Plumber here. Not a problem with products, a problem with maintance.way to much money spent here. You don't need a new fire hydrant, just some people to do their goddamned jobs
this video didn't explain really what wrong with the old ones & their failure points, nor how the new one solve the problems. they spent more time telling how important fire hydrant are and that they fail. all I've learned is that the new one is higher.
They did tell you, many important components are exposed to the elements and thus corrode easier, can be tampered with etc. Also the fact many hydrants are old.
@@shogged A clear coat that protects from corrosion would fix the paint issue What the hell is he even saying could get damaged and bent? The old hydrant is made out of cast iron, you're probably not bending anything on it. Cross threading could happen on anything that could screw on or off just like his hydrant. Throw debris inside? Why the hell would a fireman do that? Also could be done on his hydrant. I imagine a pipe wrench can be a lot more versatile and way more easily available than his lug wrench. Imagine how much they'll overcharge for that lug wrench, or if a fire station didn't order enough lug wrenches for their trucks, or a fireman forgot to load up that lug wrench, because he's been using a pipe wrench for a century? Literally the only two things I think could even qualify is innovative with his design is the snow pole, so it can be found when buried in snow and the lug wrench to open it, which solves a non problem and creates a few more.
the paint caused corrosion, the part are exposed to the elements, people misuse them causing the threads to break as well as other issues it was stated in the video.
I see two big problems with this new hydrant. 1 a new tool is required and that cost money not many departments have. 2 the covers do not provide enough friction for a firefighter with gloves on. I suggest using the old design for tools and adding in fins around the covers. But I also question how good it's going to work in cold winters because it seems like it could jam easily from a bit of ice.
Matias Høgden Providing multiple of those tools to each department of a city would be too expensive for the company to do, even after installing the hydrants to replace the old ones. And let's not forget that departments in the greater parts of a city lack that kind of money so it'd fall on the town to pay it directly.
Nick Wager still, if the city/fire departments can afford new hydrants they should be able to afford some pieces of shaped metal, and my guess is that they would not buy the hydrants without the tools necessary to use them anyway
Matias Høgden most cities won't be able to replace the hydrants because it would cost millions to buy the hydrants, pay people to ship them and install them. And should something go wrong, such as the pipelines breaking because you have to disconnect the old one from the close connection on each pipe, the cost will go up too much for most cities to cover.
Pentagonal wrench, not hexagonal. You won’t find a socket wrench of that shape and size very easily. The old design can let a vandal turn it with a pipe wrench, potentially causing a failure because they let water up past the frost line in the hydrant, didn’t drain it, and it froze later that winter.
It's so everyone has to retool and buy this company's own proprietary one instead of using what they already have. My company went over kill but if the water company is idiotic enough to purchase these than we would have to replace 4 wrenches on each of our 4 trucks.
@@LIGHTNING278TH Communities that continue to use existing hydrants are asking for trouble. They seldom if ever get tested or maintained and in a lot of cases don't work when needed! There is definitely room for improvement in a 100 year old device!
@@railroad9000 Isn’t this essentially the same device though? A new hydrant wouldn’t change the service/flushing schedules they already have, it’s just the same old device in a new proprietary shell.
This design seems inefficient. They compare a brand new one to a 50-100 year old hydrant, and the only thing he can come up with is “look at the new paint versus the old!”.
Wondering the same myself. AVK, Mueller, Kennedy, etc ... make newer models (how frequently, I don't know). Interested in seeing how much they have improved over the past 50 years.
I agree the problem here is that the ex fireman has all the knowledge to what could make a great hydrant but non of the design or technical skill a engineer would have so the guy tried his best to come up with a simple alternative realising that the current system is failing. He should have rather teamed up with a proficient engineer and revolutionize and modernise the product vs just tweak it.
I am a EMT and was called out one night to a vehicle accident with entrapment with the vehicle on fire. Worst memory I will ever have was seeing a woman burn to death because of a failed hydrant. The truck used its own on board water but by that time it was too late. Seeing this thing, I am going to push to have all the hydrants changed
Please do more research first this video showed no evidence of long-term liability and from what I could see of the diagrams it integrated small internal parts that could fail
Matthew Frost well I guess it will all be told by it's reputation cities might buy small amounts and they will get tested often by the gov. If they pass the tests they will slowly change them and who knows maybe they will have a far smaller rate of failure.
Horrific experiance and you have my sympathy. But before an excellent old design is replaced with a newer one it has to be thorougly tested under all conditions. The previous design has stood the test of time for a reason.
Here in Australia our fire hydrants are just a little plate on the ground and so you know where they are, there's a yellow mark on the gutter where they sit. I wonder which is a better system.
On paper an overground hydrant is better, because they allow for a higher water flow, but with the ceaper maintenance and constrcution of underground hydrants that does not really matter. Simply build more of them, typically enough hydrants are available to use the full water grid capacity.
