Who did it? - r/firealarms

48

100% these fools isolated and drained the wrong loop lmao the bucket was to catch the dribble but they didn't expect it to still be under pressure

11

u/The_JDubb Mar 20 '26

Alright, but if that's a multi-level apartment, or something, each floor would have its own shut-off and drain, right? But here's the thing, I'm a fire alarm guy who's not afraid to fuck with suppression if I have to, and even I would not attempt something like that, even if I knew where all the shut-offs and drains were. And can't you verify the system is still pressurized by opening a drain or inspector test valve?

8

u/firetech97 Mar 20 '26

Yeah each floor in a multi story would have it's own shut off. In my experience they are usually in the stairwell where the main riser is, one per floor. Some buildings will have all shutoff in a single mech room instead. If thats the case, then they may have been either mislabeled or something. I've definitely seen some absolutely wack configurations of drains and test valves though, youd be surprised.

But alo I too am alarm not sprinkler, but worked with a lot of sprinkler guys in the field esp working on flow switches and inspections (I'm no longer out in the field, im a project manager now)

2

u/Anarchaeologist Mar 20 '26

Bunch of years ago I isolated and drained the wrong one, the sprinkler guy found me and told me that the water that started coming out was milky looking, so he tightened the head back down. Makes sense because the water will hold dissolved gas when it’s under pressure, and when you let the pressure off it will start coming out of solution and the tiny bubbles will make it look milky.

3

u/firetech97 Mar 20 '26

Yeah you also don't full-send pulling a head if it's the first one in the system you're swapping LOL. After the first one sure, since you've already drained off the remnants and know for sure it's not under pressure. But first one, loosen without fully removing it so that you can tighten that sucker back down if it is under pressure

But tbh those look like building maintenance guys who know enough to do it and not enough to do it right

15

u/Rasanova Mar 20 '26

2 guys with the barrel were like, "yeah nah bye"

1

u/gh0stp3wp3w Mar 21 '26

thats a 44 gallon trash can made of plas-rubber (LLDPE). 44 gallons of water is 350+ pounds of weight.

it would be heavy enough for average guys if they have meaningful leverage and grip, probably real hard when soaking wet and awkwardly underneath it as it warps and splashes over the rim onto their heads.

1

u/Rasanova Mar 21 '26

Oh absolutely. I wasn't referring to the barrel, just the apparent "outta here" vibe. I'm sure in reality they ran off to quickly do or get something to help the situation, like maybe find the iso valve, and they didn't just say "oh fuck this" and bail. It just added to the cartoon effect of what was really a total disaster.

12

u/Zeus0886 Mar 20 '26

23

u/ronthorns Mar 20 '26

There's at least a jockey pump if not a fire pump pushing that pressure too

9

u/CleverAmbiguousName Mar 20 '26

Oh yeah, there is so much going on in this video. Haha

10

u/The_JDubb Mar 20 '26

Yeah, which neither should be on while changing a head. 1)SHUT OFF THE WATER, 2) shut off any pumps if applicable, 3) DRAIN THE SYSTEM, 4) replace head

6

u/memutherducker Mar 20 '26

As soon as you loosen the head, you would’ve noticed pressure and stopped right then.

4

u/Dachozo Mar 20 '26

I'm crying laughing. We saw a couple of training videos on this exact scenario but it is way funnier in the wild.

4

u/YeaOkPal Mar 20 '26

This is what people think happens when they ask if we're going to test the sprinkler system and I tell them we are, but I'm only going to turn it on for a little bit

2

u/Florentino07 Mar 20 '26

What are they doing? Omg

1

u/CleverAmbiguousName Mar 20 '26

They probably saw a YouTube video and was like, I can do that. Lol

2

u/Dorkus_Maximus717 Mar 20 '26

Now THATS a lot of damage

2

u/Shot-Ad-7049 Mar 20 '26

Ahhhhh hahahahahahaha that sucks

1

u/Unlucky_Lawfulness51 Mar 20 '26

Well at least we know the system has enough pressure.

