Douglas Hicks
Member
A couple of months ago, I was told of an Ansul R102 that worked. Now you need to understand I have not talked to the owner of the resturant, so I have no personal knowledge of this incident. A system was put into a resturant. At closing time the janitor ran the mats through the dish machine while mopping the kitchen floor. When the mats were done, he removed them and put them on the grille/range/appliances. He then left. The pilot lights heated up the mats to the ignition point. When the links melted, the system tripped and put out the fire. I don't know if the gas valve tripped or it the FD responded.
The next incident I do have personal knowledge of. I installed a PCL 240 and PCL 350 in a mexican resturant. I have not been doing the service, although I do service both local resturants for the owner. I got a phone call ealy Sunday AM telling me the gas was out at the restuant. A friend and I had planned a ride on our recumbents,so I told them I would have the gas working before they opened, just a minor 10 minute fix. Just as we were getting on the bikes, Roberto came by my house, and asked when I was going to get his place in operation. I told him by opening time. Rand and I went on our short bike ride, only 20 miles. After our ride, I called my girlfriend and asked her to bring the Van, she was to be my designated driver. We rolled up to the resturant, I got on my coveralls and grabbed a couple of tools and entered the resturant. That is when I was told about the fire! The system tripped, dumped both tanks, shut off the gas. OK, so this was a bit more than a 10 minute job. I went out to the van, got my tool box, rags, degreser, and a small bucket for the nozzles. I had one of the cooks remove the system nozzles while I set about resetting the gas valve. I reset the valve, and heard a hissing noise. I asked the cook "what's the noise"? He pointed to the burners, which were cracked. I pulled the burners, & noted the pilot tubes were wrapped with tinfoil. Under that was red plastic tied off with string.The pilot tubes were burned in half and allowing gas to escape. I tripped the gas valve and shut off the gas flow. Shaking my head, I went to the van and got my box of stove parts. I replaced the pilots, lit them and heard no more noise. Then they said the bean cooker did not always work, they had to reach over the appliance and hit "this thing" to make it work. "This thing" was the gas regulator. Was there no end to the problems with the gas supply? There was, but not yet. I removed the regulator to see if I could clean the vent hole and that is when I was told there was another problem! They had removed the gas connection hose and cross threaded the adaptor upon reinstallation. That was a part I do not keep on the van. I sent the cook to the hardware company for a part. So the 10 minute job turned into a 3 hour job. But I was not done yet. I had to remove the agent tanks, return to the shop; and recharge them. Then another 75 miles to the resturant, clean the pipes, install the agent tanks, nozzles and double check everything. the 10 minute job turned into 300 miles of driving, an hour in my shop, and 6 hours in the resturant. but my installation worked, my customer was pleased w/my work and not even upset w/the bill. Roberto even bought my dinner!
How does this relate to hood cleaning? The system had been cleaned by a blow & go outfit, the hood was clean, but the duct was 1/4 inch deep in grease. If the fire system had not worked and the gas valve had not shut off, Roberto would have been down to 3 resturants.
Douglas Hicks
General Fire Equipment Co of Eastern Oregon, Inc
The next incident I do have personal knowledge of. I installed a PCL 240 and PCL 350 in a mexican resturant. I have not been doing the service, although I do service both local resturants for the owner. I got a phone call ealy Sunday AM telling me the gas was out at the restuant. A friend and I had planned a ride on our recumbents,so I told them I would have the gas working before they opened, just a minor 10 minute fix. Just as we were getting on the bikes, Roberto came by my house, and asked when I was going to get his place in operation. I told him by opening time. Rand and I went on our short bike ride, only 20 miles. After our ride, I called my girlfriend and asked her to bring the Van, she was to be my designated driver. We rolled up to the resturant, I got on my coveralls and grabbed a couple of tools and entered the resturant. That is when I was told about the fire! The system tripped, dumped both tanks, shut off the gas. OK, so this was a bit more than a 10 minute job. I went out to the van, got my tool box, rags, degreser, and a small bucket for the nozzles. I had one of the cooks remove the system nozzles while I set about resetting the gas valve. I reset the valve, and heard a hissing noise. I asked the cook "what's the noise"? He pointed to the burners, which were cracked. I pulled the burners, & noted the pilot tubes were wrapped with tinfoil. Under that was red plastic tied off with string.The pilot tubes were burned in half and allowing gas to escape. I tripped the gas valve and shut off the gas flow. Shaking my head, I went to the van and got my box of stove parts. I replaced the pilots, lit them and heard no more noise. Then they said the bean cooker did not always work, they had to reach over the appliance and hit "this thing" to make it work. "This thing" was the gas regulator. Was there no end to the problems with the gas supply? There was, but not yet. I removed the regulator to see if I could clean the vent hole and that is when I was told there was another problem! They had removed the gas connection hose and cross threaded the adaptor upon reinstallation. That was a part I do not keep on the van. I sent the cook to the hardware company for a part. So the 10 minute job turned into a 3 hour job. But I was not done yet. I had to remove the agent tanks, return to the shop; and recharge them. Then another 75 miles to the resturant, clean the pipes, install the agent tanks, nozzles and double check everything. the 10 minute job turned into 300 miles of driving, an hour in my shop, and 6 hours in the resturant. but my installation worked, my customer was pleased w/my work and not even upset w/the bill. Roberto even bought my dinner!
How does this relate to hood cleaning? The system had been cleaned by a blow & go outfit, the hood was clean, but the duct was 1/4 inch deep in grease. If the fire system had not worked and the gas valve had not shut off, Roberto would have been down to 3 resturants.
Douglas Hicks
General Fire Equipment Co of Eastern Oregon, Inc
