Water is bad, mmmmkay....

When a sprinkler riser freezes and bursts next to a node, it doesn’t end well…

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Edit: Of course as soon as I post…

Wow, looks like that thing actually caught fire. And the fire alarm control panel catching fire is a very bad thing indeed (since you know, the fire alarm won’t sound then). I think fire alarm panels and power supplies should be required to be a minimum distance away from water pipes of any kind, and they should be required to be inside weatherproof enclosures if they are located within a sprinklered room (so that if a sprinkler in the room goes off, it will actually put out the fire and save the device without destroying it in the process).

Also, I’ve always wondered why sprinklered buildings aren’t required to use weatherproof notification appliances, since it would seem like an obvious thing (you don’t want a sprinkler immediately shorting out the notification appliance circuit and disabling it).

I doubt that if a sprinkler goes off it will do as much damage as a burst water pipe so that might be why. Even if it does damage an A/V, it probably will only damage just the one.

Yep, I’ve seen this one before, though not with such killer burn marks. That looks intense.

I’ve been called out to a recent install with the general contractor upset that our system is going haywire. I arrived the same time as the fire department. System was alarming on a zone that wasn’t connected to anything. Of course if they really want to blame it on us, they wouldn’t let me open the panel door and see the water dripping from the boards…

Yeah I was told there was smoke coming from the panel when security arrived… Usually not a good sign! In this case the node was located in a fire pumphouse so basically all that was in there was sprinkler related stuff. I’m still somewhat puzzled how so much water got in work everything closed up… But water always finds a way! I don’t know what the final bill was to replace everything but I bet it stung.

I am currently working on a system that replaced a system that took a bath 3 different times for the same reason. The panel is on a wall that extends through the roof, and right above the panel was a narrow opening between the wall and the roof deck that was normally sealed, but because the whole area including the roof was gutted and under renovation, the seal was gone. The roofers had removed that seal and over a 2 month long period we had 3 significant rain storms that went straight into the live panel that was supposed to be protecting the rest of the building which was occupied. The general contractor asked if we could salvage it after the first storm. Remarkably it still powered up after the first storm. Not so much after storm 2 and 3. Finally made them cover it up before we put a new system in that was paid for by the GC. It is mind boggling that general contractors run with the mentality that they would rather buy 10 new panels than to properly protect the one that is there.

Patrick

Man, thats crazy. Out sprinkler guys at my work have been so busy lately, because the temperatures keep rising and dropping and systems keep bursting. The worst was in a 2 tower 23 story high rise in a shared parking garage, ruined 3 addressable pull stations plus not to mention set both buildings off.

Wow that must have been really fun dealing with a high rise that is that large. Especially if you have to go through all of the floors from the building in order to find if there are any other problems.

Water is great! Turned a 120v smoke alarm into a flow switch in my house when the air handler in the attic was dripping water onto the ceiling of a bedroom, in just the right spot. There is now a yellow water stain circle about 3 inches outward from the round nail-on box the smoke alarm is on. I had a FireX 45189 smoke alarm on the box, and I had it connected to my GE Concord 4 panel with a FireX 499 relay. Well, the water got into the smoke alarm, it activated, and the panel tripped. On the same day, we thought we stopped the leak, so I put up another 45189 to replace it. Of course, the water continued and soaked the replacement. It filled the housing with just enough to pool in the ionization chamber. It tripped again. We fixed the leak and replaced it with a third 45189. Now, there is a System Sensor 2WTA-B, a low voltage smoke detector with thermal sensors and a built-in sounder. If anyone has looked at the back of an i3, they would know that they are electrically connected to the base with pins. The best part? If the water makes another appearance, it will likely pool and short the pins, shorting the zone, tripping the panel, and I have a System Sensor RRS-MOD, so when the panel trips, the zone will reverse polarity at 12v aux power from the panel, and I’ll surely be burning my RRS-MOD. I’m hoping that the Concord 4 panel has protection against a short on the aux power connections. I think it does, but I’m not sure it’ll be enough to prevent damages. Hopefully, I’ll never see the water again.

Wow that sounds like it was a really frustrating and annoying time for you with the water dripping into the smoke detectors you put up and ruining them. I hope that the water doesn’t begin to drip again and ruin ANOTHER smoke detector of yours.

[quote=MayerFire post_id=78410 time=1516430089 user_id=3566]

Wow, looks like that thing actually caught fire. And the fire alarm control panel catching fire is a very bad thing indeed (since you know, the fire alarm won’t sound then). I think fire alarm panels and power supplies should be required to be a minimum distance away from water pipes of any kind, and they should be required to be inside weatherproof enclosures if they are located within a sprinklered room (so that if a sprinkler in the room goes off, it will actually put out the fire and save the device without destroying it in the process).

Also, I’ve always wondered why sprinklered buildings aren’t required to use weatherproof notification appliances, since it would seem like an obvious thing (you don’t want a sprinkler immediately shorting out the notification appliance circuit and disabling it).

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I don’t feel that it is a big problem. In my experience the panels will start sending troubles as the damage is happening. I check every trouble. I will find most damage before it s a problem.

Sprinklers are a separate science. Most fire are put out with 3 or less heads activating (typically 1-2). by the time the panel is in trouble by a sprinkler soaking it. it already sent an alarm. Sprinkled buildings are required to have a panel for reporting purposes.

Technically sprinklered buildings are required to use weatherproof notification appliances. the 1 required notification appliance for a sprinkler building is an outside horn/strobe that is required to be within 15’ of the Fire Department Connection (FDC). It must be listed for the location.

JMO,
Telephone_Jim

I work for a school district. We use Simplex panels. We have found many building water leaks with the fire alarms. The most memorable was a tamper trouble and a ground fault, 5 ’ from the floor. It was a city main break that was grounding the tamper switch