Continuing our case study series for the year, this blog is going to focus on an email we received from one of our distributors a few months ago regarding a roof he was working on at the time. If you’re unfamiliar with our case study program we started this year, review this blog where we discuss how we work together with our distributors to give our clients the best solution.
Other Case Studies to Date:
This month’s case study is the first we have done where equipment has actually been damaged. In the past, we have featured problems and solutions to issues involving improper grease containment. However, in this blog, we are focusing on the misuse of our fan hinges and how they can be used properly to give the best and safest solution for any roof.
Here at Omni Containment Systems, we have designed several fan hinges to fit on any fan. One of the rules we have to protect a fan, base, and roof is to make sure that the hinge goes across a minimum of 60 percent of the fan base. This isn’t a rule that has been instated by the NFPA, however it is one that we do our best to enforce because we believe it’s the best way to protect the fan.
Below is the first image sent to us by our distributor. We have lightened the photo and circled the break. This image is of an open fan where the hinge was not properly put on 60 percent of the fan base. The grease containment system became too heavy for the base and broke.
Our distributor informed us that this break in the base and crash of the containment system onto the roof caused damage to the roof. They originally installed a Quick-Fit Hinge 18 inch to this fan base. However, the QF18 is meant for fans that are 12-18 inches. As you can see in the photo below, this fan is far above 18 inches and our QF18 covers maybe 33 percent of the base as opposed to 60 percent or more.
The recommended hinge for this fan base would be our Quick-Fit Hinge 42 inches. It is our longest QF Hinge, however the size below that is only 36 inches. Based on the photo above, we can estimate that the 36-inch hinge would cover, maybe, 50 percent of the base.
Below are some more photos sent to us, highlighting the damage this short hinge did to the fan base. Imagine if this fan base had a simple door hinge on it. We have seen it before!
It is always our goal to protect our distributors, customers, rooftops, and environment. We are happy that nobody was hurt in this incident, and we hope that our case studies can help show that we provide the best and safest solutions in the industry. It could have been easy for this fan to severely injure either our distributor on the roof or a cleaning crew. It does happen, but luckily it didn’t this time! Remember to use a hinge that fits on at least 60 percent of the fan base.
