Understanding product design with Phil Gunning of Globe Fire Sprinkler
Drew sits down with Phil Gunning, director of training for Globe, to discuss where innovation in the fire protection industry comes from. Having a strategic plan to design, manufacture and release a new product is key. Phil also gets into Globe and a few of the new products they are launching.
Full Transcript
Drew Slocum: (00:09):
This is episode two of the Fire Protection Podcast, powered by Inspect Point. Today my guest is Phil Gunning of Globe Fire Sprinkler. Phil is the Director of Training and Education at Globe. He also wears many other hats. Phil's been the industry for 20 plus years in fire protection and also is a, uh, graduate of wpi. The conversation goes on and on, but mainly we talk about fire protection design, specifically in the manufacturing sector. So hopefully enjoy and please subscribe and stay tuned. There's a lot to come with this, uh, fire Protection podcast. It's the first of many conversations with leaders in the fire protection industry. Hope you enjoy
Drew Slocum: (00:56):
Episode two of the Fire Protection Podcast. Today we're gonna be talking about effective design and fire protection PO products. I'm here with, uh, Phil Gunning of Globe Fire Sprinkler. We're kind of gonna chat a little bit about, about Globe, but just in general, just effective product design and how we're going to, how the industry and different manufacturers go about developing new products and, you know, the process of that. So, uh, thanks for coming on, Phil. No, I'm
Phil Gunning: (01:28):
Glad to be here. Hello
Drew Slocum: (01:29):
Everyone for the first one, uh, of this new year. So, uh, first, uh, just let me know your background a little bit. I, I know you personally, obviously. Yeah. But, uh, you know, maybe the viewership out there or listenership, uh, don't know who you are. Sure.
Phil Gunning: (01:49):
Well, again, I'm Phil, Phil Gunning. I've been, uh, in the industry since 1994. Late 93. I went to school at WPI and got a mechanical engineering, uh, degree, and then went a little further and got fire protection engineering degree. And from there I went down to the US Naval Research Lab and I burned and blew stuff up for the Navy. And that was a lot of fun. Got to play with rocket fuel and all kinds of things. Oh, wow.
Drew Slocum: (02:14):
Where was
Phil Gunning: (02:15):
That? That was down in our, our testing lab was in Maryland. Okay. But the main lab was in DC So I did that for a few years and then decided to get into consulting. You know, my main, main goal in life was to have a family. And I thought consulting was a, a more secure avenue to take in fire protection. So my now wife and I went out to California, did some consulting in a, in a, in a firm that really set the groundwork for my career. So it was the Fire Protection International Consortium. So then I, you know, my brothers, I'm the youngest of three guys, uh, three boys. My brother started having kids and growing up on the East Coast, my wife and I just wanted to be a part of that. So we moved back. And when I did, I was with the same company, but my territory was like Maine to Florida, Kentucky to Puerto Rico,
Drew Slocum: (03:09):
And she loved that, I'm sure.
Phil Gunning: (03:10):
Oh, she loved that so, so much that when I got back from a business trip, I used to work, you know, in the house and strategically placed on my keyboard, was a, a job description to be a trainer. And it was for Tyco, now jci. But I was so glad I did it. I, uh, did that for about 10 years and it was a lot of fun. Yeah.
Drew Slocum: (03:31):
That's where we met back in the old Tyco days. Yeah. They were fun, definitely.
Phil Gunning: (03:35):
Oh, it was a great time. Great people. We, you know, had such a good group in the technical services department, which is what I was in, but also training. So it was nice to hear the issues coming in from the industry. And then you could apply that to your training and try to capture, you know, the problems people were having and hopefully set 'em on the right path. And so the training is something that is real passion of mine. But then I took a short break and went to, uh, Aon as a, as a risk consultant, which really opened my eyes to that avenue of fire protection. It's such a, a unique beast in the, in, in our industry. And so an opportunity came up with Globe, which, you know, I've been with Globe only since, uh, you know, July of last year. But it's with a group of people that I, I truly respect and they, they have the same passion for fire protection that, that I do. Yeah. When it comes to, you know, the whole, the whole service, which is not only taking, you know, what the customer needs and focusing on, on pleasing them, but also with just coming up with products that are fun to talk about. You know? Cuz if you're gonna work for a manufacturer, you better be passionate about what you're offering. Cuz you know, at the end of the day, we're trying to save lives. Right. And that's, that's,
Drew Slocum: (04:48):
It's a huge thing.
