Firestrap

"This is significant," Chambers explains "because a contractor doesn't have to worry about whether the product meets the fire code where he is doing the installation. This meets the code everywhere."

Persistence is the key to any innovation. Larry Whitty knew if he just kept trying, one of his ideas would work. His tenacity paid off. Whitty, Project Manager, Specified Construction Products, 3M Canada was attempting to come up with a new, better idea for a firestop - a method of containing a fire so it doesn't travel through a firewall where a penetrant such as a plastic pipe passes through that wall. The products currently available, including the 3M™ Fire Barrier Plastic Pipe Device, were cumbersome to install and Whitty was convinced that with effort, he could improve the concept.

Whitty began testing ideas at the 3M™ Cottage Grove fire test centre. "I was just about ready to give up," Whitty concedes. "We had been trying to find a way to make use of Ultra GS heat expanding strip as an independent firestop. The material, which expands up to 25 times its original size when heated, was supposed to fill the hole in the gypsum wall and then go on to crush the melting plastic pipe. The problem though was the expansion was uncontrolled and exhausted before it performed the desired task. Then I thought what if I were to encapsulate the Ultra GS in a fiberglass reinforced foil bag?" That idea was the beginnings for a new product - the 3M FireStrap™ plastic pipe firestop system.

Whitty turned to Dave Chambers, 3M Senior Designer, Electrical Mechanical Lab to help him develop a prototype. The two, now co-patent holders for FireStrap™, developed a prototype that went on to pass the most stringent testing in the world. "This is significant," Chambers explains "because a contractor doesn't have to worry about whether the product meets the fire code where he is doing the installation. This meets the code everywhere."

A pull tab was designed as a necessary addition to the FireStrap™. It serves two purposes - as the tab is pulled, a 3M™ adhesive is exposed, affixing the FireStrap™ to the pipe and the tab also serves as an indication for inspectors that the FireStrap™ has been installed. (Building codes in Canada demand a firestop be in place.)

The simplicity of installation has taken some by surprise. On the first job site, the installer was shocked that it took only 5 seconds to fit the FireStrap™ in place. Since it can be installed from above and pushed into the opening, the FireStrap™ needn't be installed from a ladder and of course, no tools are required. The flexibility of the FireStrap™ also solves difficult installation problems. It conforms to different types of pipe, including crooked ones and pipes with fittings close to the ceiling. One of the biggest challenges that used to face contractors was adapting firestops to fluted deck concrete. This involved labour intensive cutting and assembling of plastic pipe firestop materials but the FireStrap™ can easily be wrapped around the pipes in seconds. The advantages though extend beyond easier installation. "A contractor can run communications cable through the hole alongside the pipe without compromising the effectiveness of the FireStrap™," says Chambers. "Since the heat of the blaze causes the FireStrap™ to expand to 25 times its original thickness, the gap fills completely."

And the innovators of the FireStrap™, Whitty and Chambers, have filled a gap in the marketplace - they've designed a product to provide protection from fire while offering ease of installation.