It is not like you have a tremendous difference between both types of hydrants. At the same diameter it is 10%-20%. From all I heard the firefighters are happy with the hydrants and if there are any issues it is insufficient grid pressure. More important they prefer a hydrant always close by for a first quick attack to rescue people in danger.
I pass these things all the time and I always take it for granted. NYC should implement these in every borough even if they take a year to see test and see how efficient they are. Good work Verge!
Around my area, the council is responsible for hydrants. We tested 20, 12 were under council made cement footpaths, 6 were buried under people's gardens and 1 was damaged (even though it's underground). In 4 streets, only 1 working hydrant. We're not allowed to do anything except report it to the council. It's been years since they've done anything
In Colorado we flush out of water mains every year and in the process open every hydrant which is a great way to detect if there are nay that aren't functioning. then you dont need a new hydrant. There is a reason why we haven't changed the design, it works and as long as it gets checked there is no issue.
At least have something like a pressure gauge connected to a central station so you can tell remotely which hydrants have pressure/will work so you can fix them before a fire.
TED_MAUL None of them have pressure, they are not filled with water or it would freeze and destroy it. The valve is at the bottom where it connects to the main line. The main line has pressure or the residents would be calling in complaining.
Nothing beats hitting the street and turning each plug by hand. It sucks, but every firefighter will know their territory better and the hydrants get fixed before it's too late.
We have had FF's inside a burning building and our truck was running out of water because the hydrant was not working. I think almost every firefighter knows at least one of these storys. Good work keep it up!
In Germany fire trucks carry their own hydrants. They are placed on the existing water pipes when needed. In cities there are connections for the hydrants in the pavement approximately every 600-800ft.
There was no statistic on how many hydrants fail. All of the fear seemed to be caused by one failing unit. In my opinion there is no reason whatsoever to invest "only" 10 - 20 % more just because some startup decides to polish the hydrant a little and put a flag on it.
Okay so rather than eliminating or reducing the issue of failure when peoples lives could be in danger let's just not?...? Better to he safe than sorry.
If a fire hydrant doesn't work, just go 100' down the street to the next one. There is a reason they haven't been changed in 100 years. Ease of use, and dependability. They fail because they don't get any maintenance. You can't have a fire hydrant sit buried in the ground for 25 or 40 years, then just roll up on it and expect it to work. These new fire hydrants would cost cities millions, and will do the same thing in 25 to 40 years. It's not the caps that fail, IT'S THE VALVE 6' UNDERGROUND
so 6 years later. People still don't understand that the hydrants are own by the towns not the Fire Department. If they were owned by the FD's the hydrants would all be in good working order and there would be no need for new ones. The old hydrants look great unlike that European thing.
I lived once where they tested them every year for pressure. They would then paint them by a color code for pressure. Certain color was replace now. Another color was to replace by schedule within six months. Another was to show it was not the hydrant that caused low pressure, but in the line. The FD knew when they pulled up, they may have to hose up to more than one.
I can’t even remember seeing a hydrant outside of the city where I live. Pretty sure in the suburbs we don’t have any anymore. Our fire trucks hold a fair bit of water now
Retired worked in water distribution install and repair for 35 years this is no better than what we have today hydrants fail not by above ground looks but what is inside that makes them work when needed.
michael obrien I too have put in Fire Hydrant for over 25 years now, just put in a new one about 3 weeks ago. This is about the Biggest BS.😐 I have seen yet, the water company in your city takes care of the Fire Hydrant not Fire Fighters. And yes I can brake them down and put them back together.
I think the most important thing with this situation is consistency, if you're going to replace them then do it all at once and make sure it's standardized.
It was touched upon at the end. With a normal wrench the general public will just use and abuse it for personal whims. You'd want a system where only firefighters can use it.
The fire hydrants as old version still used the proprietary tool but there is reasons you don't want a ordinary wrench to open it because if so the general public can go up open the hydrant and possibly damage it I understand it but the old hydrants work just fine as long as you do maintenance to them
The mechanisms are very similar. He bashes the conventional fire hydrant for the caps being exposed to the elements and because you can cross thread the fitting, his is exactly the same just different looking. I don't understand, the caps on the new one are still exposed and will still get corroded just like the conventional ones.
When watching this, I realised that Australia (or at least NSW) doesn't have any fire hydrants. But when I researched it, they are all underground and there are like a sewage hatch but for water.
I suppose this is totally different from country to country and even from state to state, but where I live we have underground Hydrands and once a year there is a hydrant revision. During the revision the firefighters check if the hydrants are functional and put grease on the cover so that it doesn't freeze during the winter. Everything goes on paper so if there are any issues with the hydrands, the city sends someone to repair it after they get the reports.
This is a 6-year-old video. My local area recently got a new hydrant and I don't see anything like that. Kinda sad was look forward to seeing awesome one like in the video.
