Fireman's Friend Facts
THE revolutionary, semi-automatic fill valve from Fireman's Friend Engineering is here! The FFE fill device has been in regular fire services since 1998 and has performed flawlessly without any maintenance.
Specification Description:
Internally mounted check-type fill valve. Capable of flowing at a rate in excess of 1,000 gallons per minute. Self deflecting, requiring no additional diffusion device. Stainless steel, spring actuated piston-type sealing mechanism to minimize seal wear and provide positive sealing of valve after shutting off at feed source. Valve seal designed to be self-cleaning, utilizing EPDM rubber. Mounting plate with TTMA standards, 8-bolt attachment pattern (4 " valve body.)
Mounting plate and the TTMA 6-bolt attachment pattern (2 1/2" to 3" valve body) positioned on outside of and attached directly to tank wall. All valve components constructed of highly corrosive resistant stainless steel. External attachment fitting corrosion resistant aluminum. Available with connections from 2 1/2" to 5" fittings.
How much pressure does it take to open the valves?
The valve cap that acts as a sealing mechanism and the diffuser causes the opening pressure to be very low. The 4" valve body requires less than 3 lbs. to open while the 2 1/2" valve requires less than 6 PSI. The reason for the low-pressure requirements is that the 4" valve body cap has a surface area of approximately 12 square inches. As a result 2 lbs. of water pressure becomes 24 lbs. against the spring that seals the valve (when closed). Therefore, each pound of water pressure against the cap results in 12 lbs. being exerted against the spring mechanism.
The cap on the 2 1/2" valve body has an area of approximately 5 sq. inches, as a result each pound of water pressure exerts 5 lbs. on the spring closing mechanism. Thus the 2 1/2" valve requires a little more than twice as much pressure as is required on the larger valve. In either case the pressure requirements are extremely low.