PM Engineer articles from April 2002

PM Engineer archives from April 2002

Letters.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Ballanco's Right About NFPA 5000 Just read Julius Ballanco's article in the October issue of PM Engineer on NFPA 5000. He is right on the money. I am particularly in agreement with his comments on Chapter 4. While Chapter 5 is intended to...

Dress for success: One engineer wants to know how big a roll outward appearance plays in the professional engineering world. (Sound Off).(Brief Article)(Editorial)
April 1, 2002... Editor's Note: We offer "Sound Off" as an open forum for industry professionals to express their opinions about industry issues, as well as to offer advice to our readers on how to manage their businesses. To submit material for this column,...

CSI approves division 15 revision. (News).(Construction Specifications Institute)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... The Construction Specifications Institute's (CSI) Executive Committee has approved a concept for revising and expanding the organization's flagship document, the 16-division MasterFormat[TM] specifications system, based on a recommendation from...

Goodyear tubing found to be at fault. (News).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. was ordered to pay more than $23 million to a Colorado vacation home developer in a decision by an Arapahoe County jury, who found the Entran II tubing used in the homes' radiant heating systems to be faulty. ...

ISH North America speakers announced. (News).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... ISH North America show organizers announced the first wave of speakers committed to presenting at the Conference Seminar program, plus the addition of numerous exhibitors, pushing the total near 200. ISH NA is scheduled to debut Oct. 31-Nov. 2...

Water quality: How much should a plumbing/mechanical engineer know about drinking water quality? (Codes).(Brief Article)(Editorial)
April 1, 2002... I am often asked by plumbing/mechanical engineers how much they should know about the quality of drinking water. My standard response is, "Enough." Which, I agree, is a cop-out statement. There has been a lot of questioning regarding the...

Hot questions; Warning: If I don't know the answer, your question will not be published! (Fire Protection).
April 1, 2002... Q. If we are working on a wet-pipe sprinkler system in a heated building, can we drop 1" pipe down to a coupling above a freezer, so that the dry pendent sprinkler for the freezer doesn't have to be such an extensive (and expensive) length? ...

Commercial flexible sprinkler pipe. (Fire Protection Information Showcase).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... FlexHead Industries, inventors of the worlds first flexible fire sprinkler connection, now offers a new line of commercial flexible sprinkler pipe products. Flexhead has been providing the highest quality FM-approved and UL-listed flexible fire...

The facts about jockey pumps: Here are some specifics on jockey pumps and their application in fire protection piping systems. (Fire Production & Design 2002).
April 1, 2002... What is a jockey pump and why does it carry that title? Picture a horse race. There is a small guy riding on top of (or above) a large horse. That small guy on the horse is referred to as a jockey. On a fire protection system requiring a fire...

ISH North America: International trade fair for kitchen & bath, plumbing, heating and air-conditioning.
April 1, 2002... October 31 -- November 2, 2002 National Trade Centre Toronto, Ontario Canada You are invited to attend ISH North America, the all-inclusive and consolidated trade show for the kitchen & bath, plumbing, heating, air-conditioning...

ISH North America: Exhibitor information; International trade fair for sanitation, Plumbing, Heating and Air-Conditioning.
April 1, 2002... Fair Dates: October 31 - November 2, 2002 Exhibit Hall Hours: Thursday & Friday: 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Saturday: 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. Location: National Trade Centre Toronto, Ontario Canada ...

A day [or two] of fire testing at the lab: Here's a closer look at the fire testing procedures performed on a copper rubber-gasketed fitting at Underwriters Laboratories. (Fire Protection & Design 2002).
April 1, 2002... A lot of fire protection engineers like to talk about the absorbing experience they had when they took advantage of an opportunity to witness first-hand the manufacturing process of pipe, fittings, valves, hangers or sprinkler heads. It...

Sprinklers and elevators: Can thay coexits? Are sprinklers required in elevator shafts? This article looks the code requirements. (Fire Production & Design 2002).
April 1, 2002... When you introduce water, electricity and elevators together, the codes are challenged to join the three together without producing ill effects. Sprinklers and elevators can coexist, but an integrated design approach by all parties needs to be...

NFPA 99: A preview of the changes; The 2002 revision of NFPA 99 will include over 40 substantive technical changes, and this article gives you an idea of where to find them.
April 1, 2002... Author's Note: The information on which this article is based comes from my recollection of the discussions and the published information provided by NFPA during the normal revision cycle. As a result, the final document may differ in details...

Water hammer control: AA-size piston-type arresters provide the solution to preventing water hammer in both residential and commercial applications.
April 1, 2002... AA-size water hammer arresters are now sweeping the country as the permanent and affordable solution to that age-old problem of banging pipes and system damage caused by water hammer pressure surges, but this progress has been a long time in...

Radiant snowmelt systems at work: Radiant snowmelt systems can offer safety benefits in a variety of commercial applications.
April 1, 2002... In Missouri, we get our share of cold weather. It wasn't long ago that nature had us in her icy grasp--snow and ice and sleet, oh my! But we made it to the end of our 'yellow brick driveway with a little help...from radiant heat! ...

Pipe Clamps. (ASHRAE Product Overview, Part 2).(Power-Strut advertisement)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Power-Strut's Cush-A-Clamp cushioning and clamping products are designed for use when installing fluid or gas conduction pipe, tube or hose, to combat the effects of vibration, shock, surge, electrolysis, abrasion, expansion and contraction....

T & P controls. (ASHRAE Product Overview, Part 2).(Spence Engineering Company Inc. advertisement)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Spence Engineering offers a full line of pressure and temperature controls and steam specialties, including pressure regulators, temperature regulators, water regulators, desuperheaters, steam traps, strainers, filters, safety valves, control...

Natural gas-fired boilers. (ASHRAE Product Overview, Part 2).(Dunkirk advertisement)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... The Quantum Leap Hot Water Ultra Condensing Boiler by Dunkirk achieves 95% AFUE efficiency, and it offers greater thermal conductivity than conventional cast iron. Features include a compact and lightweight baked enamel steel jacket with...

Electric Boiler. (ASHRAE Product Overview, Part 2).(ARGO Industries Inc. advertisement)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... The ARGO Electric Boiler can be used with all types of forced hydronic heating systems, including baseboard, radiant, unit heaters, convector and industrial applications. Features include easy installation, a quick access cabinet, resettable...

Gas-fire/water or steam boiler. (ASHRAE Product Overview, Part 2).(Utica Boilers advertisement)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Utica's JC Series boiler is manufactured in 28 sizes from 300,000 to 3,000,000 Btu/h, and can adapt to water or steam applications. The series is composed of one or six combustion base modules, allowing the option to step-fire individual...

Pipe. (ASHRAE Product Overview, Part 2).(IPEX Inc. advertisement)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... IPEX offers Kitec composite pipe made of an aluminum tube bonded between two layers of plastic, and it is color coded, blue for cold water and orange for hot water, for instant identification. The blue pipe is constructed of PE-AL-PE and offers...

Take a break.
April 1, 2002... Internet Revolution An unemployed man goes to apply for a job with Microsoft as a janitor. The manager there arranges for him to take an aptitude test. After the test, the manager says, "You will be employed at minimum wage, $5.15 an hour....