Great news to see when I open youtube. I just came back from paying a fine for going through a intersection when the light was RED for 0.3 seconds. 325 later I come out to my car and see a $100 ticket for being 3m away from a hydrant when I'm more than 15 feet away
I see 2 problems with this design. 1. The hydrants are completely different, not just a similar design with less corrosive or less destructible objects. A firefighter will have to carry along a 'special tool' if he wants to open it, so unless an entire city converts to the system, it just confuses the firefighter, adding time before the water flows. 2. the special wrench that they use to open the hydrant WILL be reverse-engineered at some point. every once in a while a new screw comes out with a product that they don't want you to open, and within a year someone will sell a screwdriver that opens it. These things won't stay unhackable forever. and, frankly, I'm not sure they should be.
Shelby Seelbach. Not where I live. A simple pipe or crescent wrench is all you need. In my city, the public is allowed to use the hydrants for irrigation, cooling off or even washing your truck. I've opened the one down the street multiple times when it's super hot. Everyone comes out to cool off
Brendan Stanford fire hydrants have pentagonal valve stems, yes they can be opened with other tools. But the correct tool is called a hydrant wench, and is specifically designed to grab a five sided nut or bolt. I can start your car and drive it away with a screwdriver, doesn't make it the correct tool.
Shelby Seelbach. So a large socket and rachet mimic the actual tool better. Oh well, pipe wrench works fine and the valve isn't hard to open so it doesn't strip it out or anything
The moving parts are not isolated from the water which accelerates corrosion. This was fixed decades ago by mainstream manufacturers. This hydrant may look cool to some, but it misses the mark. Just FYI, all hydrants corrode. All mechanical devices need maintenance. Saying otherwise is selling snake oil.
Those hydrants will not work in states with snow. Rain will freeze as it drips down over the bolts, and your special tool will not insert onto the bolt when it is frozen with ice.
Pseudo Nym they use the onboard water depending on the type of assignment other apparatuses are enroute or there and they stretch to another hydrant or another company will and back them up
trucks have to carry a thousand feet of hose. most cities for insurance purposes have hydrants every 300ft even though lawfully they can go further. there shouldn't be a case where they can not reach a hydrant with water. downside is that they will all take additional time that you may not have in order to go to the next available hydrant.
Most people don’t realize that the infrastructure this country depends on - is over 100 years old in many areas. We have been patching things up to keep them working for decades.
What this clip doesnt explain is that its not the hydrant which is broken or malfunctioning, because a hydrant is only one of many components which is required for a constant water supply in a fire scene. You could put the most expensive and most hightech hydrant there but it still would stop working if no one maintanes it. What use does a hightech hydrant have if the underground water pipes are clogged or broken?
dont forget that they deter theft of water by kids on hot day or filling swimming pools by having recessed turning lugs requiring an even more specialized tool to access. however frequent testing and flushing by the town should help keep them working and alert the town to problems
It’s called lack of maintenance. The stuff he’s talking about have never been a problem for me. What usually fails is the valve and or stem inside the hydrant itself or just very old plumbing. They have to be lubricated and flowed every so often along with other things. I have had only one hydrant fail in my 12 yrs. it was after a lot of water was flowed and caused the water main to somehow give out rendering the hydrant useless. Fire was out though 🔥😎
That’s great! The only thing I think he should change is putting some knockes or dips or something on this pieces you spin off, for grip, imagine your hands are slipping or the surface is slippery and you can’t spin that piece off, small small flaw but there’s always room for improvement !
So if that tool failed are they screwed or would the department be buying the multitude of tools needed to ensure one is there at all times. I'm sure it's not that expensive but it adds up.
its a smoother hydrant with more locks that the firefighters have to detach with a special tool (if they don't bring that tool welp no water). The reason why our fire hydrants fail now is due to low maintenance them, the same thing will happen with this hydrant over time. To me, the reason for this fire hydrant was to have a built-in lock so that it's not easily assessable to the public with just a simple wrench. they should show the time it takes to open the valves to both hydrants, to fight a fire it needs to be fast and efficient.
It's sad because the cities are not Proactive they are Reactive. Once put in a situation where they lose a life or need to pause and reflect, the damage is already done and sparks change/revolution.
Hey there Lewis, i find that to be very hard to believe. Usually the water tank of a firetruck is emptied within 1-2 minutes, even with a big tank of 3000-4000L. Hence it would be very inefficient and also dangerous to only use firetrucks for water supply. I suppose in england you have underground hydrandts, covered by a lid. From what I could tell they are marked by a yellow sign usually telling you the location of the hydrant and the diameter of the tube. It is actually standart procedure for the firefighters to connect to a fire hydrant during a fire, the only exceptions would be small fires like for example a trash bin
I thought the FDNY encouraged public use of the hydrants during the summer time as a means to cool off during heat waves. If this isn't true, you're telling me there's at least one person on EVERY block turning them on?
its seems to be a problem with lack of maintenance rather than a faulty design if cities kept up on maintenance and regularly checked to see if hydrants are working we wouldn't have this problem I bet you the new design is more expensive than the old design so cities are just going to to replace the faulty hydrant with a new hydrant that was designed with the old design rather than the new design they you seem to be selling the product as a fix for a problem that doesn't exist
Why not build them under street covers under the road surface like in Australia and New Zealand? That way the lid protects the hydrant from the elements and makes them hard to access without a tool.
