Making Copper Pipe into Overhead Sprinkler

[rScotty]

We are working this year on enhancing the fire protection around our place. Thought I'd run a homemade copper sprinkler pipe under the outside eaves of the barn, block one end, and hook the other end to the well pump. It would be easy to make up, amost invisible and hopefully would keep the barn walls wet in the event of a grass fire.

How to make it sprinkle easily and well? I guess I could just drill small holes in the pipe every foot or so. Anyone have any better ideas? Plan is to use half inch rigid copper pipe.
rScotty

 

[jeff9366]

Copper pipe is very expensive.

Why not use a high quality, oscillating Rain Bird sprinkler or two to wet the barn high up, then trickle down?

Besides Rain Bird, the only oscillating sprinkler brand I recommend is Yuzuak from Turkey.

You can mount oscillating sprinklers on 10' T-posts.

yuzuak sprinklers

VENDER: Sprinkler Innovations, Inc. | ProView

 

[airbiscuit]

I've heard of people in Canada I stalling golf course irrigation sprinklers on their roofs and dowsing the roof and surrounding grounds with water pumped from the lake.

 

[JasperFrank]

I'm thinking that what you need to do is drill the small holes, and then use a de-burring bit to create a small well in the holes. This would cause the water to spray instead of stream. I'm not finding anything on the web besides lawn DIY sprinklers. You present a very interesting idea for fire suppression. What lengths are you planning to install? And how high up?

 

[2manyrocks]

Looks like sprinkler heads would be the way to go because it would be a pain to drill a lot of those holes and keep them aligned. Not sure how they'd perform. The pipe would have to be winterized.

 

[Gee Ray]

What about using the irrigation pipe with the pop in sprayers?

Or buy the spray heads like those used in restaurants over the grill areas?

Drilled holes in copper pipe would just Spray straight out the hole and not cover very much area.

1/2 inch tubing may not allow enough water to flow.

 

[rScotty]

I'm thinking that what you need to do is drill the small holes, and then use a de-burring bit to create a small well in the holes. This would cause the water to spray instead of stream. I'm not finding anything on the web besides lawn DIY sprinklers. You present a very interesting idea for fire suppression. What lengths are you planning to install? And how high up?

What about using the irrigation pipe with the pop in sprayers?

Or buy the spray heads like those used in restaurants over the grill areas?

Drilled holes in copper pipe would just Spray straight out the hole and not cover very much area.

1/2 inch tubing may not allow enough water to flow.

Looks like sprinkler heads would be the way to go because it would be a pain to drill a lot of those holes and keep them aligned. Not sure how they'd perform. The pipe would have to be winterized.

I am going to some effort - it seems worthwhile....and of course we all need projects.

My original idea was to run the pipe right along the peak - use sprinklers and let it just drain down the side of the roof and eaves. However, that means a lot of up high work for my aging old body. This all started when I did some tests years ago on the top grade of "fire resistant" asphalt shingles and was sadly disappointed. So this year when the time came for a new covering I put on steel. Now the roof covering itself is protected pretty well and I blocked in the soffits with concrete boad. That left the barn sides & large doors which are gradually becoming covered & trimmed with cement board.

The total length will only be about 150 feet. It's a smallish barn. I like the de-burrng idea to make a well to shape the spray. Wonder if that will work?
Next task will be to make up a section of pipe and play with the various well and whatever shapes. See if it can be made to spray.

The pop-in sprayers were my first choice, and if I can find some that seem decent quality then I'm going to make up a test section for that as well.

I hear you on the 1/2 " pipe not being large enough volume for the entire run. Good point. I'll put a Y manifold so I feed two lengths - and upsize the pipe too.

Thanks for all the good ideas,
rScotty

 

[Mtsoxfan]

You seem to be wanting fire prevention, not fire extinguishing, so 1/2" would do the job. I would do testing on hole size, placement etc. to be sure you create something that will perform as you like.

 

[2manyrocks]

I haven't tried this, but something tells me drilling holes in copper pipe will just let streams of water out.

Another possible option is to take some ag sprayer nozzles and make your own Colorado size barn sprayer. At least you can know going into it what the spray pattern and water flow is going to be.

 

[airbiscuit]

Why not use 1" poly tubing?

 

[Streetcar]

I have not seen a hole in a pipe that wasn’t a stream of water. You need a spray head for fire suppression

 

[JasperFrank]

Soaker hose? Just thinking out loud....

