This reminds me strongly of a far worse flood that happened on my university campus over winter break. It happened in Seattle, where we don’t always get extremely cold temperatures but we have the occasional cold spell where tons of pipes burst. The cause of that flood was the same, it was a sprinkler pipe near an exterior wall that had frozen, expanded, broke, thawed, and flooded everything. Apparently residents of one of the more pricey sophomore apartments woke up to the fire alarm (I believe it’s a 90s FCI panel and Gentex GX90 mini horns) and those on the first floor found themselves standing in 3 inches or about 10cm of dirty sprinkler water. The staircase where the flood started probably was filled up to knee height, but luckily the fire door stopped some of the water. At first, people thought it was sewage, but it was just rusty brown sprinkler water with pieces of fiberglass insulation floating inside. Now, the common area of that building has been re-opened, after they had to replace furniture, carpet and drywall. I peeked inside and it looks pretty nice in there now, they really upgraded.
I've been watching your videos and not only they are entertaining but I'm also learing alot, tysm for still making all these! It's my routine to watch one of your videos after work haha
I'll never understand why anyone would think it's a good idea to put fire sprinklers outside when it's just asking for things like this to happen...I should know because the grocery store I work for learned this the hard way...TWICE in a single year (when there was no fire in the first place).
You don’t understand one thing about fire proofing engineering lmao. That sprinkler was aimed directly at the door protecting it from being blocked by fire. Some fireproofing engineer is so bricked up right now seeing that thing in action doing exactly what it’s designed to do.
Interesting.... If this was a blazing hot day like we get here in Southern Ontario and that head happened to AHEM.. Fail for whatever unknown reason you can bet id want to run under it...
I would think that the pipes that are outside are on a dry system. That's how my High School did it anyway. Where my Dad works does it like that as well. They have vents on the top of their roof that have fans in them with duct monitoring. Sprinklers are a dry system until the monitoring detects heat and smoke. Then the sprinklers activate.
This is a dry barrel through wall head doesn't need a dry system when it's inside supposed to be insulated. What you've explained is different than a dry system sounds like a pre-action system.
why does the water thawing cause it to burst? is it just because heat makes things expand and since it is rapidly going from cold to warm it just breaks the pipe?
Nice video! I wonder if there's any more pipes that have yet to go out... The unfortunate thing about sprinklers is that they can be ticking time bombs, and in the places where you'd least expect them. Way back when I was in 6th grade, my middle school (built in the late 2000s) had a pipe burst in their shop. The shop was accessed through a classroom. The water went through the classroom, across the hallway, and into the school gym. It ruined a portion of the gym floor, and the school ended up deciding to replace the entire floor because of it. It happened after a cold snap, but being well inside the building, I'm surprised the temperature got low enough to cause a problem.
My highschool recently had that same problem with the sprinklers but I don't think the alarm even when went off because I wasn't there when it happened. I don't think the fire alarm went off but I didn't know it could
If you’re confused why a sprinkler would be protecting egress then idk what to tell you. Anyways that sprinkler head has to be on the dry system and most likely when their company tested flow last or they had an incident that tripped the dry system they never drained it properly and it froze.
No I'm not surprised it makes sense any area with an overhang of 4 feet or greater at that time required sprinkler coverage. As I said in the video this is a dry through wall head that is on a wet system you wouldn't have a dry barrel head on a dry system.
Cheers! There's only a few areas in Australia that see low temps and see snow so it's mostly large coolrooms and some specialised areas where dry systems are installed. @@nics-systems-electric
at least it had bursted outside and not inside when people where in the building and it would flood the school. Welp looks like u guys need to do some repairs of that leak
i noticed when you look in the rest room ceiling you see what looks like a hole in the plywood with a square cut out of it and you can see day light through it should be closed up in winter for sure
@@apctech1 yes we use those too. typically it's much better just to have a dry system but for very small areas heat traces fine it just requires more complexity for monitoring it.
This happened at my school once. A pipe burst in a 4th floor storage room, and caused water damage to the gyms because they were right below the storage room where the pipe burst at
When I go to see my therapist the entire main hallway to the building is 48°! The rest of the offices are between 55-65. Every time I walk past a sprinkler I just pray that I don't get drenched.
No none of our systems have any pumps unless it's a high-rise then potentially. We typically have a minimum of 60 psi anywhere you go around the communities out here often times though pressure is up to 120 I've seen before.
Sprinkler systems are normally installed before any pressure control with maybe a non-return valve (you saw it in the valve room, where the sprinklers came off of the main main before being restricted for "domestic" use like taps/toilets/showers/etc) so operate at a lot higher pressure and with a lot more water than you might expect - You've also got to remember that in the worst case it's designed to have multiple sprinklers active and is pushing all that through 2 holes (the head and the broken elbow) so it will be the highest flow available at the time.