Yes. Your opinion will change when you realize how big of a pain it would be to open one of these things. Step 1. Unscrew the front cover and remove safety plate from top. If you can’t tell what I mean by that, stop reading. Step 3 Only applies to a 3inch hose, unscrew the side cover. Step 4 also only applies to 3 inch hoses. Replace front cover. Step 5. Rotate operating nut to allow water to flow. If you ask, “Hey sord33! How do you even know this stuff?” The answer is fire departments that publish training videos on RUclips.
the fact that you play roblox automatically justifies your lack of intelligence my friend... but im going to grace you with this response in hopes that i can teach you a little something. you watched him prepare the new hydrant right? he did it in 10 seconds bud. would you like to demonstrate how quickly you can open a conventional fire hydrant with corrosion on every fitting and the wrench used by the fire department? thats kinda what i thought.
In the Netherlands we have them stuck in the ground so nobody can mess it up. and it doesn't have to be maintained that often. Cars can't run them over. And you don't have to put so much money in the design as they do overhere.... It's just money making they know it's the easy way out. But you know everyone needs to eat.
My neighbor got our street to sign for a fire hydrant and sure enough he got us one. Now when we pay out real estate tax I see a fire hydrant yearly charge. After 10 years of this I call. Come to find out , you lease the hydrant and never pay it off. Now I know why they installed one so quickly.
I just came cause the hydrant looks kind of cool and futuristic.
14supersonic because it’s the future.... 😊
Sane
Same typo
The less hard angles the less corrosion and the less leverage for tampering.
Same
Plumber here. Not a problem with products, a problem with maintance.way to much money spent here. You don't need a new fire hydrant, just some people to do their goddamned jobs
That's true. Regardless of the hydrant they need to be regularly inspected to see if they even work.
The idea of this new hydrant is that it would need way less maintenance, solving the problem you thought of...
Electrician here. I concur with this statement
i agree - to me this design also looks more complicated, isn't that more prone to failure?
A pipe is a pipe as far as my ignorant mind is concerned.
What this serves to accomplish is making a taller, more tamper proof hydrant.
this video didn't explain really what wrong with the old ones & their failure points, nor how the new one solve the problems. they spent more time telling how important fire hydrant are and that they fail. all I've learned is that the new one is higher.
They did tell you, many important components are exposed to the elements and thus corrode easier, can be tampered with etc. Also the fact many hydrants are old.
1:50 maybe you should have paid more attention lol
They probably do not have a patent for their idea yet.
@@shogged A clear coat that protects from corrosion would fix the paint issue
What the hell is he even saying could get damaged and bent? The old hydrant is made out of cast iron, you're probably not bending anything on it.
Cross threading could happen on anything that could screw on or off just like his hydrant.
Throw debris inside? Why the hell would a fireman do that? Also could be done on his hydrant.
I imagine a pipe wrench can be a lot more versatile and way more easily available than his lug wrench. Imagine how much they'll overcharge for that lug wrench, or if a fire station didn't order enough lug wrenches for their trucks, or a fireman forgot to load up that lug wrench, because he's been using a pipe wrench for a century?
Literally the only two things I think could even qualify is innovative with his design is the snow pole, so it can be found when buried in snow and the lug wrench to open it, which solves a non problem and creates a few more.
the paint caused corrosion, the part are exposed to the elements, people misuse them causing the threads to break as well as other issues it was stated in the video.
I see two big problems with this new hydrant. 1 a new tool is required and that cost money not many departments have. 2 the covers do not provide enough friction for a firefighter with gloves on. I suggest using the old design for tools and adding in fins around the covers. But I also question how good it's going to work in cold winters because it seems like it could jam easily from a bit of ice.
Nick Wager i would assume the tool came with the hydrant
Matias Høgden Providing multiple of those tools to each department of a city would be too expensive for the company to do, even after installing the hydrants to replace the old ones. And let's not forget that departments in the greater parts of a city lack that kind of money so it'd fall on the town to pay it directly.
Nick Wager still, if the city/fire departments can afford new hydrants they should be able to afford some pieces of shaped metal, and my guess is that they would not buy the hydrants without the tools necessary to use them anyway
Matias Høgden most cities won't be able to replace the hydrants because it would cost millions to buy the hydrants, pay people to ship them and install them. And should something go wrong, such as the pipelines breaking because you have to disconnect the old one from the close connection on each pipe, the cost will go up too much for most cities to cover.
Matias Høgden but you could pay for it will large tax increases
The only problem with me is that i love how the old ones look, but i know thats not the issue
"needs a special wrench"
looks like an ordinary breaker bar and a socket
Pentagonal wrench, not hexagonal. You won’t find a socket wrench of that shape and size very easily. The old design can let a vandal turn it with a pipe wrench, potentially causing a failure because they let water up past the frost line in the hydrant, didn’t drain it, and it froze later that winter.
