dcarpenter Wrote:
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> Had an interesting incident of water damage of
> artwork from a broken sprinkler. The glass-bulb
> sprinkler was installed within inches of a steel
> roof truss in a warehouse. An previous earthquake
> shook the building and there was evidence of the
> sprinkler coming in contact with the truss.
> Sprinkler failed years later. Impact of glass bulb
> sprinklers can cause damage to the glass bulb
> surface, but also to the frame that supports the
> glass bulb. misalignment can produce stress on the
> bulb that it was not designed for.
>
> The frame was bent in my case, but was not readily
> apparent from visual inspections from below.
> Interestingly, the sprinkler piping was painted
> after it was installed and provided the evidence
> of movement. The earthquake displace the sprinkler
> system a couple of inches with the evidence being
> the exposed black pipe under the hangers that were
> masked during the painting.You could see it 30
> feet above from the floor.
There is a problem with NFPA 25, in my opinion.
1. After a system is installed, 25 basically says it is considered standard compliant. And, annual inspections are supposed to accept it as is.
2. A very simple visual inspection is only required.
3. I have seen or heard of very few sprinklers fail just setting there. It does happen.
If you can get to Matt Klaus, he may be a good resource
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