Re: Sprinklers in instrument rooms

Posted by Martin Wessendorf-2 on
URL: http://confocal-microscopy-list.275.s1.nabble.com/Sprinklers-in-instrument-rooms-tp7582262p7582268.html

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As I understand it, most sprinkler systems go off only if there is fire
(or a sufficiently high temperature--e.g., hot enough to boil alcohol)
in the room--i.e., if a sprinkler goes off, you WANT it to go off--at
that point, you have a fire in the room the water damage will be
incidental. (The exception to this generalization seems to be "deluge"
systems-- see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sprinkler_Systems.)  
However, it might be possible to accidentally hit a sprinkler and set it
off,  if (for instance) someone were careless when moving equipment.  If
the ceilings (and sprinklers) are low and your equipment racks are tall,
you might want to have wire guards placed around the sprinklers to
protect them.

Dr. Haller makes a good point about leakage--anyone know how common that
is?  My own sense is that the real danger is of a sprinkler going off on
the floor *above *you.  That could flood your space and cause needless
damage.  Tarps and shelves might shield you from that but might also
prevent the sprinklers from properly drenching the room if there were a
fire in your own equipment.

Martin Wessendorf

On 6/26/2014 5:05 AM, [hidden email] wrote:

> Hi all, (sorry for cross-posting)
>
> I know this has been discussed before, just wondered if there were any new thoughts. We're moving twice, first into a refurbished basement, second time into a new building. The basement has a sprinkler system in case of fire, unlike our current building which just has alarms (it's a single storey brick building). I imagine the new building will have some sort of sprinkler system too.
>
> What precautions, if any, do people take to protect against the unlikely showering of your confocal or EM?
> Are there any relatively simple alternatives? (One alternative is to have fire-doors and walls for each room but that is prohibitive.)
>
> thanks much,
> Rosemary
>
> Dr Rosemary White
> CSIRO Plant Industry (for 4 more days only)
> GPO Box 1600
> Canberra, ACT 2601

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