It's so everyone has to retool and buy this company's own proprietary one instead of using what they already have. My company went over kill but if the water company is idiotic enough to purchase these than we would have to replace 4 wrenches on each of our 4 trucks.
@@LIGHTNING278TH And they wouldn’t be cheap. Probably look fantastic, all shiny shiny but definitely not cheap.
@@LIGHTNING278TH Communities that continue to use existing hydrants are asking for trouble.
They seldom if ever get tested or maintained and in a lot of cases don't work when needed!
There is definitely room for improvement in a 100 year old device!
@@railroad9000 Isn’t this essentially the same device though? A new hydrant wouldn’t change the service/flushing schedules they already have, it’s just the same old device in a new proprietary shell.
Glad the new design is more aerodynamic.
This design seems inefficient. They compare a brand new one to a 50-100 year old hydrant, and the only thing he can come up with is “look at the new paint versus the old!”.
Wondering the same myself. AVK, Mueller, Kennedy, etc ... make newer models (how frequently, I don't know). Interested in seeing how much they have improved over the past 50 years.
Odd how Fire hydrant companies have the same names s government officials
Plus the paint color on the top matters. It tells firefighters and plumbers what the size of the water main running in the street is.
julien hunt Don't forget, its more expensive and the need for a proprietary tool to interact with the hydrant.
I agree the problem here is that the ex fireman has all the knowledge to what could make a great hydrant but non of the design or technical skill a engineer would have so the guy tried his best to come up with a simple alternative realising that the current system is failing. He should have rather teamed up with a proficient engineer and revolutionize and modernise the product vs just tweak it.
I am a EMT and was called out one night to a vehicle accident with entrapment with the vehicle on fire. Worst memory I will ever have was seeing a woman burn to death because of a failed hydrant. The truck used its own on board water but by that time it was too late. Seeing this thing, I am going to push to have all the hydrants changed
Kevin Dietick please keep pushing forward
Please do more research first this video showed no evidence of long-term liability and from what I could see of the diagrams it integrated small internal parts that could fail
Matthew Frost well I guess it will all be told by it's reputation cities might buy small amounts and they will get tested often by the gov. If they pass the tests they will slowly change them and who knows maybe they will have a far smaller rate of failure.
Horrific experiance and you have my sympathy. But before an excellent old design is replaced with a newer one it has to be thorougly tested under all conditions. The previous design has stood the test of time for a reason.
Kevin Dietick sorry you had to witness that. EMTs are the real life savers. Appreciate what y’all do!
Looks like some thing out of the town in fallout4 beginning
Lol it does
yeah
Here in Australia our fire hydrants are just a little plate on the ground and so you know where they are, there's a yellow mark on the gutter where they sit.
I wonder which is a better system.
yeah pretty much the same in the uk. i dont see the american style ones in any other country so it must be a better system lol
On paper an overground hydrant is better, because they allow for a higher water flow, but with the ceaper maintenance and constrcution of underground hydrants that does not really matter. Simply build more of them, typically enough hydrants are available to use the full water grid capacity.
It is not like you have a tremendous difference between both types of hydrants. At the same diameter it is 10%-20%. From all I heard the firefighters are happy with the hydrants and if there are any issues it is insufficient grid pressure. More important they prefer a hydrant always close by for a first quick attack to rescue people in danger.
That’s actually the same in Germany and I think it’s better that overground hydrants.
Same in sweden
I pass these things all the time and I always take it for granted. NYC should implement these in every borough even if they take a year to see test and see how efficient they are. Good work Verge!
Around my area, the council is responsible for hydrants. We tested 20, 12 were under council made cement footpaths, 6 were buried under people's gardens and 1 was damaged (even though it's underground). In 4 streets, only 1 working hydrant. We're not allowed to do anything except report it to the council. It's been years since they've done anything
Purchased by Google, branded with Nest, outfitted with antennas for public wifi.
fully surveillance by the NSA
In Colorado we flush out of water mains every year and in the process open every hydrant which is a great way to detect if there are nay that aren't functioning. then you dont need a new hydrant. There is a reason why we haven't changed the design, it works and as long as it gets checked there is no issue.
At least have something like a pressure gauge connected to a central station so you can tell remotely which hydrants have pressure/will work so you can fix them before a fire.
TED_MAUL they do
Are you god? Because you’re a god damn genius.
TED_MAUL
None of them have pressure, they are not filled with water or it would freeze and destroy it. The valve is at the bottom where it connects to the main line. The main line has pressure or the residents would be calling in complaining.
Nothing beats hitting the street and turning each plug by hand. It sucks, but every firefighter will know their territory better and the hydrants get fixed before it's too late.
In my home town, the Fire Fighters went to all of the hydrants and tested them manually once every year or two. Pretty cool to see.
