Magnum EXM monitor on the tip of a 100-foot Skyflow aerial. The Magnum EXM was a major contributor to water flowed during the pump operations demonstration at TEEX in July. - Photo by Anton Riecher.

Magnum EXM monitor on the tip of a 100-foot Skyflow aerial. The Magnum EXM was a major contributor to water flowed during the pump operations demonstration at TEEX in July.

Photo by Anton Riecher.

One innovation leads to another. The largest monitor in the Elkhart Brass product line, the new Magnum EXM, has already been adapted by one leading apparatus manufacturer to set record flow rates from a 100-foot aerial device.

It weighs only 115 pounds, said Elkhart Brass product manager Keith Chard, but produces 5,000 gpm with only 38 psi of total static pressure drop. The 6-inch inlet and dual waterway design results in a lower inlet pressure requirement while still producing a reach of more than 370 feet.

“Specifically, this is intended for industrial apparatus manufacturers,” Chard said. “Generally, municipalities don’t have the water supply for this type of monitor.”

The monitor played a key role in a recent pump operations demonstration during the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Services 2016 Industrial Fire School held in July in College Station, TX.

Mounted on the tip end of a Ferrara Super Pumper equipped with a SKYFLOW aerial, the Magnum EXM delivered 5,000 gpm. Combined with two Elkhart Brass Scorpions mounted as rear deck guns, the single Ferrara truck contributed nearly 7,000 gpm of the total 30,000 gpm flow during the exercise.

Weight versus size becomes a critical issue for aerial manufactures. Based on the existing EXM platform of monitors, the Magnum EXM takes advantage of lightweight Elk-O-Lite®, a proprietary lightweight aluminum alloy finished with a Teflon® hard-coat, to further reduce its weight.

“Obviously, the longer the aerial device, the more that factors like weight and reaction force become a concern,” Chard said. “We are able to take what was already a compact design and offer the added advantage of lighter weight.”

In addition, operating at a maximum pressure of up to 200 psi, the new Magnum EXM is more likely to be found in an industrial rather than municipal environment, he said.

“Most original equipment manufacturers build fire trucks that don’t have nearly the capacity of pumping this much water,” Chard said. “The majority of OEMs utilize our Cobra monitor in the 1,200 to 1,500 gpm range, which is typically the flow required of municipal apparatus.”

Before the Magnum, the largest monitor sold in Elkhart Brass EXM line was the SkyStream, which offers a maximum flow of 3,000 gpm.

The Magnum EXM is well suited to a fire truck with the pumping capacity of the Ferrara Super Pumper, Chard said.

“It takes a unique vehicle to be able to pump that much water,” he said.

Also, being able to capitalize on an existing design means Elkhart Brass will be able to offer a definite competitive price advantage when the Magnum officially enters the market in December.

Like other monitors in the EXM line, the Magnum will offer wired or wireless operator control including programmable features such as travel limits, keep-out zones, travel speed, stow position and oscillation. The monitor offers a swing radius of 13 inches and a stow height of 19 inches.

Elkhart Brass, FoamPro, FRC and ROM are brands familiar to firefighters that make up the Emergency & Industrial division of Safe Fleet, based in Belton, MO. Overall, Safe Fleet markets safety products to fleet vehicle manufacturers worldwide.

Editor's note: Watch IFW video coverage of the Magnum monitor at work during the TEEX pump ops class. 

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