ansul revisited

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sethas

Member
Location
Los Banos, CA.
on the ansul system, if the hood happens to be off when the ansul system is applied, does the ansul system turn the hood on?

i know the make-up must turn off, but is the hood even supposed to be tied into the rest of the system?
 
cschmid

cschmid

Senior Member
Location
Northern cold country
this will be interesting to see if anyone can find a reference.

The ansul system is suppose to disconnect all power sources under the hood.

I do not know if it is suppose to energize the fans..I would think not unless you are in a facility that requires a pressurized fire system then yes the fan would have to run.
 
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sethas

Member
Location
Los Banos, CA.
this is only my second time working with an ansul system, so my knowledge of it is limited. the building is a clinic/small town hospital. it has an existing ansul system that appears to have had a lot of hands in it, and buried j boxs.

there are no drawings or schematics for any of the electrical or the ansul system anywhere
 
cschmid

cschmid

Senior Member
Location
Northern cold country
the hospital should have a pressurized fire system then I would say yes. the real spot to receive answers on that system is the local fire marshal he will tell you the requirements of that system as well as the whole fire system.

In that type of facility it will be required to flood the building with fresh air as well as exhaust all the air at the same time. the outside air dampers will be required to open, the return air dampers will be required to close. the exhaust fans will ramp to high speed and so will the main fans. so with that I would assume the hood fan would need to run.

Now if you had just a grease fire and no other fire alarm tripped I do not believe the fan would run but the power and gas supply would have to be disconnect.
 
LarryFine

LarryFine

Master Electrician Electric Contractor Richmond VA
Location
Henrico County, VA
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
Around here, and I've done a few dozen, many upgrades to existing systems:

1. The exhaust must turn on or stay on, regardless of switch position.
2. The intake must turn off or stay off, rehardless of switch position.
3. Everything else must turn off (gas, electric appliances, and lights.)
4. Building fire alarm must sound, or a horn/strobe must be added.
5. Gas must shut off with manual exhaust turn off (which owners hate.)
 
steve66

steve66

Senior Member
Location
Illinois
Occupation
Engineer
LarryFine said:
Around here, and I've done a few dozen, many upgrades to existing systems:

1. The exhaust must turn on or stay on, regardless of switch position.
2. The intake must turn off or stay off, rehardless of switch position.
3. Everything else must turn off (gas, electric appliances, and lights.)
4. Building fire alarm must sound, or a horn/strobe must be added.
5. Gas must shut off with manual exhaust turn off (which owners hate.)
Click to expand...

We have a few slight variations around here:

3. Only heat producing appliances need to turn off.
5. We are allowed to use a heat sensor to turn on the exhaust when the cooking starts. (Keeps from killing all the pilot lights every time the exhaust fan is shut off.)

Steve
 
STHOMAS

STHOMAS

Member
Location
North County San Diego
FWIW....Something I have not seen in the posts of this thread is what the mfr installation instructions read regarding the particular suppression system installed.

What Larry Fine stated is what we typically see in California.
 
gadfly56

gadfly56

Senior Member
Location
New Jersey
Occupation
Professional Engineer, Fire & Life Safety
STHOMAS said:
FWIW....Something I have not seen in the posts of this thread is what the mfr installation instructions read regarding the particular suppression system installed.

What Larry Fine stated is what we typically see in California.
Click to expand...

I will cautiously go out on a short limb here. We are a Kidde dealer, and the UL listing differences among the various suppression systems are small, so here goes. When the suppression system is activated, gas to all cooking appliances (covered or not) must shut down, and electrical power to covered appliances must also shut down. which agrees with NFPA 17A. These systems are listed for exhaust on or off. The IBC, IFC, and IMC require that all electrical appliances under the hood shut down. So lights, steam kettles with electrical controls, etc. wind up shutting down. A waste, in my opinion, especially for retrofits.

My quick trip through the Kidde installation manual reveals no requirement to shut down make up air. However, if NFPA 96 is in effect in your jurisdiction, the requirement is in there, as well as, I believe, the various international codes.

So there you have it. If anyone has specific questions on Kidde systems, I'd be glad to help, and I may be able to offer limited guidance on Amerex, Pyro-Chem, Ansul, Badger, and Range Guard.
 
LarryFine

LarryFine

Master Electrician Electric Contractor Richmond VA
Location
Henrico County, VA
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
steve66 said:
I can't say I blame them. Sounds like a good reason for the kitchen equipment people to provide electronic ignition.
Click to expand...
That's fine for those buying new cooking equipment. But, as I stated before, a lot of the fire-suppression systems I wire are existing kitchens, often with decades-old, but still funtional, cooking equipment.

This really is an instance of "But, it's been working fine for years!" when people complain about how the new-and-improved updates make the equipment less convenient for them. We all get that sometimes.
 
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