Fire Sprinklers - Short #239

HVAC School - For Techs, By Techs

Bryan Orr

Training, Careers, Airconditioning, Self-improvement, Hvac, Business, Education, Refrigeration, Heating, Ac, Apprenticeship

4.8 • 985 Ratings

🗓️ 6 May 2025

⏱️ 8 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this short podcast episode, Bryan talks about fire sprinklers and how to avoid setting them off on job sites.

Fire sprinklers have an element in the center that expands when exposed to heat (like a TXV sensing bulb) and breaks the glass. When the glass breaks, the fire sprinkler starts pouring out water. In some cases, fire sprinklers are linked to a larger fire suppression system in which several may go off at once, but most of the time, only a single fire sprinkler will go off if bumped or exposed to heat.

If you're using torches or doing any form of hot work in a closet or other location with a fire sprinkler, make sure to keep torches away from the heat-sensitive bulb or at least cover the sprinkler with a wet rag (and follow your company's guidelines). Blunt force is another possible issue, so we want to avoid hitting the sprinklers with lifts, ladders, or building materials like studs. Keep clearances in mind, and watch out for your colleagues.

You can get some specialty-built cages to protect the sprinklers, but awareness is one of the best ways to protect fire sprinklers. If possible, make sure signage is posted or that you alert other people in the area about the fire sprinklers.

If the fire sprinkler does go off, make sure you can quickly reach the person(s) who can access the fire shutoff or direct you to the fire shutoff. While fire sprinklers won't pose much of a personal safety hazard, property damage is a major concern. Training and awareness are the keys to preventing property damage due to fire sprinklers.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi-ho-ho. This is the HVAC school podcast. I'm Brian. This is the podcast that helps you remember not to do horribly disastrous things that make a giant mess. At least that's what we're talking about today. So this is one of these ones that a lot of you probably already know, but it's a good one to send to the apprentice or newbie in your life to remind them of the importance of
0:22.3	this. But before we do that, we want to thank our great sponsors. If you're considering a new
0:27.6	skilled trades career but don't know where to start, come visit the job fair at Calo's Services
0:32.2	in Claremont on Saturday, May 10th, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. We're hiring for several positions across all trades,
0:39.5	including commercial HVAC, electrical, controls, carpentry, pipe fitting, and more. We're offering
0:46.3	on-the-spot interviews and provide on-the-job training. For more information about our job fair
0:51.6	and current open positions, please visit kaloslora.com
0:55.0	slash current jobs or text or call 352-2437099.
1:01.9	That's 352-2437099.
1:05.7	There will also be more to come on our social media, so be sure to follow Calo's services on Facebook, Instagram, and
1:11.4	LinkedIn. We hope to see you there. Santa Fe dehumidifiers in their new five-year complete
1:17.9	replacement coverage. Find out more at HVACR school.com slash Santa Fe. Navak at navak global.com. Carrier and carrier.com. Carrier has been a long-term
1:32.2	sponsor for the podcast. They've made it possible very early on for us to do what we do, and they are
1:37.5	the products that we sell day in and day out, everything from single stage equipment all the way
1:41.9	up to the green speed extreme, one of the most efficient products on the market today.
1:47.9	Find out more about what Carrier has to offer and about becoming a carrier dealer by going to Carrier.com.
1:55.0	Refrigeration Technologies at Refragutect.com.
2:00.4	All right, so this is a topic that I'm talking about because it just came up with us.
2:03.6	It's come up a few times over the years.
2:06.1	And it's the issue of fire sprinklers.
2:07.9	So we had a facility that we're working on.
2:09.7	It's a big concrete structure.
	...

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