On May 17, 2011 we received an email from Bruce Hall of Advanced Fire Protection in North Dakota. Bruce was looking for clarification on the requirement of an air maintenance device. Bruce asks:
“Do your riser mount air compressors need to be installed with an air maintenance device to meet NFPA codes?”
Ray DeCecco, our customer service manager and resident dry pipe system air compressor expert responded:
“NFPA 13 section 7.2.6.5.2 has an exemption that states ‘Where the air compressor supplying the dry pipe system has a capacity less then 5.5 feet cubed per minute at 10 psig no air receiver or air maintenance device shall be required.’ General Air Products OL Series models OL11016AC, OL21533AC, OL33550AC and OL42575AC all meet this requirement. Models OL610V100AC, OL900V150AC and OL1200V200AC would need to use an air maintenance device.”
Please note that this explanation is only referring to our single phase oil less riser mount compressors. The rules for use of an air maintenance device with our other product lines like lubricated units or tank mounted units do differ so be sure to check with us for clarification.
Thank you for your question Bruce! We are always happy to answer questions about our products and the code that guides their use so if you have one please send it to us by emailing [email protected] or by calling 800-345-8207.