Phil Gunning: (04:49):
So it's, I'm, I'm really excited to be a part of Globe. And so that's my history. So what
Drew Slocum: (04:55):
Do you, what is your current role there? What's your title?
Phil Gunning: (04:58):
Uh, what's on my business card is director of, uh, you know, education and training. So, but we all wear many hats. And so I get out there and I talk to, you know, different contractors and MEP firms for business development. And, and so you play a, a bunch of roles when you're in a smaller company. Yeah. Like Globe. Yeah. Which makes it fun, you
Drew Slocum: (05:20):
Know? Well, you, you were telling me a few weeks ago as well, uh, I don't know if anybody else knows, but, um, uh, my family and I moved up, up to the area up here in, uh, uh, Southeastern Connecticut and in the southern Rhode Island. And, uh, Phil, Phil explained to me a few weeks ago that a lot of the Globe folks are, are here in, in Rhode Island. So it's nice little, uh, fire protection area that I, I moved into. So it's gonna be, uh, it's gonna be exciting. Yeah. Yeah. Moving up here. You got a
Phil Gunning: (05:51):
Lot of, it's a great spot. Yeah.
Drew Slocum: (05:57):
Um, all right, well, I got your background here. I, you know, what, what is your, you know, I know we worked together at Tyco and, you know, I went off my Viking direction and you went off on your, your Aon direction, um, or back here, again, we know a lot about product design, you know, I, I've been involved in it. You, you're definitely involved in a lot more. What, uh, what are your thoughts on why, why certain companies are better at doing things and how they think about it? So I'll kind of pick your brain on that.
Phil Gunning: (06:30):
Well, as any, any company you wanna, well, our goal is to make a product that addresses all the stakeholders needs. And when I say a stakeholder, you know, when you talk about a project from conception to the design phase, and then purchasing, installing, and maintaining, if you can provide a product that makes the steps to achieve all those, you know, to achieve all those steps, well then that's, that's our goal. We, and, and focus. So at the end of the day, if you can make a product that is not only easy to understand, but design, purchase, install and maintain, that's, that's a winner. And that's, that's our goal.
Drew Slocum: (07:15):
And if you could do all that, that'd be great. But what, what one do you, what one do you focus on? I mean, there's gotta be ones that are more key than others, right? Oh,
Phil Gunning: (07:22):
Without a doubt. I mean, you're always looking for what's needed. Because, you know, if, if you're doing a design that allows any manufacturer to offer a product that can meet the, the requirements for, for that design, then you gotta start diving into what makes one product different from another. And that's what manufacturers do. You try to provide a benefit that's like a no-brainer type thing that someone that has the experience of installing would be, gees, that would make my life a lot easier. Right. You know, and at the end of the day, we want to provide something, you have to provide something that's gonna work, and that's done through all the testing, right. And listing of a product. But then at the end of the day, uh, if you can tell somebody that this product is going to provide less stress when it comes to knowing that you have to get that co at the end of the day, and the building is blessed for use, so you wanna make sure that you're not going in at the end, at the last minute fixing little things like cover plates falling off or, or things that can delay and upset the owner and, and ultimately have a bad reflection on, on whoever supplied the product.
Drew Slocum: (08:35):
Right, right, right, right. Yeah, I know, uh, a few, few months ago now, I, I was down in, uh, New York City doing, uh, doing a little product highlight from you guys. I, uh, you know, on our, on inspect points, YouTube channel, I, I go around to different manufacturers and see different products, and there's a lot out there. So I try to highlight, uh, more of the pros of everything. I, I have my opinion. I don't give that in the, in the YouTube. But, um, yeah, we did the, the Globe umc, which was, uh, it's an amazing product and I know it's got some traction lately. So if you wanna, uh, I know that that's kind of really what we're talking about today is effective design in, uh, fire protection products. And that's, uh, you know, on the forefront of that. So yeah,
Phil Gunning: (09:26):
If, if we use the U M C as, as an example to go through the different phases of a project, then, uh, then it, it, it shows that globe took the time to think of every person, every stakeholder. So as a, you know, in the design phase, when you compare, you know, or when you start investigating what's required by the standards that you're, that's adopted, we have a product, like if we were to just focus simply on a floor control valve that's needed in a multi-story building
Drew Slocum: (09:59):
By the, by the way, for listeners, the UMC is a floor control valve with, with other features to it.