 

[NormL]

How about paying a visit to an ag dealer who may just be able to supply you with someone's cast off booms and nozzles from a crop sprayer. Free advice and worth every nickle (no pennies in Canada anymore)

 

[SmallChange]

A numerical consideration: you want the combined area of all the holes to be smaller than the area of the cross section of the pipe interior. This will make the holes work approximately the same, rather than having the earlier holes spray more than their share of the water.

 

[ericm979]

There's been a lot of research on roof fire sprinklers and how houses ignite in fires in the last few decades.

Wildfires usually are accompanied by wind. Either there's a strong wind driving the fire or the fire makes its own wind (which I can attest to having been a wildland fire fighter). Your sprinkler system needs to take that into account. If the sprinklers are on the roof spraying up, the water's going to get blown away from the leading edge of the house.

There's plenty on the internet about this, for example:

https://www.7thgenerationdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/fire-WEEDS.pdf

Before sprinklers I'd ensure that the roof vents are ember resistant. They make a lot of them now as they're required when building in WUI areas in California. Brandguard is one company. Blown embers getting inside via vents is a major cause of house ignition in a fire. If you watch footage people shot while fleeing the town of Paradise during the Camp fire you will see how bad the embers can be. There's a ton of info on the internet about this too.

One problem with a sprinkler system is having the water to run it, and deciding when to turn it on. It doesn't do any good if it will run for four hours on your gravity-fed water system but the fire arrives eight hours after you evacuate and turn the sprinklers on. Or if you're on a pressure tank and the power goes out. Fire crews often refill their truck's tanks while parked at a house during a fire, so you want to leave some water for them.

 

[scootr]

Seems some type of eve vent closures would be beneficial.

 

[rScotty]

Why not use 1" poly tubing?

It melts. Plus I can't see any advantage to poly except cost - and so far everytime I've made a decision to design or build based on cost I've later wished I'd done it differently.
rScotty

 

[scootr]

Curious to see what you end up with.
I think I would go with pvc pipe and irrigation sprinkler heads.

 

[2manyrocks]

There's been a lot of research on roof fire sprinklers and how houses ignite in fires in the last few decades.

Wildfires usually are accompanied by wind. Either there's a strong wind driving the fire or the fire makes its own wind (which I can attest to having been a wildland fire fighter). Your sprinkler system needs to take that into account. If the sprinklers are on the roof spraying up, the water's going to get blown away from the leading edge of the house.

There's plenty on the internet about this, for example:

https://www.7thgenerationdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/fire-WEEDS.pdf

Before sprinklers I'd ensure that the roof vents are ember resistant. They make a lot of them now as they're required when building in WUI areas in California. Brandguard is one company. Blown embers getting inside via vents is a major cause of house ignition in a fire. If you watch footage people shot while fleeing the town of Paradise during the Camp fire you will see how bad the embers can be. There's a ton of info on the internet about this too.

One problem with a sprinkler system is having the water to run it, and deciding when to turn it on. It doesn't do any good if it will run for four hours on your gravity-fed water system but the fire arrives eight hours after you evacuate and turn the sprinklers on. Or if you're on a pressure tank and the power goes out. Fire crews often refill their truck's tanks while parked at a house during a fire, so you want to leave some water for them.

My reading of the PDF is a recommendation to use PVC pipe run from under the soffitts with irrigation heads for a coarse and overlapping spray.

 

[rScotty]

Curious to see what you end up with.
I think I would go with pvc pipe and irrigation sprinkler heads.

Seems some type of eve vent closures would be beneficial.

I'm curious too. I know I'll do it this summer - just don't know how. I'd kind of like to use PVC just because it is quick & thick enough to tap for some sort of sprinkler assembly. Doing the same in copper is more work... but doable. And has the advantage of once done it lasts forever. I've put in lots of PVC over the years. In fact, I built a boathouse for our trimaran out of 2" thick wall PVC covered with tensioned tarps. Inexpensive, easy to work, and functioned well for half a dozen years. If I'd done it with wood it would still be there and useful.

On the eves, yes they need to be closed. Both our house and barn have boxed eaves built with cement board for the fascia and the soffit. I can't imagine not enclosing the eaves on a rural structure. It would lead to all kinds of problems.

BTW, you and several others have mentioned "irrigation sprinkler heads" - any favorites? I don't even know what they are.

rScotty