Here is what we recently found on a job site. Funny thing that this was just cleaned by a National Vendor with the Manager of that company recently visiting and inspecting the site with no mention of this to the engineer. This case was an access plate for the hood chamber. It was installed several years ago. They are having all of the Ansul pipes and nozzles moved and properly reinstalled immediately now that they are aware. KEC companies MUST notify the facility they are at when these type of issues are found. This not only is illegal as access plates must have proper clearances per NFPA96, it makes the ductwork and hood areas difficult or impossible to access. Plus, notice that the only thing holding the plates on are the screws. Of course, when we did finally access the hood chamber to inspect, you can see in the following 2 pictures inside the ductwork that it had not been cleaned in years (as expected).
Originally published January 29, 2013 on Tales of the Greaser.