At 06:25 PM 4/4/96 GMT, Donna Garverick wrote:
>i've got some guy wandering my computer, trying to convince our
>'safety' guy to install a halon fire protection system.  i seem to
>remember that halon is not the way to go anymore.  is that
>right?  how do the collective you's (:-) have your computer
>rooms protected?     thanks   - donna
>
New HALON installations are just plain no longer permitted.  If you
currently have a HALON system and it decides to DUMP, you can pretty much
count on replacement HALON costing you about $40 or more a pound.  Many
larger companies are now stockpiling it.  It's become very scare and is
highly regulated.  The First Halon replacement (FM2000) was found not to
flow very well in real life situations, and very possibly not putting out
fires.  It was also expensive
to convert to.  The next generation chemical is also unproven at this point.
 
I'm currently in the process of designing a new data center, and the
reccomendations are almost unanimous for a water pre-action system.  The
sprinkler pipes are dry until such time as smoke is detected.  Then the
sprinklers are charged, but must be set off like normal sprinkler heads.
This saves having a water accident by knocking off a sprinkler head with a
ladder or the like, and also the problem of broken pipes.  Also, a smoke
alarm alone won't set off the fire suppression system like the Halon systems
would.  Some vendors have suggested a secondary CO2 system for the
underfloor area.  We opted not to do this on the basis that a fire was more
likely to occur in the above floor space anyways.
 
Jim
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