Phil Gunning: (10:04):
Yeah. We have larger sizes that can be used just for your, for your main riser assembly. Right. Um, but when it comes to separating one floor or isolating one floor in a, in a multi-story building, then this, this UMC is really a all-in-one product for what's required by NFPA 13 for a floor control valve, right? Mm-hmm.
(10:56)
You get their shotgun riser or something, you put your check valve and your flow switch and your control valve, when you put all those pieces together, you know, ours is, is on the order of, of 10 to 15 inches shorter. So you can fit it into a tight space. And if you think of places like New York where they're doing retrofits and, and, you know, uh, space is a premium, designers like that, you know, so on the design side, it's, it's nice. So when you go to the purchasing side of it, ton of benefits you have out of the box something that you just need to put two couplings on and you're on off and running outside of your electrical, right? That's, it has to be done also for your tampers and flows. But when it comes to purchasing, it's so nice to tell someone, Hey, we're gonna enable you to put one product number down for purchase that equals anywhere from 14 to 16 components that you'd have to separately order from someone else. And so to the purchasing agent, that's, uh, you know, ease of mind Yeah. You know, knowing that what's required is what's gonna come in the box. And I
Drew Slocum: (12:05):
Think from a sales perspective, that's going to back my days from a distributor's perspective as well. A lot of times you'll lose out on, on those other sales. So let's bolt it all in one product to the purchasing agent. So,
Phil Gunning: (12:18):
Yeah. Yeah. So for purchasing, you know, the, the box that it comes in, it's all cardboard, like, there's no foam. So the, the waste, you know, after you take it outta the box and have to break things down is minimal. And, and we listen to the voice of customer on that because we used to do it with foam, and it was just a large volume of waste, which you don't really don't think about until you hear the complaints coming in or the concerns coming in. And so we address that right away. And that's what's fun about being a globe. It's a small enough company where changes can be made quickly when, when problems come up or, or issues come up. So that's nice to see the versatility of the, of the company. But continuing on with, with the purchasing side, there are components on the, um, c that allow us to stock just one, one of what's required. You know, uh, uh, for instance, the alarm in test drain has the requirement to flow water that represents the smallest K factor on your system, right? You wanna make sure that if, if the smallest K factor head activates, it's gonna flow enough water to get that right flow switch to operate
Drew Slocum: (13:28):
Like a four, 4.0 or 4.2, something like that.
Phil Gunning: (13:31):
Well, when you think of a typical office building, what 5, 6, 5 6 might be is is typically your smallest. So, you know, uh, the purchaser would have to order, uh, test alarm, you know, test drain that has a five six orifice, right? So if you have multiple KF factors in your facility, you gotta a understand what your smallest one is. But the 2000, um, 13 edition of Offa 13 says that you can have your orifice test orifice represent the smallest K factor on the system, or smaller. Okay. So it doesn't, so what Globe did was they figured out that using a 2.8 K factor orifice was enough of an opening to flow about
Drew Slocum: (14:18):
2.8. Wow.
Phil Gunning: (14:19):
2.8,
Drew Slocum: (14:20):
Which is the, I think the smallest anyway, isn't it? Well, anything
Phil Gunning: (14:23):
Smaller. Well, until you get into residential Yeah. You know, maybe you'll have something small, but, you know, maybe, you know, uh, nozzles water Miss Noz or something that, but that's outside Yeah. You know what we're talking about. So what, what we've done is given the peace of mind for the purchaser to say, Hey, don't worry about, you know, getting the right orifice. We have the smallest one. Uh, it works regardless of the K factor that you're using. Even if you have a 25 or 28 K head, it's still gonna work fine. Um, and it's been tested accordingly. So as a manufacturer, we don't have to stock all the different KF factor orifices and make sure that the right one's going out or being installed. So we tried to eliminate that concern. And when you think of other stakeholders that that benefits, it's the, you know, the installer just puts it in, not have to think about it, but then whoever's testing the system, whether for commissioning or post inspection testing and maintenance, sure. You know, you don't have to worry about it. The, the authority having jurisdiction, whoever, whomever that may be, whether it's with the municipality or the insurance company, you can give them peace of mind that, that we are representing the smallest K factor. Yeah. If you have
Drew Slocum: (15:32):
To replace that Yeah. Inspector tes valve Yeah. Or that orifice you, you know, what you're getting into. Yeah. If you're doing ITM on it.
