fire protection Sprinkler and no city water supply ? Introducing the Pressure Tank for these situations

Recently I picked up a large church expansion job which needed a Fire system and also had to have a Sprinkler system as well . normally not a big deal but this church sits in a rural section of butler county and there is no city supplied waterline only a well providing water to the church.
OK so whats the solution to having an available water supply its called a Pressure tank as seen in picture below.

In this case a 10,000 gallon tank the size of a railroad car  was required which is filled 2/3 full with treated water and then 100-150 pounds of air pressure is maintained on tank by a small air compressor you see in left of picture  and pressure to tank is monitored by  a supervisory fire system switch for air pressure loss.    The tank  is attached to sprinkler piping and
when one of the heads activates the pressure in the tank will supply the sprinkler heads for 5-10 minutes time  and fire alarm will activate via the flow switch on piping  and notify fire dept.
When fire dept arrives with there engine they set up a small pool which there tanker truck and other arriving tanker trucks dump there water  into which engines suctions out and is then attached to the FDC Fire dept connection which will then continue to feed the sprinkler system till fire is put out .
a similar but much smaller tank is used for residential systems where a well is involved .
While adding the tank and pump adds significantly to cost of a sprinkler system it solves the problem for now till this community gets big enough city water will be brought to it or better way of putting out fires is developed. While 5-10 minutes may not seem much in the way of protection often fires are put out or controlled greatly so they are quickly put out upon fire dept arrival

Changing out a Electric Strike reveals why it never worked properly and hack job done to it.

I was recently called to one of my Institutional customer after there front doors electric strike would not lock and the electric strike was in locked open position after a tap it dropped closed and I found the mechanism was wearing out and needed replaced. but in replacing the lock I found what has been an on going problem with the lock not opening or partially opening or not closing when button was released.
What was happening was that when the door lock was first installed it was powered by 24 Volts AC power but some where along the way some one change the lock over to 24 Volts DC as the AC powered locks can be very noisy when they operate.
 

There is nothing wrong with doing this as long as it is done properly.
and in this case it was not . What the person installing the DC lock did was cheat and use a half wave rectifier which had no filtering which produced raw AC/DC power not a good thing to use on an electromagnet  and to make matters worse he installed the rectifier in the door jam which made it vulnerable to temperature swings which is why when the door frame got extremely cold or hot it would misbehave also the constant power on power off was not good for this component it is meant to be powered continuously.

I put in a new lock and removed the half wave rectifier and inside I installed a proper filtered DC power supply next to the power transformer  and installed surge protectors and door operates with no further problems. I also put in back up battery s as the door lock is used as part of a door access system and unknown to institute was fact when the hacks who put the access system in improperly also never checked to see if door would work during a power failure .
But this is what happens when you hire so called professionals and not properly check them out.

Old School VS New School fancy Alarm Company : Easy to guess who lost when burglars came calling

One of my first customer who has since passed on owned 3 Food Land Super Markets at one time one of them located in library Pa. he closed first after sales declined and he leased the front of the building to a national  drug store chain . they had this  fancy start up company  come in and  Install a new hi Tech Radionics Burglar Alarm System which is a very good system if installed properly which they did not . Right away I saw holes where they installed the motion sensors and just laughed.

Meanwhile my customer Larry kept the large back section of the old supermarket as a storage space to keep stock for one Food Land he still had left.

I took the stores old Moose MPI 25 panel and moved it to the back and proceeded to wire in the doors

and place motion sensors n all the storage areas. 

Well few weeks go by and Larry calls me and said I needed to temporarily trap wire a hole in wall where burglars tried to break into the storage room but where caught.. 

Well I get there good deal we caught burglars with system  win one for the good guys.

But that was only part of the story seems the burglars had broken into the drug store thru roof vent  and drug store system never picked them up they stole drugs and cash then proceeded to break thru back wall into my customers storage area when they where finally detected and captured had my system not been there they would have got away clean. 

