I didn't realise you could buy sprinkler heads on eBay until I was looking for something completely different. Being fond of workwear I was trying to find an American supplier who would ship a Carhartt R28 carpenters overall to the UK. I discovered that particular style of overall is very popular with mechanical trades because of the built-in tool pouch. That makes sense as standard tool belts are prone to slipping down your waist when loaded with tools and hardware.
Seeing images of sprinkler fitters wearing them then reminded me of how intriguing fire sprinkler heads are. Especially the mysterious little vial of coloured liquid. So it turns out that you can buy them from China on eBay from the electronic component suppliers. And they're very cheap, probably because they're a mass produced item. Apparently 40 million sprinkler heads are installed every year. It's also interesting to note that buildings with sprinklers tend to have 96% of fires extinguished by the sprinklers alone.
With these accessories readily available it opens up the possibility of fitting your own home sprinkler system in critical areas like workshops, and just hooking it up to the cold water supply if it has good pressure.
I did get the overall. It's really rugged compared to typical European workwear.
If you enjoy these videos you can help support the channel with a dollar for coffee, cookies and random gadgets for disassembly at:-
http://www.bigclive.com/coffee.htm
This also keeps the channel independent of YouTube's advertising algorithms allowing it to be a bit more dangerous and naughty.
Seeing images of sprinkler fitters wearing them then reminded me of how intriguing fire sprinkler heads are. Especially the mysterious little vial of coloured liquid. So it turns out that you can buy them from China on eBay from the electronic component suppliers. And they're very cheap, probably because they're a mass produced item. Apparently 40 million sprinkler heads are installed every year. It's also interesting to note that buildings with sprinklers tend to have 96% of fires extinguished by the sprinklers alone.
With these accessories readily available it opens up the possibility of fitting your own home sprinkler system in critical areas like workshops, and just hooking it up to the cold water supply if it has good pressure.
I did get the overall. It's really rugged compared to typical European workwear.
If you enjoy these videos you can help support the channel with a dollar for coffee, cookies and random gadgets for disassembly at:-
http://www.bigclive.com/coffee.htm
This also keeps the channel independent of YouTube's advertising algorithms allowing it to be a bit more dangerous and naughty.
Liquid doesn’t expand.
Keep it up Clive – Another great one 🙂
Plumber here – Not a good idea off your standard water connection as the sprinkler lines are full of the worst, stagnant water you will ever com across. Without backflow protection you would end up seeding your drinking water with all sorts of nasties.
I didn't know the orange ones existed, I thought the red one was the one with the lowest activation temperature.
If anything, I'd expect the low quality sprinklers to not go off at all or only at much too high temperatures.
I wasn't expecting it to explode so violently, more like breaking in half…
What happened to his thumb nial it looks painful.
Rubber seals on fire sprinklers are not allowed in the US for good reason.
The rubber will eventually harden and stick to the head seat likely preventing operation when needed.
In a system where you do want all the sprinkler heads to go off at once (eg around bulk LPG storage vessels), something like a special plastic tube is routed around the area, that is pressurised. A fire melts the pipe and the loss of pressure kicks in the deluge pump. This is a dry deluge system. The pipework from the pump to the sprinkler heads has to be designed to withstand the forces of the water in-rush. In this case the sprinkler heads are open all the time.
I would guess that they first fill the ampule entirely as a certain temperature, and then inject the gas bubble. or… maybe it would be even simpler to fill the ampules at different temperatures for the different bubble sizes, and then cool them a particular amount before sealing, so they suck in a particular volume of gas.
When I was a fireman, some years ago. We used to know the different temperatures for the breaking point of the different colours.
Yet another wonderful dissection by Clive. Just a note: These are not intended to "put out" the fire. Their purpose is to spray cooling water over a wide area to help absorb heat from the fire long enough to give the fire department time to get into position at the scene. The firemen put out the fire, which hopefully is not yet out of control. And I do have them piped near the ceiling in my shop building where I do welding jobs on my projects, along with a very loud siren. Cheap extra insurance.
The liquid inside is glycerin, which expands as it heats up and you are correct, the flush mount caps are soldered on with solder that has a melting temperature about 10% lower than the burst temperature of the glass vile. This way they fall off right before the vile pops.
Are you a sprinkler or a twinkler? 😁
You and Jeremy Clarkson could do a double act!
Buyer beware with the inexpensive Chinese sprinklers. Fire sprinklers go though rigorous testing by independent labs (UL for example) to be sure they will operate as designed. They are life safety devices! There has been a plague of Chinese knockoff sprinkler heads that have not been tested and who knows if they will even operate. Spend the extra money, get the listed equipment, and sleep better at night.
Bigger bubble higher temp