Phil Gunning: (15:41):
So the other, you know, so now we've kind of hit the, the design side, the purchasing, and now on the installation side, you're saving time because everything's already put together, you know, putting component by component together. Um, the, the neat thing is that every U M C comes with an adjustable relief valve on the test and drain valve. And what's nice about that is, is your typical test and drain valve does not come with your relief valve. So was it 2010 that I think? I
Drew Slocum: (16:15):
Think so,
Phil Gunning: (16:16):
Yeah. 2010 edition of 13. Yeah. Said that every wet system now requires a relief valve, not just gritted. And so Globe's mentality was, well, if it's gonna be needed, let's just put it on Right. The test, you know, but what's different about it is that it's adjustable. So with a crescent wrench, you can adjust it from 1 75 up to 310 psi Oh, wow. Which is really nice just with a crescent wrench in the field. So if you take a step back and think of how things are typically done, you know, that port that your test valve is typically your relief valve is, is screwed into, is typically plugged when, when you're installing your alarm test, test and train valve. And that's so that the, the contractor can conduct their required hydrostatic test mm-hmm.
Drew Slocum: (17:31):
I saw that. Yeah.
Phil Gunning: (17:31):
Yeah. It's really easy to see soho there. Yeah. So the contractor just, you know, increases the pressure down, you know, up to whatever they need, run the test, and without having to drain the system, you just put it back, put back on, put it back, wow. You know, unscrew it. So now we're trying to help the installer save, and, and that's what this, this valve, the relief valve does. But on the design side, if you're in a jurisdiction that says, you know, maybe they don't allow pressure reducing valves, you know, um, instead of having to tell the purchaser to go get a higher set relief valve mm-hmm.
Drew Slocum: (18:21):
Now there's been, there's been big traction. I've heard a lot, you know, a lot of the contractors in New York, which, you know, I used to be, he, I'm still heavily involved there, but, uh, you know, a lot of 'em are learned about the UMC and, you know, I think it at New York City or any high rise market, it would be huge for
Phil Gunning: (18:38):
Yeah. And yes, especially when you start looking at, at post installation, right. You know, you always, you know, these, a lot of the engineers I call upon, they're representing the owner, right. They're a stakeholder in this. And so for peace of mind for the owner, um, you know, when, when you're looking at having to do internal inspections of your valves every five years per n FPA 25 5, you know, that check valve that's on your floor control assembly, you know, has to be looked at or should be looked at. So
Drew Slocum: (19:12):
Per the, per the code, right. You
Phil Gunning: (19:13):
Know, per, for the, per
Drew Slocum: (19:14):
The code for certain check valves out there, I don't, you can't get into 'em, right?
Phil Gunning: (19:17):
No. And typically on your smaller check valves. Yeah. You know, if you think about it, if, if, if the engineer doesn't spec that a check valve needs a removable cover, then typically you're gonna get a, a check valve that does not have a removable cover. Right. Cuz it's less expensive. Oh, yeah. There's, it works fine, but if you're choice
Drew Slocum: (19:34):
Is less expensive.
Phil Gunning: (19:35):
Yeah. But if you think about, you know, uh, making sure that people are gonna look in that every five years, then what the UMC does is it has a removable cover on the check valve. So it enables a contractor to quickly get inside the valve and, and inspect it. Whereas if it doesn't have one, one of two things happens, right. The contractor will either go in and physically remove the entire check valve. Right. Take off the two couplings and, and pull it out. Um, but to, you know, a lot of times if you're piping shifts at all, it could be a nightmare to try to get that valve back in, especially if it's in a vertical orientation. Maybe you might need a hydraulic jack to lift it. Yeah. You just don't know the headaches that could be caused by removing a component from your system. Um, and so if, if it's problematic to do that, then a lot of times the contractor will just move on. Right. And not even do it.
Drew Slocum: (20:30):
Yeah. Yeah. Let's leave it
Phil Gunning: (20:31):
Alone. And if they, then if, but if they do do it and it presents all those issues, who has to pay for it?
Drew Slocum: (20:36):
This building owner. Yeah.