We have had FF's inside a burning building and our truck was running out of water because the hydrant was not working. I think almost every firefighter knows at least one of these storys. Good work keep it up!
In Germany fire trucks carry their own hydrants. They are placed on the existing water pipes when needed. In cities there are connections for the hydrants in the pavement approximately every 600-800ft.
There was no statistic on how many hydrants fail. All of the fear seemed to be caused by one failing unit. In my opinion there is no reason whatsoever to invest "only" 10 - 20 % more just because some startup decides to polish the hydrant a little and put a flag on it.
If you investigate other videos on this device one tells of the reasons why the standard hydrant fails.
I read that right when he said that
Ours just like Ebola it existed before it just happened and everyone freaked
Okay so rather than eliminating or reducing the issue of failure when peoples lives could be in danger let's just not?...? Better to he safe than sorry.
I think what he means is that it's a lot of money to spend on something without backing from there proper statistics.
Those caps look impractical to open when wearing thick gloves, you know, like the ones firefighters wear...
If a fire hydrant doesn't work, just go 100' down the street to the next one. There is a reason they haven't been changed in 100 years. Ease of use, and dependability. They fail because they don't get any maintenance. You can't have a fire hydrant sit buried in the ground for 25 or 40 years, then just roll up on it and expect it to work. These new fire hydrants would cost cities millions, and will do the same thing in 25 to 40 years. It's not the caps that fail, IT'S THE VALVE 6' UNDERGROUND
Great ad now I’m going to make you money by demanding this to my constituents around town.
It looks so 80s futuristic ;D I like it!
Flexxkii i hate it
Flexxkii I want it to look 2030 futuristic!
It looks 2080 futuristic
so 6 years later. People still don't understand that the hydrants are own by the towns not the Fire Department. If they were owned by the FD's the hydrants would all be in good working order and there would be no need for new ones. The old hydrants look great unlike that European thing.
This guy is gonna save our lives.
This reminds me of an Apple commercial
Axel Frame You also have to buy the special water hoes so it could work just an extra $1546.44
Axel Frame
Introducing The Apple Hydrant.
-Jony Ive.
Fire Hydrant : $1000
Fire HiDrant : $100000
Apple will sell you the wrench for an additional fee and reduce the water flow by 20% after a year forcing you to buy a newer model.
I lived once where they tested them every year for pressure. They would then paint them by a color code for pressure. Certain color was replace now. Another color was to replace by schedule within six months. Another was to show it was not the hydrant that caused low pressure, but in the line. The FD knew when they pulled up, they may have to hose up to more than one.
Can't believe that after all these years that the fire hydrant has never changed in design
I can’t even remember seeing a hydrant outside of the city where I live. Pretty sure in the suburbs we don’t have any anymore. Our fire trucks hold a fair bit of water now
Retired worked in water distribution install and repair for 35 years this is no better than what we have today hydrants fail not by above ground looks but what is inside that makes them work when needed.
michael obrien I too have put in Fire Hydrant for over 25 years now, just put in a new one about 3 weeks ago. This is about the Biggest BS.😐 I have seen yet, the water company in your city takes care of the Fire Hydrant not Fire Fighters. And yes I can brake them down and put them back together.
I think the most important thing with this situation is consistency, if you're going to replace them then do it all at once and make sure it's standardized.
Does THE fire hydrant in your neighborhood work? Where I’m from we have one like every 300 feet
The new hydrant looks cool and seems effective but why a proprietary tool to open it and not a normal wrench??
It was touched upon at the end. With a normal wrench the general public will just use and abuse it for personal whims. You'd want a system where only firefighters can use it.
The proprietary wrench will also work on the standard style hydrants.
Anti-Abuse
The fire hydrants as old version still used the proprietary tool but there is reasons you don't want a ordinary wrench to open it because if so the general public can go up open the hydrant and possibly damage it I understand it but the old hydrants work just fine as long as you do maintenance to them
Frenchy789 so people can't open it only fire fitters can because with the old one anyone could open!!!
The mechanisms are very similar. He bashes the conventional fire hydrant for the caps being exposed to the elements and because you can cross thread the fitting, his is exactly the same just different looking. I don't understand, the caps on the new one are still exposed and will still get corroded just like the conventional ones.
When watching this, I realised that Australia (or at least NSW) doesn't have any fire hydrants. But when I researched it, they are all underground and there are like a sewage hatch but for water.
Its literally just the old one with a fancy case on it...
I suppose this is totally different from country to country and even from state to state, but where I live we have underground Hydrands and once a year there is a hydrant revision. During the revision the firefighters check if the hydrants are functional and put grease on the cover so that it doesn't freeze during the winter. Everything goes on paper so if there are any issues with the hydrands, the city sends someone to repair it after they get the reports.
Looks complicated inside, but we need to support these first responders!!!
This is a 6-year-old video. My local area recently got a new hydrant and I don't see anything like that. Kinda sad was look forward to seeing awesome one like in the video.
