Fire Sprinklers

Several residents on Ranch Road have had trouble with the releasevalue on the fire sprinkler system. This valve is set to release at180psi, to prevent overpressure from entering the system and causingwater damage to the inside of the house. After several years, thevalve may fail and begin to dump water outside the garage at a drainpipe. In one case, a sudden increase in water pressure caused thevalve to partly trip and made a very loud continuous squeal that theowner mistook for an alarm. The pressure on Ranch Road isparticularly high, much higher than necessary to run the firesprinklers. The correct fix to this problem is to regulate theincoming pressure just like is done for the drinking water enteringthe home. There is no building code that requires such a regulator,so our builder did not install them. If a number of residentsinstall from the same provider, a reduction in cost may be possible.Todd at Symons Fire Protection Inc is very fair and was the originalinstaller at Ranch Road. His company can be reached at619-588-6364, see http://www.symonsfp.com/aboutus.html