Quote:
Originally posted by skier
how does a sprinkler head open when it is exposed to heat? I had a quick look at one a few days ago and thought maybe it had to do with contraction/expansion of the metal? The sprinkler head was an old design, with a "cookie cutter" shape to spread the water out.
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"the cookie cutter shape does indeed spread the water out in an even pattern. its generally known as a deflector.
first of all, there are two different general types of sprinkler heads. those that use a frangible glass bulb as its element, and those that use some type of solder link or lever as the activating element.
the solder links are easy. basically, the solder is just designed to melt at a certain temperature, and when it does, the two pieces of the link fly apart, and water is allowed to come out of the now opened discharge orifice.
glass bulb sprinklers are a tad different. there is a small air bubble suspended inside a proprietary liquid. as the bulb heats up, the air bubble expands, and at a predeterminded temperature, the pressure created by the air bubble causes the bulb to break.
the glass bulbs are only made by one company in the world.