FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
This FAQ section contains some of the most frequently asked questions regarding our products and other related information. The FAQ's have been split into categories. Just click on the FAQ category to see the questions/answers. If you have a Question(s) you would like us to consider...SUBMIT IT HERE! Please Note, all questions are worded exactly as received by the person making the request.
Deicing	Foam	Industrial
Large Diameter Hose Hardware	Miscellaneous	Monitors
Nozzles	Remote Controlled Monitors	Repair
Suction Hose	Tactics	TFT Company Questions

1	Who does your TFT Website? How often is it updated?
	Answer:  www.tft.com is administered and maintained internally by our own TFT webmaster and staff. Waiting on an outside web consultant or service provider just wasn't good enough and would not allow the extensive resources to be made available to the fire service we invisioned. It is updated and modified on nearly a daily basis. This assures that the TFT site is always current and up to date, and interesting to fire professionals from around the world
2	How many trade shows does TFT exhibit at each year?
	Answer:  Task Force Tips is represented at over 50 US trade shows and conventions, both state and regional throughout the year. In addition, there are typically 5-10 exhibits done overseas in other countries. .
3	What does it mean to say that aluminum is "Hardcoated" how is this different from "Anodizing"
	Answer:  The process that does Hardcoating and Anodizing are both very similar. The difference is in the duration of the process and the thickness of the resulting coating. Anodizing is normally decorative in nature and is only .0002 inches thick. Hardcoating is ten times thicker at .002 inches thick. Both coatings are aluminum oxide which is formed by causing the surface of the aluminum to corrode under controlled conditions. Hardcoating provides much more corrosion resistance and much longer wear resistance.
4	How does Powder Coat differ from Paint?
	Answer:  Paint is a coating that has solvents in it that must "dry" for the paint to harden. Powder coating is a process where very fine plastic powder is applied with an electrostatic "gun" to the surface of the item to be protected. The item is then placed in an oven and baked at a temperature between 200 and 300 degrees. The plastic melts flows together forming a smooth surface and a bond to the substrate.
5	How do we make arrangements for a TFT demo truck to come to an event?
	Answer:  Contact your local dealer (You can find him on this web side from the main page where it says Find Dealer. They can make a request to have it there)
6	Several of our members have the TFT Res-Q-Rench. We were thinking about issuing these to all our members until a few officers reported that the gas shut-off does not fit the gas valves on natural gas meters in our town. Is the opening a standard size? Could it be that gas meters in our area are a different size? Finally, can the opening be ordered in a different size?
	Answer:  All we can say is that we tried. It is as close to "standard" as we can find. There are indeed many many sizes and shapes. What you see is what you get, there is no way to change it
7	Here's an academic question that came up at the engine house dinner table the other night: When using a deluge gun, why is the optimal angle for maximum horizontal reach 32 degrees? And why is the angle for maximum vertical reach around 60 degrees? We've seen these numbers published as fact without explanation. Simple physics for objects in trajectory states that 45 degrees is the optimal angle; what is different for hose streams? Finally, do these numbers change for straight bore vs. combination nozzles?
	Answer:  Simple physics does not take into account the affect of the air de-accelerating the water. A stream is not as simple to evaluate as a bullet that is a single object. A stream is torn at by the air and it is composed of droplets no matter what nozzle it comes out of. When water leaves the constraint of the nozzle the surface tension causes it to pull into droplets. A big question is what defines stream reach, is it where the last droplet falls or is it where 75% of the water falls or is it 80%? Much testing has been done over the years by many manufacturers and they have all come to the conclusion that the best reach is in the neighborhood of 30 degrees.
8	Can You use Two Task Force Tip Auto Matic Nozzles atttached to an 1 3/4" hose and a 2 1/2" hose with straight bore nozzle on a water thief set up for high rise applications ?
	Answer:  Not at all a good idea, see other note in this section regarding use of nozzles on wyed lines
9	What is a proper maintainance regement to follow with your nozzles? I read an article stating warm water and a mild detergent are good, however it also states lubricating.. What kind of lubrication should we use?.
	Answer:  Each of our instruction manuals has a section on proper maintenance. The most important thing is to check the nozzles on a schedule. If they are dirty they can be cleaned in mild soap and water. Use of foam can wash out lubricants on any nozzle. We at TFT reccomend using Breakfree CLP as a replacement lubricant. A replacement lubricant will never be as good as what is put in at the factory
10	We have a Sho-Flow flow indicator we use mostly for testing nozzle and hose setups, and training members on real life conditions. This device is about 6 years old. Is there any calibration required periodically? How accurate can I expect this instrument to be?
	Answer:  It should be accurate to plus or minues 10 percent of full scale. Translated plus or minus 25GPM. All it needs is to be clean! Rinse it out in a buckt of soapy water to get all sand out of it. You can run it at a fixed flow and time the draining of your booster tank to see if it is accurate or not
11	In my area there are 6 differnet hose threads that I currently know of being used. Where can I find out the spects(tpi) for all the diffent hose treads and a list of all know ones out there? And also I have heard that a steamer connection is the same everywhere is this true? The other question is only the 2-1/2 thread the on that differs or does 1-1/2 also?
	Answer:  The "common" special threads are listed in the back of most manufacturers catelogs. The specs include the threads per inch and the pitch diameter. What has been done for years that is not real accurate is wrap a piece of paper around the thread and put a pin thru the overlap. By measureing the distance between the holes the diameter can be determined. The best way however is to find a local machine shop and ask them to measure the thread for you. Steamer connections are NOT the same everywhere and in fact seem to have more variation than do the 2 1/2 inch threads. In the very very near future (by the end of 2002) the TFT web site will have on line a complete list of threads searchable by size and by city ranging from 1 inch up to 6 inch. There are different 1 1/2 threads also but fortunately they are fewer in number. NST is one, National Straight Iron pipe is another (11 1/2 threads per inch) and "Pacific Coast" which is 11 threads per inch.
12	Does your company offer maintenance classes for nozzles?
	Answer:  Yes we do. We offer them both on site here at TFT and for large customers we offer them at their choice of location. To schedule such a class call 800-348-2686 and ask for our service department
13	Can I use a TFT PRO/Pak charged with bleach to decontaminate a bloodborne pathogen incident? i.e., Industrial or Traffic incident with lots of blood. If so, charged with typical household bleach what would a setting be on the calibrated metering valve? If strong enough concentrations cannot be obtained with household bleach are stronger agents available that could be used for this purpose? Thank you, Ross Neff 182 DuPont Road Washington, WV 26181
	Answer:  Absolutely. The unit will proportion the bleach just as it does foam. You will need to answer what concentration you want in the end. If for example you put in straight bleach you would get the percentage that is on the dial. Most people cut it with water to get a lower percentage. If for example you mixed half and half water and bleach in the tank then a setting of 1% on the dial would actually give you .5 percent.
14	Is it possible to get a gated wye with a 2 1/2" inlet, with (1) 1 1/2 inch gated outlet and (1) 2 1/2 inch gated outlet?
	Answer:  We have a gated wye that has a 2 1/2 inlet and a 2 1/2 outlet UNVALVED and one 1 1/2 outlet that is valved. In a way this makes it more of a "water thief". We felt that it was important to have as much flow area on the 2 1/2 inch side as possible since these are commonly used in standpipe operations where pressure is a problem.