Hoses

[firekid52a]

Why is it that FDNY uses hard suction hoses to hook up to hydrants and in New jersey we use 5in and 4in hoses to hook up to hydrants?

 

[vbcapt]

I think the hoses you are referring to in the FDNY are not true hard suctions like you would see in a drafting hose. I guess they are just used to them, they are very flexible & don't kink easy or at all. I tried it myself at a hydrant in front of a friend's firehouse and it seemed to work very well. For my Dept., we use a 20ft. section of 5" with a 4 1/2" hydrant connection and a Storz connection to the rig.

 

[RPM3311]

most of the time the second, third, fourth, how ever many engines hooking up to hydrants will use these "hard suction" houses becuase they will have to draft out of hydrants due to the low water pressure

 

[mac8146]

In FDNY we use 10 foot soft suction 4 1/2 fitting 3" diameter hose size, 50 foot 3 1/2 fitting with 3" diameter or the 35 foot 4 1/2 fitting with 5" diameter yellow hose. That is basically all that is available. The old hard suctions are being phased out and newer pumpers carry 3 6" soft suctions for drafting only, with all the above for hydrants.

 

[vbcapt]

Draft from a hydrant ??? You can't suck more water out of hydrant than the pipe can provide.

 

[bklyndisp54]

And "soft suctions for drafting"?  I don't think so.

 

[RPM3311]

Draft from a hydrant ??? You can't suck more water out of hydrant than the pipe can provide.

And "soft suctions for drafting"?   I don't think so.

I was just passing on what I was told whe I asked the same question.

 

[vbcapt]

Ok, fair enough. For drafting you need a static water supply i.e. pond, pool, river, portable water tank etc.

 

[mac8146]

The new seagrave pumpers have a special connection for drafting only, it is a 6" connection on Officers side of apparatus. The hoses used are not the traditional hard suctions used previously. The are only rated for drafting and not to be used for normal hook up. These 6" suctions are light weight and rated at a very low psi for drafting. They have a to be seen i think for better understanding of this issue, check seagrave website for delivery shots.

 

[mac8146]

OK clarification, the hydrant connections mentioned are 10 foot 35 foot and 50 foot soft suctions, the hard suctions were used for both hydrants and drafting. The hard suctions were required to be used by second alarm companies or greater to get max flow from hydrants. These hard suctions were used when drafting from rivers ponds lakes or whatever source used. The newer rigs dont have the old traditional hard suctions. The drafting suctions of today are 6" and not compatible with hydrants 4 1/2 threads. I hope i have cleared this up.

 

[Bulldog]

In FDNY we use 10 foot soft suction 4 1/2 fitting 3" diameter hose size, 50 foot 3 1/2 fitting with 3" diameter or the 35 foot 4 1/2 fitting with 5" diameter yellow hose. That is basically all that is available. The old hard suctions are being phased out and newer pumpers carry 3 6" soft suctions for drafting only, with all the above for hydrants.

Why do you use six small diameter soft suctions connections?  Or are these only for the old units?  There's no way I can see that you could utilize the of 2000gpm of the new pumpers with such small lines to the hydrant.  I'm also assuming that's why you have 6 inch drafting connections so you can use and test the pumps at full capacity as required by NFPA.

 

[RPM3311]

OK clarification, the hydrant connections mentioned are 10 foot 35 foot and 50 foot soft suctions, the hard suctions were used for both hydrants and drafting. The hard suctions were required to be used by second alarm companies or greater to get max flow from hydrants. These hard suctions were used when drafting from rivers ponds lakes or whatever source used. The newer rigs dont have the old traditional hard suctions. The drafting suctions of today are 6" and not compatible with hydrants 4 1/2 threads. I hope i have cleared this up.

I think thats what the person was trying to tell me when I asked, You explained it much better.

 

[cfd123]

what are the weights for a 1 1/2 and 2 1/2 inch hose charged and empty?

 

[HCO]

Further clarification of earlier posts:

The 2008 FDNY Seagrave 2000 GPM pumpers carry two flexible 6-inch PVC suction sections for drafting only, one 6-inch flexible section for hydrant connection or drafting, and one 3?-inch section with 4?-inch butts for hydrant connection.  The 2x6-inch Siamese on the right side must be used to get 2000 GPM at draft.

 

[bklyndisp54]

what are the weights for a 1 1/2 and 2 1/2 inch hose charged and empty?

I guess it would depend on the manufacturer.  Start here:  http://www.firequip.com/hosemain.htm

 

[mac8146]

The 2008 rigs carry 3 flex suctions rated for drafting only and they are 6" and only to be hooked up to drafting intake on Officers side of rig, not to be used for regular hydrant hookup. The other suction shown in pictures of these rigs is the 4 1/2 soft suction used for hydrant hook during fire operations. Yes it is 4 1/2 threads with 3 1/2 soft hose.

 

[HAZ-MAT 1]

Yes it is 4 1/2 threads with 3 1/2 soft hose.

Why so small? ???

 

[Bulldog]

Yes it is 4 1/2 threads with 3 1/2 soft hose.

Why so small? ???

I asked the same question quite awhile ago and never got an answer.  There's no way they will get the entire rated flow of 2000gpm from the new engines with that size of supply hose.

 

[mac8146]

I usually have my chauffeur use our 35' yellow 4 1/2 with 5" hose as our main hydrant hook up, remember the older rigs are 1000gpm and these new rigs are just entering service so I hope they issue newer suctions or try smaller lengths of the yellow suctions.

 

[mac8146]

I dont have an answer as to why the short suction we have now is 4 1/2 threads with 3 1/2 hose, the FDNY now asks the chauffeurs to attach a single gate to the unused 2 1/2 outlet on the hydrant so if needed we can attach a line to this gate and inline the pumper with another feed from hydrant.