Manufacturers of handline nozzles continue to look toward development of the “perfect” nozzle, but once the nozzles get into the hands of firefighters, feedback from the fire front causes the makers to consider designing a different “perfect” nozzle that responds to the feedback. Likely, we’ll never see a perfect handline nozzle but rather continuing improvements to existing models as well as new designs.
Brian Podsiadlik, municipal firefighting channel manager for Task Force Tips (TFT), says the biggest trend in the American fire service “is making the push with an adequate fire flow rate of 150 gallons per minute (gpm) or greater and with the least amount of nozzle reaction. This trend is more of a paradigm shift that will most likely be here indefinitely, especially because hose manufacturers have innovated new hose designs that handle high gpm/low nozzle pressure initial attack operations better than ever before. TFT’s METRO combination nozzles and smooth bore nozzles are the most common solutions that achieve this goal of high gpm and low nozzle reaction.”
Podsiadlik notes that the WORKING FIRE fixed flow nozzle is the latest solution from TFT. “The WORKING FIRE nozzle is a true fixed flow nozzle available in one piece or break-apart models that give fire departments their choice of 150 gpm at 75 pounds per square inch (psi) or 160 gpm at 50 psi,” he says. “It’s built rock solid from 6061 hard coat anodized aluminum and includes a stainless steel 13⁄8-inch ball valve with clear flow path all the way to the baffle. It includes a standard straight stream detent in the bumper of the nozzle that prevents unintentional movement into a fog pattern. Color-coding is available on the bumper itself, which is specifiable by the fire department.”
He adds the nozzle is available with a pressure relief feature that is only engaged if or when it’s needed to further reduce nozzle reaction while gaining more gpm. “If the nozzle is unintentionally overpumped and it becomes a ‘hot nozzle,’ which has a little increase in flow with an extreme increase in nozzle reaction, the WORKING FIRE pressure relief engages to protect the firefighters so they can send more gpm while limiting nozzle reaction,” Podsiadlik says. Task Force Tips also makes the G-Force, DUAL-FORCE, FLIPTIP, and HANDLINE series hoseline nozzles.
Jason Riggenbach, product manager for IDEX Fire & Safety’s Akron Brass Company, says the focus of new nozzle product development at Akron Brass over the past year has been on the SAM Smart Nozzle, an extension of the SAM water control system. Riggenbach points out, “The SAM Smart Nozzle uses N2P Technology™ where the nozzle system communicates with the pump through SAM, giving the nozzle operator unprecedented information and control. Using the Smart Nozzle, SAM knows the pressure at the nozzle and can recognize a kink in the hose or going up or down stairs and will automatically adjust for pressure loss in the system and pump accordingly. It also gives the nozzle operator the ability to charge the line from the nozzle.”
1 Akron Brass Company makes the SAM Smart Nozzle that uses N2P Technology to communicate with the pump through a SAM water control system, shown here on a Turbojet nozzle. (Photos 1-2 courtesy of Akron Brass Company.)
2 The N2P Technology can be integrated on the Assault nozzle made by Akron Brass.
Riggenbach adds that N2P Technology can be integrated with Akron Brass’ Turbojet™ and Assault™ nozzles as well as its smooth bore tips. “The SAM Smart Nozzle’s wireless communication allows the attack crew to know water availability by tracking water supply through LED lights on the nozzle,” he says, “and operate the nozzle at rated pressure and flow, confirmed by a gauge on the nozzle itself.”
He notes that Akron Brass updated all its handline nozzles within the past two years to optimize water flow, including the selectable Turbojet, the fixed gallonage Assault, the ProVenger in either fixed or adjustable models, and the fog/smooth bore Saberjet and Ultrajet models.
Jerry Herbst, director of municipal markets for Safe Fleet’s Elkhart Brass Manufacturing Company Inc., says Elkhart Brass’s XD series nozzle line “is built tough, for extreme duty, and is the only series with a forged shutoff body and forged metal bail handle for maximum strength.” Herbst notes the XD series is available in the fixed flow Chief XD, XD shutoffs, and XD smooth bores.
3 The fixed flow Chief XD nozzle made by Elkhart Brass features a forged shutoff body and forged metal bail handle. (Photos 3-4 courtesy of Elkhart Brass.)
4 Elkhart Brass also makes XD smooth bore nozzles in various sizes as part of its XD series nozzle line.
Herbst points out that with many fire departments moving toward smooth bore nozzles and 50-psi pressure, the stem on the XD nozzle allows the user to match the pressure and flow of a smooth bore. There’s also been a change in combination nozzles, he adds, moving from 100 psi to 50 psi, allowing higher flow with less nozzle reaction, and also in the Elkhart Brass Phantom® XD selectable nozzle at 75 psi and 100 psi.
Elkhart Brass also makes brass nozzles for industrial use, says Kyle Huston, Elkhart Brass municipal product manager, including the Select-O-Flow® selectable gallonage nozzle, which has a range as high as 250 gpm, and the Select-O-Stream® nozzle, which delivers constant gallonage at every pattern level, from straight stream to full fog. “The nozzle’s rugged, all-brass construction with chrome finish has a proven record of standing up to corrosive conditions,” Huston says.
5 Task Force Tips makes the WORKING FIRE Fixed Flow nozzle, which is available in one piece or break-apart versions. (Photos 5-6 courtesy of Task Force Tips.)
6 Task Force Tips smooth bore nozzles line the floor of a TFT warehouse.
7 Kuriyama Fire Products uses a feature called RYLSTATIC on its Viper nozzles, shown here being tested in straight stream. (Photos 7-8 courtesy of Kuriyama Fire Products.)
8 Firefighters test a Viper nozzle with the RYLSTATIC feature in a fog pattern.
Eric Maynard, national sales manager of the fire division for Kuriyama Fire Products, says Kuriyama makes the Viper® line of nozzles with a patented feature on the front called RYLSTATIC®, an improved alternative to fixed bumper teeth and spinning turbine teeth that he says gives less friction loss and improved fog stream through smaller, more uniform water droplets that provide greater heat absorption.
“Our Viper nozzles are 100 percent forged and anodized 6000 series aluminum,” Maynard points out. He says Kuriyama’s Viper Blue Devil® nozzle is available in three selectable gallonage versions, the Viper Attack® nozzle also has three selectable gallonage models, and the Viper Spartan® nozzle has seven constant flow versions.
ALAN M. PETRILLO is a Tucson, Arizona-based journalist, the author of three novels and five nonfiction books, and a member of the Fire Apparatus & Emergency Equipment Editorial Advisory Board. He served 22 years with the Verdoy (NY) Fire Department, including in the position of chief.
