Fire Water Pump Hose... NPT and Industrial Pipe Thread the same? and NST?

[Nevada Willis]

Hey, Cali. Keen observation. High desert. About 12 percent humidity that day. And you're right. Unless you're shooting a really solid straight stream (like from a straight tip nozzle) or you are aming pretty close to your target, much of the water can evaporate into mist on a hot day. Nonetheless when set up right, these little pumps can make pretty effective self defense units.

 

[RobertBrown]

I can't find any 2 inch NPT to 1.5 inch NST adapters. Its 2 inch NPT to 2.5 NST and that's about it.

I may have to go to a 2 inch NPT coupling, then 2 in x 1.5 bushing and then 1.5 NPT to 1.5 NST male adapter. It seams a bit convoluted but I can't find a direct adapter.

I am looking at hose too. Hopefully I won't be dragging the hose around but when I do I want it to hold up.

Northern Tool has heat resistant 1.5 hose in 50 ft lengths but doesn't indicate thread! I emailed them with the question. Apache High Temperature Water Discharge Hose 450 PSI, 50ft. Length | Discharge + Suction Hoses | Northern Tool + Equipment

Or am I better off with 1.5 fire hose from Chief Supply (available in blue!) I'll need at least 100 ft. Firequip 800 Fire Hose - Free Shipping thru Aug. 31

And then there's nozzles Why did I think this would be easy?

Thanks

Zeuspaul

and then 1.5 NPT to 1.5 NST male adapter

The industry term for this is a "rack nipple".
look for a rack nipple and you may have more luck finding what you need.

 

[Nevada Willis]

I found that the friction loss in 1-1/2 inch hose is significantly more than with the 2 inch blue hose. With smaller capacity pumps friction loss can kill you. I'll look up where I got 2" IPT to 1 1/2" NST adapter (on-line) and post the info to this thread.

Edited (added): Here is the reducer I got. "NH" is the same as NST. http://firehosedirect.com/dixon-2-rigid-female-npsh-to-rigid-1-1-2-male-nh/

 

[zeuspaul]

Also note in the above post the female end of the noted adapter is NPSH ( a straight hose thread) and it mates to the NPT thread (tapered thread) on the pump. When you mate NPSH to IPT the seal is with a washer. The other way does not work as noted by charlz in post 39. You can't mate a male NPSH to a female IPT. There is no washer and straight hose threads don't seal with tapered threads. Also charlz post 39 has a good reference for thread compatibilities.

A few updates on my own fire protection systems. They are still evolving.

Ash can be a problem with the pump engines. My permanent pump is now mounted in a concrete block vault. The cover is a 4x4 framed air filter using fiberglass insulation covered with fiberglass cloth. The cloth is covered with steel mesh. I don't have any ideas on how to protect the backup pump from ash.

I feel comfortible with my collection of fire hoses and nozzles. However I forsee my fire issues are primarily ember related. I am working on improving the External Water Spray System (EWSS). It is my first line of defense. EWSS seems to be more prevalent in Australia. There is very little info anywhere on the web.

I have six 1.5 inch risers. These are concrete encased stainless steel pipe teed off underground 2 inch sch 80 pump fed from the 18 hp Hale fire pump I got from Feld Fire. I can swap out the top end with various set ups.

A typical set up is a 1.5 brass tee to a 1.5 NH/NST fire valve. Then a wye valve for a pair of 1.5 fire hoses or with an adapter a garden hose.

Then above the tee is a brass riser. The riser reduces to 1/2 inch brass and tees to a pair of spray nozzles. You can adjust the angles of spray with thread play. There are ball valves before the nozzles. You can select a fine spray or a heavy spray by turning the valves on and off. Alternately you can subsitute a cross for the tee and mount a rotor sprinkler on top or another tee set up to expand to a selection of four spray nozzles.

I also have copper piping with spray nozzles fed form the same system. These are mounted to porch railings. Various zones can be turned on and off with ball valves. One weakness here is I don't have individual control of the nozzles.

I am now working on a portable spray system. I still have a lot of unprotected areas. The portable system is fed from garden hose adapters. A 3/4 x 3/4 x 1/2 inch galvanized iron pipe tee with nipples is embeded in concrete molded in a five gallon plastic nursery pot. I tee off the top with a pair of individually controlled spray nozzles. I can use one unit at a time or several in series. This system is curently under construction and waiting for parts.

Zeuspaul

 

[Nevada Willis]

Here's a spec sheet on the portable water supply unit we built.



Portable Water Supply Unit: LRTC Horse Emergency Response Team

It was originally built to provide stock water in remote locations, then adapted for defensive fire service, then adapted for large animal rescue. It now serves all three purposes.