Hose Testing

[kdwilson]

Anyone have any info on the Waterway hose testing franchise out of NJ.

Good bad or ugly???

[FD1976]

No opinions??

[Bones42]

Sorry. Missed the post.

We've used them and had no complaints. Prior to them, we did it ourselves. Luckily, we were able to scrape enough funds from out budget to reduce that work load from our membership. All of our hose is done in about 3/4 of a day, and reports are furnished within a couple weeks. I had to call them last year to see if I could get a copy of a report from 4 years prior and it was in the mail the next day.

[FD1976]

Thanks. So i guess you think it's worth the money?? Has any one had any complaints?

[rescuedawg]

Just don't use a company called Fail Safe. We used them the last two years. The first year they set up in a parking lot of a local park, which we arranged for. At the end of the day they left garbage everywhere and latex gloves which were found to have nasty messages written on them.We paid to have the parking lot cleaned. This did not deter our head in the sand commisioners form hiring them again. This year we go to our fire academy for training the day after hose test. Hook the five inch to the hydrant and truck. Immediatly charge the line and it blows at the storz coupling. Chnge that out and proceed to stretch both cross lays. We get them charged and the blow off the fitings were they screw onto the truck. They were put on with only one turn around the thread. Found this out by pulling the hose off of all our other engines and finding several more loose. I suggest that you go watch any company you want to hire peform another depts. test. I would also have a member from each truck present to make sure the hose is packed to your standards when there done.

[FlyingKiwi]

We use the BOING test, works well.

Run out two lengths of hose, with a 1" solid tip on the end.

Seat Probie on the branch with the order to "Hang on".

Run the pump up to test pressure.

Measure the height of each BOING the probie makes for 6 boings.

Rate against our standard chart allowing for weight of probie before and after the test (they WILL be different weights)

Please do this on a grass paddock.

[FD1976]

Thanks. Any one know how much it costs???

[FlyingKiwi]

Nothing, we are a volunteer station, so the probie is free.

sorry, couldn't resist.

[FD1976]

Nothing, we are a volunteer station, so the probie is free.

sorry, couldn't resist.

Good if ya got-em... Probies are getting scarce..........

[fire1969]

We have used Fire one in the past.......Had terrible service, I will leave it at that.......We then hired Waterway and the guys were good...They came in and numbered, tested and packed all the hose back on 4 engines better then we have ever had it on there.....There records were easy to read....The only thing i wish they had at the time was a record on a disk and when i spoke to Ed he said that all the records are now avaiable in excel format. So i would not even hesitate to use waterway...Here's there link www.waterwayinc.com
I have a freind who actually is trying to buy one of there franchises and went to the business meeting and said they have put together a first class operation!

[Jonnee]

Hey, find yourself a copy of the NFPA standard on fire hose. It will give you step by step directions for testing fire hose.

Saves a lot of money too, for those so called hose testers. Plus it gives everyone a chance to operate the pumps on the engine.

[FD1976]

Hey, find yourself a copy of the NFPA standard on fire hose. It will give you step by step directions for testing fire hose.

Saves a lot of money too, for those so called hose testers. Plus it gives everyone a chance to operate the pumps on the engine.

Running a pump at 300lbs. pressure without flowing water is not the best thing for a pump. There are far better ways to utilize your training time.

[mkroll]

Anyone here use excel to track hoses and their testing? If so would you be willing to share the excel form? Thanks

[FD1976]

it's hose test season. Any updates?

[Ha11igan]

Running a pump at 300lbs. pressure without flowing water is not the best thing for a pump. There are far better ways to utilize your training time.


Why not recirc?

[txgp17]

Running a pump at 300lbs. pressure without flowing water is not the best thing for a pump. There are far better ways to utilize your training time.Amen. If you're gonna test hose at 300 psi, you really should hook two pumpers up in series from a hydrant and share the net pump pressure required to reach 300. And crack the tank-fill on both.

Also, after you've bled the air out, make sure you just barely crack the valves supplying the test hose, or use a modified gate-valve like the IFSTA manual suggests.

My dept has about 10,000' of 7¼" hose. We had a section break loose the other day and it damn near put a guy out on disability.

[ccfdblehman]

Out of curiosity... why 7 1/4" hose?

[AC1503]

The our Engines pump manuals read, "Do not use for fire hose testing."

WSF Fleet Services of Evansville, IN tests our hoses. They use a Delta gasoline engine powered hose tester. They come to our station, remove the hose, test and mark each hose, re-load the hose a lot better than they found it, and give us a report.

The cost is reasonable and is planned into our maintenance budget, as is annual pump testing.

[txgp17]

Out of curiosity... why 7 1/4" hose?

To supply a 6,000 GPM nozzle used for large Class B fires.
Info sheet (http://www.williamsfire.com/products/ctlgpages/HOSEDOUBLE5.pdf)

The friction loss coefficient is 0.00736.

[FD1976]

Most departments by us are having professional test companies perform it. Not worth the liability, potential injuries and pump damage, and its documented properly.

[michfire]

How much are departments paying in different parts of the country for professional hose testing?

[ccfdblehman]

I figured that 7 1/4" had to be for some sort of petroleum... guess I was close.

That is some large hose...

[FD1976]

NY is around .25 - .28 per foot