@@nics-systems-electric So is the idea to protect from fires that start outside? I can't think of what would cause that, unless you get wildifres there
@@zspacecaptain8228 yes the outside of the building must be protected if it is more than 4 feet of overhung roof during this buildings completion now 2 feet for new installs. Fires on the outside of the building can be caused by many different things and outdoor sprinklers are just as important as indoor ones
That is something we use in uninsulated spaces where there is a potential for freezing. However it's not the default go to answer as that requires more complex monitoring testing and supervision. This installation would have been fine if the proper insulation of the space was installed.
That's crazy that two schools froze, at least its outside.
This reminds me strongly of a far worse flood that happened on my university campus over winter break. It happened in Seattle, where we don’t always get extremely cold temperatures but we have the occasional cold spell where tons of pipes burst. The cause of that flood was the same, it was a sprinkler pipe near an exterior wall that had frozen, expanded, broke, thawed, and flooded everything. Apparently residents of one of the more pricey sophomore apartments woke up to the fire alarm (I believe it’s a 90s FCI panel and Gentex GX90 mini horns) and those on the first floor found themselves standing in 3 inches or about 10cm of dirty sprinkler water. The staircase where the flood started probably was filled up to knee height, but luckily the fire door stopped some of the water. At first, people thought it was sewage, but it was just rusty brown sprinkler water with pieces of fiberglass insulation floating inside. Now, the common area of that building has been re-opened, after they had to replace furniture, carpet and drywall. I peeked inside and it looks pretty nice in there now, they really upgraded.
At least it’s outside this time
I learn a lot from your videos. Thanks!
I've been watching your videos and not only they are entertaining but I'm also learing alot, tysm for still making all these! It's my routine to watch one of your videos after work haha
I'll never understand why anyone would think it's a good idea to put fire sprinklers outside when it's just asking for things like this to happen...I should know because the grocery store I work for learned this the hard way...TWICE in a single year (when there was no fire in the first place).
Because if installed correctly it won't cause any problems and it could save your building from burning down
just needs some heat trace and insulation
You don’t understand one thing about fire proofing engineering lmao. That sprinkler was aimed directly at the door protecting it from being blocked by fire. Some fireproofing engineer is so bricked up right now seeing that thing in action doing exactly what it’s designed to do.
Same could be achieved by pointing it towards the door from inside @@gjones2312
@@nics-systems-electric Is this area also prone to bushfires? Was it part of a property protection system?
When you haven’t pissed in 4 hours! 😂
Another one, huh?
Guess those firemen turned into watermen now
Interesting.... If this was a blazing hot day like we get here in Southern Ontario and that head happened to AHEM.. Fail for whatever unknown reason you can bet id want to run under it...
At least you know it works, great video
Thanks. It all gets verified in the summer so it is always in working condition.
I would think that the pipes that are outside are on a dry system. That's how my High School did it anyway. Where my Dad works does it like that as well. They have vents on the top of their roof that have fans in them with duct monitoring. Sprinklers are a dry system until the monitoring detects heat and smoke. Then the sprinklers activate.
This is a dry barrel through wall head doesn't need a dry system when it's inside supposed to be insulated. What you've explained is different than a dry system sounds like a pre-action system.
why does the water thawing cause it to burst? is it just because heat makes things expand and since it is rapidly going from cold to warm it just breaks the pipe?
The pipe bursts when the water freezes and expands and once thawed the water turns back to a liquid and can flow
This should be a whole series
Would not wanna be the sprinkler fitter on call that day 😂
Nice video! I wonder if there's any more pipes that have yet to go out... The unfortunate thing about sprinklers is that they can be ticking time bombs, and in the places where you'd least expect them. Way back when I was in 6th grade, my middle school (built in the late 2000s) had a pipe burst in their shop. The shop was accessed through a classroom. The water went through the classroom, across the hallway, and into the school gym. It ruined a portion of the gym floor, and the school ended up deciding to replace the entire floor because of it. It happened after a cold snap, but being well inside the building, I'm surprised the temperature got low enough to cause a problem.
Hey Nic. Do you know where you got those notifier isolator modules?
Wholesalers or eBay
@@nics-systems-electricif your in the us Amazon has them
@@BlakeFA_TECH Thanks man.
@@WNYEAS welcome
My highschool recently had that same problem with the sprinklers but I don't think the alarm even when went off because I wasn't there when it happened. I don't think the fire alarm went off but I didn't know it could
You need to invest in a wet and dry shop vac!
I'm not responsible for buying equipment for the school district. they have all types of machines just they can't be everywhere at one time
Nic How do you reset a call point?
need to add water sensors to the dry barrel lol
Good thing the system is working the way it needs to from when you guys installed it
You’d never think being too COLD would also set off a fire system.
I'd love to know how much property damage has been caused by sprinklers over the years.
If you’re confused why a sprinkler would be protecting egress then idk what to tell you. Anyways that sprinkler head has to be on the dry system and most likely when their company tested flow last or they had an incident that tripped the dry system they never drained it properly and it froze.