Needless to say a embarrassing episode for this fancy alarm company which was eventually sold and is now part of ADT  But this is not only time this company failed there where several times I ran across articles where they where sued where systems failed including a million dollar house where fire system failed.

Of course I would find out why they where having problems after taking over a system a friend had installed at his high end home in Nemacolin  Resort and saw how badly they installed the system including leaving the resistors for smoke detectors in panel and not using power supervision relays .

But it seems all is well as the company's founder is still around in fact he got a big award while back in one of the security magazines I get.

It just amazes me how these guys get all this accolades  awards etc from the alarm industry  for building these big company's then dumping and selling them and go on and build another one  while all along forgetting about the customer its all about how much money you make with a company not hat quality of service you actually provide. 

Silent Knights new 5820- EVS Panel handles all types of Emergency's from Fire and Gas leak to Armed Intruder

Since the events of 9-11 took place codes and technology's have been evolving to insure the safety of large gatherings of people at work or play  be it a mall,  church  a college campus or large corporate office complex .
This has resulted in systems known as Mass Notification Systems .
Which can deliver messages by several means to notify building occupants or those walking around the structure of a problem such as Fire, Tornado, gas or chemical leak, armed Intruder etc.
Silent Knight a Honeywell Company has now released the SK5820 EVS a combination Fire panel and voice Evacuation and Emergency Communications Panel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRB5Y45MqRQ

5820-EVS center with voice amplifier to right and strobe booster at top 

I recently installed a very large set up at a church in Dormont Pa. which was recently purchased and taken over by a non denominational congregation and operates on 3 floors and has had multiple additions added over the years.

the 5820 -EVS was ideal for the job  

a 50 Watt  distributed amplifier and 6 amp strobe booster was installed on each floor  and  this allows for delivering either pre-recorded or live messages from the command center in main hall.

There was a fire proof chase way up thru center of church and this made for a perfect means to run wiring so conduit was not needed and also an excellent place to locate the equipment you see above which they will build an enclosure around. 

While the main panel at top of panel has the traditional Fire Control Interface you will notice the rows of buttons with white tags below this is where various pre-recorded messages can be set up for different emergencies . 

To activate the buttons you must have an activation code you enter to prevent meddlers from activating it .

 and there is an on board microphone to make live messages or record your own personalized messages. 

The system also uses distributed SBUS technology where only 1 -2 conductor shielded wire for voice and  4 conductor wire for control are needed between the components  to make them all work together as one system and trouble shooting is a breeze as each individual  booster and amplifier panels  individual circuits read out when in trouble.

This is definitely a winner and I have a second install going in  a butler county church later this month .

The other nice thing about this panel it also can use the new  Smoke /  Carbon Monoxide  detectors 

and separate message of CO leak can be delivered which we installed these units at the 2 boiler rooms. 

I installed 72 + hours of back up battery as well since the church is strong and big enough to be used as an evacuation center for neighborhood should there be a community emergency and this will insure evacuees are safe during their stay if there is an extended power failure as well. 

W. Pa. Vol. Firefighter Dies during search for missing woman near railroad Tracks more questions than answers.

Young Wood Pa. is  an old railroad town in Westmoreland County   it even has a railroad museum. But it is also known for its volunteer fire depts K9 Search and Rescue Team .
They where recently called to a search for a missing woman in East Pittsburgh Pa. in Allegheny County  another town with 2  railroads passing thru it  the Norfolk and Southerns old PA Railroad  Main Line which goes up thru the Turtle Creek Valley to Trafford where there is a major inter-modal truck facility and the Union Railroad which serves the nearby US Steel Edgar Thompson Plant  in next door Braddock.
and ironically a railroad train would take the life of a 57 year old father of 2  volunteer firefighter. N&S
Trains come thru this valley at about 40 MPH  on three different tracks past whats left of the old Westinghouse Electric complex now an industrial park  so any search in this area it is imperative to be aware of and stay away from the tracks at all cost.there can be a train on any of the and running in opposite directions.

http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2014/03/22/train-strikes-kills-firefighter-during-search-for-missing-woman/