Great news to see when I open youtube. I just came back from paying a fine for going through a intersection when the light was RED for 0.3 seconds. 325 later I come out to my car and see a $100 ticket for being 3m away from a hydrant when I'm more than 15 feet away
He matched the color of his shirt to the color of the hydrant. I trust this guy.
Easiest way to prevent it from failing is to exercise it! The "newer" design is the same as the older one!
I see 2 problems with this design.
1. The hydrants are completely different, not just a similar design with less corrosive or less destructible objects. A firefighter will have to carry along a 'special tool' if he wants to open it, so unless an entire city converts to the system, it just confuses the firefighter, adding time before the water flows.
2. the special wrench that they use to open the hydrant WILL be reverse-engineered at some point. every once in a while a new screw comes out with a product that they don't want you to open, and within a year someone will sell a screwdriver that opens it. These things won't stay unhackable forever. and, frankly, I'm not sure they should be.
K O L L A B A N E existing hydrants already require a special wrench, look it up.
Shelby Seelbach. Not where I live. A simple pipe or crescent wrench is all you need. In my city, the public is allowed to use the hydrants for irrigation, cooling off or even washing your truck. I've opened the one down the street multiple times when it's super hot. Everyone comes out to cool off
Brendan Stanford fire hydrants have pentagonal valve stems, yes they can be opened with other tools. But the correct tool is called a hydrant wench, and is specifically designed to grab a five sided nut or bolt. I can start your car and drive it away with a screwdriver, doesn't make it the correct tool.
Shelby Seelbach. So a large socket and rachet mimic the actual tool better. Oh well, pipe wrench works fine and the valve isn't hard to open so it doesn't strip it out or anything
Brendan Stanford you might find a socket that catches, but sockets are either six or twelve pointed, not five.
In Sweden the conector is under ground with a manhole cover over it. Seems to work pretty well.
He didn't explain how, if any, the internals have been redesigned. Internally is where they fail in my district.
Bro it looks all futuristic as well
The new fire hydrant looks like something straight out of fallout
The moving parts are not isolated from the water which accelerates corrosion. This was fixed decades ago by mainstream manufacturers. This hydrant may look cool to some, but it misses the mark. Just FYI, all hydrants corrode. All mechanical devices need maintenance. Saying otherwise is selling snake oil.
The old ones are just fine! The old ones seem stronger and less likely to be broken into!
Loved this, great job guys!
What happens when a fire truck doesn’t have the proprietary tools and is expecting a normal hydrant?
ah yes. fire hydrants. those things that you back into trying to get your mail.
This was fascinating. Thanks for covering such an interesting topic!
someone was thinking very well when this was thought of very well done
Those hydrants will not work in states with snow. Rain will freeze as it drips down over the bolts, and your special tool will not insert onto the bolt when it is frozen with ice.
What do firefighters do in the event that a hydrant doesn't work? What is their plan B?
SHOULD BE use the truck while people search for the nearest hydrant
stop drop and roll
they call in more trucks
Pseudo Nym they use the onboard water depending on the type of assignment other apparatuses are enroute or there and they stretch to another hydrant or another company will and back them up
trucks have to carry a thousand feet of hose. most cities for insurance purposes have hydrants every 300ft even though lawfully they can go further. there shouldn't be a case where they can not reach a hydrant with water. downside is that they will all take additional time that you may not have in order to go to the next available hydrant.
So all you need is a crow bar with this new hidrant
Most people don’t realize that the infrastructure this country depends on - is over 100 years old in many areas. We have been patching things up to keep them working for decades.
When I was a kid the fire department would come around every summer and test each hydrant.
Woah, it looks really cool
What this clip doesnt explain is that its not the hydrant which is broken or malfunctioning, because a hydrant is only one of many components which is required for a constant water supply in a fire scene. You could put the most expensive and most hightech hydrant there but it still would stop working if no one maintanes it. What use does a hightech hydrant have if the underground water pipes are clogged or broken?
An actual needed innovation.
dont forget that they deter theft of water by kids on hot day or filling swimming pools by having recessed turning lugs requiring an even more specialized tool to access.
however frequent testing and flushing by the town should help keep them working and alert the town to problems
It looks pretty cool, im from the UK and we don't have them but they look awesome love the blue colour lol
They should add something that shows the water pressure. If there's no pressure then won't have to waste time to unscrewing it.
The #1 issue that I see with these is the covers for the outlets could be easily lost since they aren’t attached by a chain or strap.
they look like dem teletubbie mics
In Spain, firetrucks have their own water but if they need more they take the water of a subterranean water pipe.
They do in the US too but it isn't nearly enough for every job
It’s called lack of maintenance. The stuff he’s talking about have never been a problem for me. What usually fails is the valve and or stem inside the hydrant itself or just very old plumbing. They have to be lubricated and flowed every so often along with other things. I have had only one hydrant fail in my 12 yrs. it was after a lot of water was flowed and caused the water main to somehow give out rendering the hydrant useless. Fire was out though 🔥😎
Good for you man!! Excellent engineering
Excellent idea. I would love to see this in the city of Chicago. I wonder what is the cost of changing these guys?