Phil Gunning: (20:37):
Yeah. So it gives peace of mind to the owner that we can now conduct what's required by the adopted codes and standards for inspection, testing and maintenance easier. Mm-hmm.
Drew Slocum: (20:47):
Yeah. Great. Yeah. No, that's great. I, I think when you guys developed that, uh, is there a Six Sigma person on your, that sounds very, uh, six Sigma ask of Yeah, it
Phil Gunning: (20:58):
Does, but no,
Drew Slocum: (21:00):
No. Um, design for Six Sigma.
Phil Gunning: (21:02):
Design for Six Sigma. No, I, I know. No, that process pretty well. And it definitely has its benefits, you know, and, and, um, it's proven to work in manufacturing, but sometimes things just make sense that you don't need to, to do that process to figure out Yeah. Yeah. It just
Drew Slocum: (21:21):
Makes, throw it through the ringer and
Phil Gunning: (21:22):
Yeah. Just makes sense.
Drew Slocum: (21:23):
Have it, have everything cut outta the product before it actually gets to market
Phil Gunning: (21:27):
Yeah. It's an amazing process for things, but we did not use it on this one.
Drew Slocum: (21:32):
Yeah.
Phil Gunning: (21:33):
Yeah.
Drew Slocum: (21:34):
Yeah. I mean, you know, I, I was a six Sigma black belt way back in the day and, uh, still utilize those, those, uh, learnings I guess and techniques to this day with inspect point outside and even life, you know? Yeah. But, uh, you're right. It, you could get over, uh, critical of a, you know, of a process and Yeah.
Phil Gunning: (21:55):
And sometimes you just don't know how to include something into a design until you actually do it and futz with it. Right. You know. Yeah. You're like, oh man, this is in the way. You know? Yeah. And so if you don't, you know, a a tool is only as good as the input, right, right. And so if you don't think about that in the Six Sigma process, then it's not gonna come out in the final.
Drew Slocum: (22:16):
Yeah. That voice of the customer and stakeholder analysis is, is really key in the design process. And you gotta, you gotta throw everybody in there. There's blockers, there's, you know, supporters. Um, and if you don't get everybody in there, uh, you know, your pro you know, your product or your process might, might let down there. Yeah. So
Phil Gunning: (22:38):
I agree.
Drew Slocum: (22:39):
Oh, good. That's, uh, is there, uh, is there anything, Globe's got up their sleeve coming soon. I know, uh, I know, um, the UMCs been, uh, ongoing. You've guys have added a lot to it, but, uh,
Phil Gunning: (22:54):
Yeah, we got something coming out that, that I really, it's such a teaser cause I can't really tell you about it until it's, it's a little further down, but it's revolutionary in the fact that, um, it's going to be a multifunctional valve that is really going to reduce the, the dimensions of installation when, when compared to what, you know, the other components you'd have to use from someone else. It's really a neat product. I wish I could tell you more about it. No, that's all right. But I can't, so what I like, what the whole point is that I really think Globe thinks outside the box. We got some people that, that just have amazing ways of looking at, at how to, um, change what's normally done, but provide an option that is, is, is, is just good or better. Right. For, for less. And and that's really a neat team to be a part of. Um,
Drew Slocum: (23:52):
Throw, throw it against the wall and it sticks, it sticks,
Phil Gunning: (23:54):
Drew Slocum: (23:54):
Yeah. It's really neat. Yeah. That is fun to be a part of that. Yeah. Um, all right. Taking your globe hat off here for a little bit. Okay. Uh, yeah. Quick questions and then we'll get into the quick response round here in a second. Little, little new thing I'm gonna try out. But, uh, one of the big questions, I, you know, I've known you for years, but who, who's your, who's your industry mentor? You know, and you've been fire protection for quite a few years here.
Phil Gunning: (24:21):
Wow. That goes, that goes way back, you know, you know, that different people affect you along your path of, of development. And mine just started at wpi. Um, you know, I, I had professors there, you know, one, one Nick Dempsey, who was just, uh, the passion he had just rubbed off on you and it made you want to learn. Um, but they were amazing group. Um, I'm a little biased cuz that's all I know. Yeah. But amazing group. So we started there, but when I got into consulting, um, ward Cuomo, and, and if anyone knows Ward, uh, unfortunately just re recently passed away, but he was a major influencer on me along with Jerry Schultz, who was part of the company. Yeah. And they, they really made me understand how to look at something from different perspectives and, you know, like I was saying from the stakeholders point of view. Right. And, and if you can do that, that's, it's only gonna make you more of a resource. Yeah.