Man line Norfolk Southern

A snarl of tracks bridges and trains

With this in mind how this volunteer was struck and killed is still a mystery and plenty of questions will need to also be answered  and investigated such as was N&S notified a search was going on so trains would be slowed down and give extra warning signals.
Where volunteers given full instructions on how trains run in the valley and where they given  full safety instructions  and  reflective vests and warning flares/beacons  etc.  to warn approaching trains when it came to crossing tracks if they had to.
Well it appears we already know railroad was not notified of Saturday search according to railroad.

http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2014/03/23/railroad-company-says-it-didnt-know-search-crews-were-out-saturday/

On KDKA radio the chief running the incident came on and even admitted  he did not double check had call been made he relied on Police telling him they did and that some trains had slowed down he thought.
Wrong.

Why did he not double check and even better not moved on the search till a railroad supervisor was on site with radios to communicate directly with the trains.  especially in fact you could have trains coming from opposite directions at same time which appears to be a factor in this tragic accident which did not have to happen.

When the investigation is done and all is said in the reports will anything change ? No because people including chiefs are not held accountable for there actions. After all he is a volunteer here to help like everyone else . Bull Shit.
Like I always  say the " Fire Service is its own worst enemy" when are we going to start holding people accountable for there actions and banning them from holding further offices in Fire Service  and charging them with negligence  instead of just writing up reports which get published into study's ?
How many more firefighter's need to die for no good reason?

Let me tell you this had this been a industrial plant and a supervisor told workers its OK to work on tracks train is called off and he had not done his job properly he would be cited and penalized by OSHA with possible loss of job and any certifications he holds and he could face criminal  and civil negligence charges why is it different for fighters. ?

Update : it appears missing woman had already drowned before the search started that day

http://www.wtae.com/news/body-of-missing-wilmerding-woman-found-in-monongahela-river/25408356?utm_source=hootsuite&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=wtae-tv%2Bpittsburgh

Why in this modern age are we fighting fires with just water and seeing good men lose there lives fighting them.

Yes it happens all too often Firefighters dying at the scene of a fire but why?
Today firefighters have a tremendous amount of resources available to fight fires and extinguish them.
Including Class A  Foam and other cooling chemicals which quickly knock down fires and put them out fast including emergency grenade type units which explode with powder and puts out fires fast
So why are they still just using water in so many locations ?
It comes down to some very pathetic facts including  stupidity , ignorance and macho we fight fires caveman attitudes

Yes I have heard it time and again Foam costs money water is free. But Volunteer depts have money to spend putting chrome wheels and diamond plate  on there shiny fire trucks so they can take them to parades  so whats the real priority's when it comes to firefighting .The amount of money spent on fire trucks not needed and money to customize them also not needed could more than easily offset the costs of putting Class A Foam to use.
Why Insurance Company's are not insisting on its use also is a mystery as well.
Not only does Class A Foam put out fires faster it saves the environment from all the smoke a fire generates
plus diesel fumes firetrucks put off at fire scenes etc. and it allows a structure to be saved  a win win but No
Firefighters want to be the Hero and Slay the Fire Breathing  Dragon  and it is getting them killed by the hundreds every year.I am not the only one saying it as well

http://www.firefighternation.com/article/firefighting-operations/top-10-excuses-not-using-foamcafs

This attitude and excuses need to stop we have the technology to put fires out faster and save lives and the fire service is not doing it.
they would rather your house burn to ground while they play around with straight nozzle fire streams than put it on fog and put a room out faster because the dangers of steam.. Well if a fog nozzle pattern is used properly the steam is minimal and there is no danger but no we will stay there and fight the fire as long as it takes .
I saw several firefighters hurt at a fire in eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh fighting a room fire  when it got out of control instead of getting out and setting the nozzle on fog and putting it thru the open window and let the fog do the job no they had to stay in the house and get hurt.
There was a gigantic car tire fire in Washington County  Pa. about 20 years ago
dramatic news coverage and as the fire was going hot the Firefighters in Greensburg where ready and willing to run there high expansion  Class B foam units to the scene to put out the tire fire with foam. No local firefighters would not let them said it could not be done and instead it took them a month to put out the fire after they brought in bulldozers to break up the piles so they could be attacked. 30 days of heavy dark dangerous acrid smoke for no reason other than wanting to be Macho and fight the dragon.

