By Alan M. Petrillo

A number of fire equipment makers use several types of assistance in testing a prototype product before they produce thousands of copies of the unit.

Typical groups might include advisory panels that have fire department, government agency, business, and industrial facility representatives on them. Other groups consist of focus groups, and beta testers put a product through its paces to identify any modifications that should be made before the manufacturer swings into full production of the item.

Dealer Involvement

Rod Carringer, chief marketing officer for Task Force Tips (TFT), says TFT has used both product development and dealer advisory councils for 25 years to get feedback on its products before they go into full production. “Any company registered with the Insurance Services Office (ISO) will have a quality system in place that’s driven by the ISO standard,” Carringer points out. “And, part of that system is the ability to have a formalized method and manner of collecting customer feedback.”

1 Task Force Tips used a variety of customer feedback methods in developing its PRO/pak Multi-Expansion Portable Foam Unit, which has a 2½-gallon reservoir with a built-in eductor that can be quickly set to the ratio of foam or wetting agents used.

Carringer says that TFT’s approach to customer feedback is twofold: a worldwide dealer advisory council that meets for a week annually to advise TFT on “how we’re doing, our shipping history, financials, information about the marketplace and competition, and other things that keep them awake at night, which is our business advisory council,” he says. “We also run smaller regional group settings for product development that typically include regional managers and engineering people to collect feedback from customers of a specific product.”

“Sometimes we’ll test market with a few dealers for six months, get feedback, and modify the product accordingly,” Carringer observes. “There’s a lot of trial and error in product development. Some products never see the market, while others take the feedback and use it to develop a better product.”

2 The Blitzfire High Elevation Oscillating Monitor made by Task Force Tips is a product resulting from feedback by product development and advisory councils and beta testing by career and volunteer fire departments. (Photos 1-2 courtesy of Task Force Tips.)

Training Agencies

Todd Herring, director of marketing for Fire-Dex, says his company uses a variety of advisory panels and beta testers. “We worked very closely with Safety and Survival Training, in New Jersey, in developing our in-pants harness,” Herring says. “We developed the prototype and put it in their hands to use over a period of time and took their ideas and incorporated them into the next version for more testing and fee

By Alan M. Petrillo

A number of fire equipment makers use several types of assistance in testing a prototype product before they produce thousands of copies of the unit.

Typical groups might include advisory panels that have fire department, government agency, business, and industrial facility representatives on them. Other groups consist of focus groups, and beta testers put a product through its paces to identify any modifications that should be made before the manufacturer swings into full production of the item.

Dealer Involvement

Rod Carringer, chief marketing officer for Task Force Tips (TFT), says TFT has used both product development and dealer advisory councils for 25 years to get feedback on its products before they go into full production. “Any company registered with the Insurance Services Office (ISO) will have a quality system in place that’s driven by the ISO standard,” Carringer points out. “And, part of that system is the ability to have a formalized method and manner of collecting customer feedback.”

1 Task Force Tips used a variety of customer feedback methods in developing its PRO/pak Multi-Expansion Portable Foam Unit, which has a 2½-gallon reservoir with a built-in eductor that can be quickly set to the ratio of foam or wetting agents used.

Carringer says that TFT’s approach to customer feedback is twofold: a worldwide dealer advisory council that meets for a week annually to advise TFT on “how we’re doing, our shipping history, financials, information about the marketplace and competition, and other things that keep them awake at night, which is our business advisory council,” he says. “We also run smaller regional group settings for product development that typically include regional managers and engineering people to collect feedback from customers of a specific product.”

“Sometimes we’ll test market with a few dealers for six months, get feedback, and modify the product accordingly,” Carringer observes. “There’s a lot of trial and error in product development. Some products never see the market, while others take the feedback and use it to develop a better product.”

2 The Blitzfire High Elevation Oscillating Monitor made by Task Force Tips is a product resulting from feedback by product development and advisory councils and beta testing by career and volunteer fire departments. (Photos 1-2 courtesy of Task Force Tips.)

Training Agencies

Todd Herring, director of marketing for Fire-Dex, says his company uses a variety of advisory panels and beta testers. “We worked very closely with Safety and Survival Training, in New Jersey, in developing our in-pants harness,” Herring says. “We developed the prototype and put it in their hands to use over a period of time and took their ideas and incorporated them into the next version for more testing and fee

By Alan M. Petrillo

A number of fire equipment makers use several types of assistance in testing a prototype product before they produce thousands of copies of the unit.

Typical groups might include advisory panels that have fire department, government agency, business, and industrial facility representatives on them. Other groups consist of focus groups, and beta testers put a product through its paces to identify any modifications that should be made before the manufacturer swings into full production of the item.