Drew Slocum: (25:22):
At the end, they were fire protection
Phil Gunning: (25:23):
Engineers. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. But then when it got into, um, you know, Tyco was a big part of my, of my development and guys like James Gobo who, you know, he, he's just infectious, infectious, you know, when you're around him, he's
Drew Slocum: (25:36):
A mentor of mine. Ah,
Phil Gunning: (25:37):
He's, he was amazing. Um, mark Senon, who has such a passion for, for the industry was huge in my development. And of course, Kevin Mon, who's now my boss, um, along with Cliff Hartford, I could keep going. I mean, there are, I I I give credit where credit is due and a lot of people deserve credit for, for where I am today.
Drew Slocum: (25:58):
Great. Great. Well, uh, getting into that, let's, uh, wrap it up here. I wanna wrap this up with a little quick response round. Uh, I don't wanna gear towards sprinkler too much here. See, I I don't
Phil Gunning: (26:09):
Even know what these questions
Drew Slocum: (26:10):
Are gonna be. I know you don't. This is interesting. Uh, fire protection podcast. Uh, we're gonna do a lot more than just sprinkler on here. Fire alarm suppression and, you know, being in spec point, a lot of internet technologies and new, new waves coming into the industry. So, um, so quick response around, I'm gonna give you two, two answers and it's gotta be quick. You can't explain it, you know, or you can explain it a little bit
Phil Gunning: (26:42):
Drew Slocum: (26:44):
It a shot. All right. First one, uh, uh, a concealed white sprinkler or a custom recessed, custom painted recess sprinkler and say it's in your house or, you know, maybe you're, if you're design in an office building.
Phil Gunning: (27:01):
All right. So I can only use it depends once
(27:54)
A concealed sprinkler as as quick response. Right. So knowing who your authorities are, who has an influence on, on approving a a design can impact of course, which route you go. But I think the whole purpose of those sprinklers coming into the market was for aesthetic reasons. And, and so, um, I would go with the itch with the concealed the inch. Well, okay. No, no, no. Hey, thanks. Can I, can I throw that in there? Yeah, throw it in. You told me to take the globe hat off, but you know, when it comes to, you know, a concealed sprinkler, every manufacturer offers one. Right? Right. So now you gotta dive into what makes one different from the other. And we do provide what's called the inch. And so the whole point of that is that the scutch itself, um, has an inch, it's in it's one inch in depth.
(28:43)
So that, let's say the installer goes in, installs your sprinkler in the drop ceiling or at the ceiling, and for some reason, uh, another trade comes in or, or you know, the, the ceiling changes in elevation, right? Whether it's due to weight or whatever reason. If that ceiling starts to lower an elevation from when the ins the installing contractor put his recessed head, I mean his flush sprinkler in, then what the inch does is that the scutch in itself allows that flex in the ceiling to be greater than, than what would be allowed for a competition. So it actually allows you to get into the threads of the housing when that ceiling drops more and more up to an inch. Right, right, right. And, and sag, that sag and, and that's where you think of the entire project, Hey, it's installed, but at the end of the day, it's gotta be blessed to get your CO and if you have missing cover plates, then, then you're gonna be dinged on your, your inspection or your final. So knowing we could take some of that headache out of having someone, if it didn't, if that scotch and couldn't get into the housing cuz it was just too far away due to the sag, then the only way to fix that is either fix the elevation of the ceiling or, or drop your, you know, get up to your hangers and drop your pipe a little bit. Right, right. Yep. So this is has been a very popular product, you know, because of that. Yeah, that's good. Field adjustability.
Drew Slocum: (30:07):
So that wasn't a quick response, but we'll, uh, keep going here.
Phil Gunning: (30:23):
It depends.