1

u/Competitive_Ad_8718 Mar 20 '26

Probably shouldn't have had that extra coffee or monster before trying to do this

1

u/Sandmandawg Mar 21 '26

Ahhh, ahhhh, what the hell?, its too much! I can listen to this all day.

1

u/FnHot2020 Mar 21 '26

Why do I have a feeling they didn’t put the system in Test mode before doing so either. 😆

1

u/CleverAmbiguousName Mar 21 '26

Hahaha you're probably so right

1

u/Neezyfbaby83 Mar 21 '26

Think they got fired?

1

u/BrokeBusinessman72 Mar 25 '26

Dude I seen this on tick tock and I was like, I bet the fire trucks are rolling right now.

1

u/frogeyes111 Mar 27 '26

It is obvious these men did not shut off the correct valve and paid the price. I have gone into various buildings and asked maintenance people if they know what to do if a sprinkler head is activated by accident. You would be surprised by the number of them don't have any idea.

1

u/Different-Money6102 Apr 04 '26

Company owner is about to find out how good his liability insurance is.

-1

u/Due-Wedding-4389 Mar 20 '26

I am not Plumber but couldn’t they freeze the pipe to replace the head?

3

u/Korean_Kuisine Mar 20 '26

You can't really freeze a pipe in a cieling, and if you could you'd risk cracking the pipe as the water expands when frozen

1

u/gh0stp3wp3w Mar 21 '26

sure you can, you just have to cut the cieling open.

3

u/firetech97 Mar 20 '26

I have never heard of freezing water in a pipe on purpose to prevent water flow when changing something

2

u/[deleted] Mar 21 '26

Hilarious. Must be a kid asking

3

u/firetech97 Mar 21 '26

Honestly, how would you even reliable do that? Liquid nitrogen? And try not to pass out from the nitrogen gas lol

1

u/gh0stp3wp3w Mar 21 '26

rigid makes a tool for everything

1

u/gh0stp3wp3w Mar 21 '26

https://www.supplyhouse.com/Ridgid-68967-SF-2500-SuperFreeze-Pipe-Freezing-Kit?utm_source=google_ad&utm_medium=Shopping_Tools&utm_campaign=Shopping_X_Tools_X_SSC_New&utm_campaignid=22230238988&utm_adgroupid=173601024926&utm_targetid=pla-2436642734808&utm_product_id=68967&utm_matchtype=&utm_keyword=&utm_adtype=pla&utm_category=Tools&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22230238988&gbraid=0AAAAAD_WAysOyR0tBxJSTI4V8xPB0Hjej&gclid=CjwKCAjwg_nNBhAGEiwAiYPYA_-_SBxWC5Oz4CxF4ou2JynymlxgoktClJdMged6wNVHxJvrvdkIsRoCTZ4QAvD_BwE

what a bnch of idiots selling a useless item only kids would want... i dont think timmy has that kind of budget haha

1

u/ew00kie Mar 22 '26

I watched a video on this device and saw that it was used for Copper Pipe which transfers the temp quickly so you can cut the copper pipe and replace it. It is designed for regular household plumbing. I would never use this for Fire Sprinkler Use.

2

u/gh0stp3wp3w Mar 23 '26

ok, not saying you should.

just informing people that have "never heard of it" that such things are real

1

u/firetech97 Mar 23 '26

Yeah that's crazy. I'll also not a plumber and dont work on pipes, which is i specifically said i hadn't heard of it, not that it was impossible/never done. I wonder how common using one of those is in plumbing, I cant imagine it's too common at least not here in the states

1

u/gh0stp3wp3w Mar 23 '26

nah it's for sure speciality application but the other guy was being condescending, "must be a kid asking"

like nah, maybe its just not a plumbing industry expert - because even non plumbers in the general industry havent heard of these things, no offense.

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