Saw a sprinkler fitting I have neve 2

[PEDARRIN2]

Saw a sprinkler fitting I have never seen before. Contractor called it a "Key Lock" fitting.

Anybody know the manufacturer?

 

[MGXFP]

That's a FIT fitting, also known as a POZ LOK. Gone today, there was a big class action lawsuit over them failing in the early '00s.

You might find some in the bins in the back of the warehouse of a sprinkler contractor or pipe house.

 

[PEDARRIN2]

When I google poz lok, most of what I see is references to the class action lawsuit. The image I found does not look like my installation.

https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pK88mhcu...klE/s1600/pozlokfiresprinkler-classaction.jpg

Just want to make sure.

 

[skdesigner]

That is a Victaulic Style 96 reducing tee in your picture. FIT (Fast Installation Technique) was Victaulic's line. Anvil had a similar one in their Gruv-Lok line called 'Sock-It' or something like that.

 

[SprinklerDesigner2]

The first "FIT style fitting came out about 1980 and it was introduced by Central Sprinkler Corporation. I can't remember exactly but maybe it was called a "Sockit" fitting?

I was young with maybe 3 years of design experience when we were awarded a 30,000 sq ft warehouse building by a very large foundry company in Ohio. The plant had over 100 buildings and in one direction it stretched for a couple miles.

Central Sprinkler just came out with their Sockit fitting and I was all hot to try it out with some sch. 10 branch line pipe. Drew it up and ordered the material but imagine my dismay, along with my boss, when the owners engineer for the project rejected the Sockit fittings. And there I am with 300 sockit fittings along with all the sch. 10 pipe but it was rejected and here we were already behind on the job.

Our foreman asked the project engineer why the Sockit fittings were rejected and he said it was very poor castings with pits and poorly done. They didn't look that bad to me but here was an expert about how castings were made.

We're halfway through the job when our Bob, our foreman, calls me demanding I make a 100 mile trip to see something he found. I tried to find out but he was very, very persistent that I come to the job site.

I get there and Bob explains that he wanted a cold drink from a vending machine so on the way in he stopped by a foundry building in hopes of finding a vending machine that worked but what he found instead was the foundry building where the company was manufacturing the castings for the Sockit fittings. They weren't finished or machined yet but the Central Sprinkler Logo was plain to be seen.

I dug up the project engineer explaining I wanted to return these low-quality fittings but it would be a huge help if he would please write a letter explaining why he rejected the sub-standard fitting. He did it and on the foundry letterhead not realizing these low-quality fittings were a product of his foundry.

It was the days before fax so I overnighted the letter to Central's head office in Chicago. You would have thought an atomic bomb went off. We were paid to take everything we had installed out so we could use these high-quality Sockit fittings. We were reimbursed for everything and paid twice to install the job. We were already behind so we were paid for overtime and whatever it took.

Hard to believe this was over 40 years ago.

 

[MGXFP]

SD2, are you saying CSC's engineer rejected their own fittings? That's a hoot if so!

 

[fireguy519345]

Years ago, when I just started in the sprinkler business, I got a call from someone who was opening a branch in Boise. He offered to buy lunch. I got to lunch and there was 2 guys who knew the sprinkler business. I had seen a device similar to what has been discussed. They told me I should keep a few of Socket-it/groovelok fittings with an anvil picture. It had a UL and ULC emblem on it. I may go without needing for a long time, but when I need one, it is very handy. I used 3 in an attic job this week. There is a rubber gasket in each end and a set screw. Sometimes, I have used a ratchet strap to pull a couple of fittings together. I have used the fitting with areas in an attic with only 8" of space. 6547_GV-SUB-FIG7101.pdf
Smith Cooper 2948218

 

[1503-44]

There were a lot of foundry QC problems back then. We would often have to reject 10% of our US pipeline orders. Total nightmare. But we also couldn't afford the extra shipping time it took to buy overseas where quality was far better.