From: stephen@sprunk.org   
      
   On 21-May-14 15:21, hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote:   
   > On Wednesday, May 21, 2014 1:32:36 PM UTC-4, Stephen Sprunk wrote:   
   >   
   >> I've never heard of sprinklers actually stopping a fire, but I   
   >> lived in a few such places and had to evacuate several times per   
   >> year because some idiot used their sprinkler for a coat hanger and   
   >> broke it open, which triggered the building fire alarm.   
   >   
   > There was a bad fire in a Phila office building.  Some floors had   
   > sprinklers, and when the fire reached such a floor, it was   
   > extinguished.   
   >   
   > As I understand it, sprinklers are very effective, but also very   
   > costly to install.   
      
   Indeed, which is why builders have bought themselves all sorts of   
   exceptions as to when they must be installed.   
      
   > Since sprinkler heads are on the ceiling, aren't they, how does one   
   > use it as a coat hook?   
      
   They're also commonly put high on a wall, either on the side of a room   
   or on a middle wall where the ceiling height changes.  In fact, that   
   seems to be the more common design in hotels and apartment buildings   
   where the floors (and ceilings) are concrete.  Office and retail   
   buildings tend to have have drop or open ceilings, so it's easier to run   
   pipes to ceiling sprinklers above where people can reach them.   
      
   > Sprinkler heads have been around for ages, I would figure everyone   
   > knows what the heck they are and would avoid touching one.   
      
   You'd think.  OTOH, many hotels I've stayed at had "no hanger" (a hanger   
   icon in a red circle with a slash) signs next to the sprinkler heads, so   
   it's apparently not an uncommon problem.   
      
   > An old computer room had Halon fire suppression, but that seemed to   
   > be overly sensitive and the alarm kept going off.  There was a short   
   > delay to enable pepole to stop the alarm and prevent dumping, but   
   > from time to time the Halon dumped.  (I don't know what happened to   
   > breathable air in the room in such circumstances, though employees   
   > were told not to be in the room during a Halon dump.)   
      
   Halon is heavier than air, so when the halon is dumped, all the air is   
   pushed up through the vents, starving the fire.  Unfortunately, that   
   also starves any living people in the room, which is why halon systems   
   are strictly regulated.  Ditto for FM200, which is an ozone-friendly   
   halon substitute.   
      
   S   
      
   --   
   Stephen Sprunk         "God does not play dice."  --Albert Einstein   
   CCIE #3723         "God is an inveterate gambler, and He throws the   
   K5SSS        dice at every possible opportunity." --Stephen Hawking   
      
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