So when is it going to stop ?
with less and less volunteers available and light weight construction  its going to have to be very soon
because there will not be enough firefighters to handle calls and maybe then insurance company's and codes will start mandating it. till them when you see firefighter deaths and injury's on TV know that many of them where avoidable had the slay the fire breathing  dragon mentality been put to rest long ago and modern techniques and technology put to use.

Allegheny County Pa. Once again fails to follow thru with Life Safety proposal as another town prepares for Tornadoes

When a tornado came thru Pittsburgh in the late  90's and then several severe storms which produced small micro-bursts it was all over the papers how Allegheny County Emergency management was going to work with local fire depts to use there sirens  for tornado warnings.
At the time I wrote the county office and offered my expertise with sirens and electric to see the program work but one big problem was not all fire depts had back up power generators the one I belonged to in Penn hills #224  did not .
It would have been rather easy to convert the sirens to do a fire siren tone for fire fighters and tornado tone for about $4500.00 per station at the time . Well the whole proposal as usual with Allegheny county along with county wide identification cards for firefighters to identify them went no where also . While surrounding depts in nearby countys have  one just this moth updated there system to do tornado calls as you can see in link below.

http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2014/03/18/whats-that-sound-mt-pleasant-gets-new-tornado-warning-system/

 If Allegheny county wants to ever go forward  with this proposal it is now way to late as many depts have shut down there sirens all together and  have removed them because neighbors do not like the noise. 

So once again here sits Allegheny County with no way to notify residents except by there cell phones ,TV ,radio and other gadgets when they remember they can actually do that and how to use it.  All of these devices power dependent and need to be turned on.

So we are no better off than we where in late 90's when another batch of tornadoes goes thru and even less prepared to get a warning out. inst that just great but this is what happens when you let Neanderthals into government.  

What where these Pa. Fire Officials thinking when they Designed and Approved Fire System in this Apartment Building ?

I do work for other alarm installers who are small independents like me helping them out with programming etc. since I am all setup with computers and cables and certified to work on certain brands.
One called me to a building up  Butler County about 50 miles  North of Pittsburgh   where he had just installed a Silent Knight 5700 - 50 point addressable panel
Very nice small addressable panel for this 12 unit building.

There had been a fire in one of the apartments and building owner hired my friend to put in a a fire system the fire officials wanted and my friend did an excellent job putting it in. Only problem the Fire Officials did not want smoke detectors in common hall ways and stairways areas just a smoke detector in bedroom and hall way  with accessory sounder bases  in the individual apartments even after my friend tried to convince them otherwise .
Which is a very bad decision  on the officials as many fires start in hallways and if it does it can block the way to escape. The faster a fire in a hallway is detected  the greater chance occupants could escape and in this case they could not get out windows they are too small or non existent in many rooms. When I talked to the official who came to inspect he said he did not want the false alarms caused by kids loitering around the building?   Clearly the  Pa. State Fire & Panic  codes in effect  at time  and the new State wide code which was just coming into law called for a full fire system that means hallways  and stairways but that's not what they wanted .they also did not want all the pull stations as well so you could notify all the tenants theirs a problem if you did discover a fire .
So shame on them for approving it this way which was completely against code but they get away with it all the time .I filed a complaint with state fire official but he has no powers to enforce and can only suggest things and labor & industry let it pass the way it was done .
Hopefully there never comes a time where the system will be put to test and there is a hallway fire and it goes undetected till it is too late .
But this is what you put up with In Pa. some protection ,no protection  or full protection  some times inspected some times not inspected. and if something goes wrong its cover your ass .
 Until Pa. gets serous about fire protection and following codes correctly the state will continue to lead the nation in fire deaths and firefighter deaths.
Like I keep saying " the Fire service is its own worse enemy" and in this case it proves it.