No I'm not surprised it makes sense any area with an overhang of 4 feet or greater at that time required sprinkler coverage. As I said in the video this is a dry through wall head that is on a wet system you wouldn't have a dry barrel head on a dry system.
Wow! Two in one week! I’d be surprised if a third sprinkler pipe burst.
There was a third but it was domestic water and outside as well as many many many other school districts and buildings
@@nics-systems-electric😮 tell me more!
Not again, what a season this is turning out to be. At least in this case it was outside.
So many where i am too eh?
Another one bites the dust
Wow another one??
I had one bust in my apartment 2 months ago
Unlucky. How much damage did it cause?
Damn again lol
Why don’t they use fire sprinkler rated foam insulation?
They will install fibreglass over top of the pipe as it always should've been
How low were your record low C temperatures?
Not super cold just colder than usual for this area I think between -12°C and -24°C
Cheers! There's only a few areas in Australia that see low temps and see snow so it's mostly large coolrooms and some specialised areas where dry systems are installed. @@nics-systems-electric
@@nics-systems-electric first time i've read a sentence with "not super cold" and "-24°C" in the same sentence
this happened at his high school
2 in one week at least
@@stevendutton3958 omg am i right
every school i have been to has carpet carpet flooring so evey time the sprinkler goes off the entire floor has to be replaced
Wow they just keep happening
at least it had bursted outside and not inside when people where in the building and it would flood the school. Welp looks like u guys need to do some repairs of that leak
i noticed when you look in the rest room ceiling you see what looks like a hole in the plywood with a square cut out of it and you can see day light through it should be closed up in winter for sure
Yes that is the vent that allowed the pipes to freeze and why the insulation should have been over the pipe
@@nics-systems-electric in my area covered with thermostatic heat tapes are required now
@@apctech1 yes we use those too. typically it's much better just to have a dry system but for very small areas heat traces fine it just requires more complexity for monitoring it.
Not another one
Why is there water brain out what happened?
This happened at my school once. A pipe burst in a 4th floor storage room, and caused water damage to the gyms because they were right below the storage room where the pipe burst at
Oh my, here we go again!
Another one 🙃 Well hey, at least you know what sort of work you'll be dealing with.
Was this the second time you encountered this?
Yes
Why is this happening... 💀
Frozen
A pipe burst?
Can you do a giveaway?
OMG IS FLOODING
When I go to see my therapist the entire main hallway to the building is 48°! The rest of the offices are between 55-65. Every time I walk past a sprinkler I just pray that I don't get drenched.
Man where the schools just not prepared for cold weather in Canada..
It's the coldest we've ever had beating the last record set in 1963 and it was sustained for a week
what a lucky find. 2 leaks in the same part! 🤣😂
Is there not some legal thing that you need to insure there is not fire before things are shut off ?
Yes you don't shut sprinklers off until you find the activated head
now that is alot of damage and it is still leaking and bursting.
at least it was outside most of it not inside like your last video
i just thought that you guys have not tested the Somke exhaust system on Gen at your school
What?
the smoke exhaust with the generator
the pipe didnt freeze nature just decided you didnt test the sprinkler flow switches enough.....so it did a test for you...
decent water pressure , is the system rigged with some sort of booster?
No none of our systems have any pumps unless it's a high-rise then potentially. We typically have a minimum of 60 psi anywhere you go around the communities out here often times though pressure is up to 120 I've seen before.
Sprinkler systems are normally installed before any pressure control with maybe a non-return valve (you saw it in the valve room, where the sprinklers came off of the main main before being restricted for "domestic" use like taps/toilets/showers/etc) so operate at a lot higher pressure and with a lot more water than you might expect - You've also got to remember that in the worst case it's designed to have multiple sprinklers active and is pushing all that through 2 holes (the head and the broken elbow) so it will be the highest flow available at the time.
Why not put the sprinkler on the inside of the door?
Because water and heat can't go trough a glass and aluminum door and a wall
@@nics-systems-electric So is the idea to protect from fires that start outside? I can't think of what would cause that, unless you get wildifres there
@@zspacecaptain8228 yes the outside of the building must be protected if it is more than 4 feet of overhung roof during this buildings completion now 2 feet for new installs. Fires on the outside of the building can be caused by many different things and outdoor sprinklers are just as important as indoor ones
@@nics-systems-electric I see, thanks for that
Did they go home early
No
@@nics-systems-electric why
@@Ericlovestrains why would they
@@nics-systems-electric The school
another one? Yikes
Second one in the mater of days
you should durability test a sprinkler head
Hi
1:05 That Would Be One Nice To Cool Off On Hot Summer Days
Always have trace heating and lagging on pipes
That is something we use in uninsulated spaces where there is a potential for freezing. However it's not the default go to answer as that requires more complex monitoring testing and supervision. This installation would have been fine if the proper insulation of the space was installed.
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that's not good that the pipes froze
another shower
1:08 a nice little rainbow.