Dealer Involvement

Rod Carringer, chief marketing officer for Task Force Tips (TFT), says TFT has used both product development and dealer advisory councils for 25 years to get feedback on its products before they go into full production. “Any company registered with the Insurance Services Office (ISO) will have a quality system in place that’s driven by the ISO standard,” Carringer points out. “And, part of that system is the ability to have a formalized method and manner of collecting customer feedback.”

1 Task Force Tips used a variety of customer feedback methods in developing its PRO/pak Multi-Expansion Portable Foam Unit, which has a 2½-gallon reservoir with a built-in eductor that can be quickly set to the ratio of foam or wetting agents used.

Carringer says that TFT’s approach to customer feedback is twofold: a worldwide dealer advisory council that meets for a week annually to advise TFT on “how we’re doing, our shipping history, financials, information about the marketplace and competition, and other things that keep them awake at night, which is our business advisory council,” he says. “We also run smaller regional group settings for product development that typically include regional managers and engineering people to collect feedback from customers of a specific product.”

“Sometimes we’ll test market with a few dealers for six months, get feedback, and modify the product accordingly,” Carringer observes. “There’s a lot of trial and error in product development. Some products never see the market, while others take the feedback and use it to develop a better product.”

2 The Blitzfire High Elevation Oscillating Monitor made by Task Force Tips is a product resulting from feedback by product development and advisory councils and beta testing by career and volunteer fire departments. (Photos 1-2 courtesy of Task Force Tips.)

Training Agencies

Todd Herring, director of marketing for Fire-Dex, says his company uses a variety of advisory panels and beta testers. “We worked very closely with Safety and Survival Training, in New Jersey, in developing our in-pants harness,” Herring says. “We developed the prototype and put it in their hands to use over a period of time and took their ideas and incorporated them into the next version for more testing and fee

By Tom Mettler

While the name Fire Apparatus Manufacturers’ Association (FAMA) might imply the membership is limited to fire truck builders, a majority of the membership consists of companies that make the wide variety of components that are attached to the fire trucks.

All the major fire pump manufacturers are members, and we participate significantly in FAMA’s work with National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) technical committees. In this article, I will describe recent changes in pump testing and how they impact fire apparatus performance.

Old Pump Test Requirements

NFPA 1901, Standard for Automotive Fire Apparatus (2009 ed.), required the pump manufacturer to perform and provide certification for a 500-pound-per-square-inch (psi) gauge pressure hydrostatic test of the pump body. The standard also separately required that the entire intake and discharge piping system be capable of withstanding a hydrostatic gauge pressure of 500 psi. Tank-to-pump and tank-fill lines were excluded from this requirement on the tank side of valves in those lines. The “Apparatus Pump System Certification” section of the 2009 edition required pumping tests to be carried out at 100, 70, and 50 percent of rated capacity. Depending on the capacity rating, the highest net pump pressure of these tests was either 200- or 250-psi gauge pressure. The manufacturer’s predelivery test also required a piping hydrostatic test at a gauge pressure of 250 psi.

New Pump Test Requirements

NFPA 1901 (2016 ed.) includes additional requirements for fire pumps that are capable of developing discharge pressures greater than the pressure at which they were hydrostatically tested. It also established a new requirement for pump manufacturers to establish a new rating for all fire pumps related to discharge pressure. The new rating is the maximum discharge pressure capability (MDPC) rating and is defined in the standard as the maximum permissible discharge gauge pressure at which the fire pump can be operated. If the MDPC rating of a pump exceeds the hydrostatic test pressure, the pump manufacturer must subject the pump to a hydrodynamic test during which the discharge pressure equals or exceeds the MDPC rating for a minimum of five minutes. The hydrodynamic test involves operating the pump so that the pump discharge structure and connected piping and valves are pressurized to the MDPC rating value while the intake piping, intake valves, and intake structure of the pump are not subjected to this pressure. When the hydrodynamic test is required, the pump manufacturer is required to provide a certificate of completion for the hydrodynamic test.

The 2016 edition also includes new pressure capability requirements for plumbing that address the MDPC rating of the pump. The new requirements separately address the discharge piping system, the aerial waterway and master stream waterway, and the intake piping system. The entire discharge piping system, including valves, drain cocks, and outlet closures, is required to withstand a hydrodynamic discharge pressure of 500 psi or 100 psi over the MDPC rating, whichever is greater. Excluded from these requirements are tank-fill lines on the tank side of the valve and compressed-air foam system (CAFS) piping and components that include valves that permit isolation from the discharge pressure.

The aerial waterway and master stream waterway on the discharge side of valves in those lines and CAFS piping and components are required to withstand a hydrostatic pressure of 250 psi. Likewise, the entire intake piping system, valves, bleeder valves, and intake closures, excluding the tank-to-pump line on the tank side of the valve, are also required to withstand a hydrostatic pressure of