Drew Slocum: (30:24):
I'm using, I'm using the, it
Phil Gunning: (30:25):
Depends on that one boy one so much affects fluid delivery time, uh, which is what dry systems need to be designed to do. Right. So depending on your occupancy, that's gonna dictate how much time you have to get water from the trip valve to your operated sprinkler. Yeah. And so depending on the incoming water pressure, the pipe routing and volume, uh, the K factor on a, on a system, um, whether or not you have an accelerator or not, of course, uh, you know, if we take the accelerator out, we're talking about low pressure versus standard, then sometimes it's better to have less pressure in the system, but sometimes it's better to have more. And, and it's, it's, you know, like you said outta tyco's days, they have their fluid delivery time program, which really illustrated, uh, or made people aware that low pressure isn't always the best option.
(31:18)
Right. Um, especially when you have, uh, let's say, you know, a tree system that has a a, a feed Maine and then splits off to, um, you know, in either direction of your cross, then feeding basically two separate trees. If you have more pressure in your system, then that doesn't allow once water starts flowing and filling the pipe, that higher pressure in the system that didn't activate actually prevents more water from entering that piping network. Right. Then it pushes, it pushes to the other system. Right, right. Yeah. To get out. So in that situation, higher pressures work better. So it's really difficult to, um, just tell a designer always go low because that's a it depends. Yeah.
Drew Slocum: (32:06):
Um, yeah, that's a good answer. It depends
Phil Gunning: (32:11):
But if you, if you think about products that you can change a Sure, you know, um, you know, a component that allows you to go from low to standard, then look at manufacturers. Cuz our trim piping does allow you to Oh,
Drew Slocum: (32:27):
That's interesting. Change that. Yeah. Yeah. Cuz I mean, the low pressure, you know, that I've seen in industry, I, I'm, you know, fluid delivery is very important. But I almost think a little bit more important than is, is I tm if, if, if you have too many components in the system, if you make it overcomplicated, something's gonna fail.
Phil Gunning: (32:47):
Yeah.
Drew Slocum: (32:47):
It's not every time, but if you look at the chances are the chances, sure. The chances are greater. So the simpler the system, like just back to the US ummc, the simpler the system. Less failure points. Yeah. Less leak points,
Phil Gunning: (33:00):
Peace of mind. Yeah.
Drew Slocum: (33:03):
Um, iPhone or Android,
Phil Gunning: (33:06):
Drew Slocum: (33:08):
Phil Gunning: (33:09):
I don't care. Whatever you like. I know. I, to be honest, I am not tech savvy enough to give you a, a pro and con on that. So,
Drew Slocum: (33:19):
Yeah.
Phil Gunning: (33:19):
Uh, what's next? My favorite color?
Drew Slocum: (33:21):
No. Beer, whiskey or wine?
Phil Gunning: (33:23):
Oh, bourbon for me, man.
Drew Slocum: (33:25):
Bourbon. All right. All right. Beer, whiskey. Um, and then finally, and before wrapping this up, is it true you did a fire protection seminar for a bunch of moms here in Westerly, Rhode Island,
Phil Gunning: (33:36):
Drew Slocum: (33:40):
I, I want to hear this story cause uh, a little birdie told me to ask you about it.
Phil Gunning: (33:45):
(34:29)
I'm like, I know, but, you know, smoke detectors are so important. And I do have 'em in places where, where it's most important. I have a very small house, but, um, it, it just comes down to when you're aware of what causes fires, then you're, you're more prone to not have 'em. So that's where I Yeah. Your kitchen put my focus on. Yeah. Making sure things are, are tidied up. Uh, and, and don't present a fire hazard. So I see so many people, you know, I, I walked into Buddy's house and he had all this tissue paper right near his furnace and I said, I don't know if that's the best idea.
Drew Slocum: (35:28):
As having, I think it's a nice, uh, YouTube show. You could, you could do your yourself. Yeah.
Phil Gunning: (35:35):
Tips.
Drew Slocum: (35:37):
Well, uh, wanna, wanna thank you again for, uh, getting on this podcast. Uh, we're gonna do a lot more in the fire protection realm, um, you know, touch on, touch on everything. And again, this is just the start of it. So, uh, yeah. Thanks again. No, I had a good time. I appreciate it. Yeah, anytime. Yeah.
Drew Slocum: (35:55):
This has been episode two of the Fire Protection Podcast, powered by Inspect Point. I thank everybody for listening in and I appreciate all the great support I've had on this so far. Again, this is the first of many to have conversations with leaders in the fire protection industry. Make sure to follow us@inspectpoint.com and all our relevant social media channels. Looking forward to next time. Take care.