That’s great! The only thing I think he should change is putting some knockes or dips or something on this pieces you spin off, for grip, imagine your hands are slipping or the surface is slippery and you can’t spin that piece off, small small flaw but there’s always room for improvement !
If there was a drinking fountain on it too it would be amazing
Good that its higher for the firefighter to put his thing on.
These new hydrants look like from something straight from Fallout (pre nuke of course)
It’s been 6 years. I don’t see the new ones
So if that tool failed are they screwed or would the department be buying the multitude of tools needed to ensure one is there at all times. I'm sure it's not that expensive but it adds up.
a decade later, have yet to see any of those anywhere.
underrated video
It looks diffrent and nothing else now let it sit there and be used for years and then tell me they will looks the same brand new . Marketing bs
its a smoother hydrant with more locks that the firefighters have to detach with a special tool (if they don't bring that tool welp no water). The reason why our fire hydrants fail now is due to low maintenance them, the same thing will happen with this hydrant over time. To me, the reason for this fire hydrant was to have a built-in lock so that it's not easily assessable to the public with just a simple wrench. they should show the time it takes to open the valves to both hydrants, to fight a fire it needs to be fast and efficient.
It's sad because the cities are not Proactive they are Reactive. Once put in a situation where they lose a life or need to pause and reflect, the damage is already done and sparks change/revolution.
Maybe a few more seconds can be shaved by having quick-connect hoses, rather than dismantling part of the hydrant in an emergency situation.
I found week point in your hydrant and redesign it - snow pole should be made of reinforced steel bar
In England we don’t have fire hydrants we just fill our firetrucks up with the water themselves
Hey there Lewis, i find that to be very hard to believe. Usually the water tank of a firetruck is emptied within 1-2 minutes, even with a big tank of 3000-4000L. Hence it would be very inefficient and also dangerous to only use firetrucks for water supply.
I suppose in england you have underground hydrandts, covered by a lid. From what I could tell they are marked by a yellow sign usually telling you the location of the hydrant and the diameter of the tube.
It is actually standart procedure for the firefighters to connect to a fire hydrant during a fire, the only exceptions would be small fires like for example a trash bin
Doctor : you have 5 minuets to live
Me: skip this video and go strait to captain sparkles
CAN YOU GET STUFF IN YOUR HOLE TOO. AND CROSS THREAD???
i think this should be the new fire hydrant!!
there's nothing indestructible.
I thought the FDNY encouraged public use of the hydrants during the summer time as a means to cool off during heat waves. If this isn't true, you're telling me there's at least one person on EVERY block turning them on?
its seems to be a problem with lack of maintenance rather than a faulty design if cities kept up on maintenance and regularly checked to see if hydrants are working we wouldn't have this problem I bet you the new design is more expensive than the old design so cities are just going to to replace the faulty hydrant with a new hydrant that was designed with the old design rather than the new design they you seem to be selling the product as a fix for a problem that doesn't exist
Why not build them under street covers under the road surface like in Australia and New Zealand? That way the lid protects the hydrant from the elements and makes them hard to access without a tool.
Love how this guy uses the word “thing”
Dogs: “my toilet got more fancy”
Yes. Your opinion will change when you realize how big of a pain it would be to open one of these things. Step 1. Unscrew the front cover and remove safety plate from top. If you can’t tell what I mean by that, stop reading. Step 3 Only applies to a 3inch hose, unscrew the side cover. Step 4 also only applies to 3 inch hoses. Replace front cover. Step 5. Rotate operating nut to allow water to flow.
If you ask, “Hey sord33! How do you even know this stuff?” The answer is fire departments that publish training videos on RUclips.
the fact that you play roblox automatically justifies your lack of intelligence my friend... but im going to grace you with this response in hopes that i can teach you a little something. you watched him prepare the new hydrant right? he did it in 10 seconds bud. would you like to demonstrate how quickly you can open a conventional fire hydrant with corrosion on every fitting and the wrench used by the fire department? thats kinda what i thought.
You want me to change my avatar to the fire hydrant?
In the city lot of hydrants get hit by cars ,and city doesn't keep up with maintenance of current hydrants
In the Netherlands we have them stuck in the ground so nobody can mess it up. and it doesn't have to be maintained that often. Cars can't run them over. And you don't have to put so much money in the design as they do overhere.... It's just money making they know it's the easy way out. But you know everyone needs to eat.
Do the fire departments not check the fire hydrants in their area regularly to ensure they are working correctly?
My neighbor got our street to sign for a fire hydrant and sure enough he got us one. Now when we pay out real estate tax I see a fire hydrant yearly charge. After 10 years of this I call. Come to find out , you lease the hydrant and never pay it off. Now I know why they installed one so quickly.
absolutely incorrect
Indestructible? Let me hit it with my truck