Before automatic fire sprinkler systems can be sold anywhere in the world they must comply with ISO6182. To achieve this benchmark requires a complex scientific exercise known as the "plunge test”.

Only one company manufactures the sophisticated RTI Plunge Test Tunnel test equipment and it is located on the Central Coast. Archer is a third generation designer and precision manufacturer of complex components and assemblies for performance-critical applications. Their uniquely shaped wind tunnel measures just 2200 x 1000 x 1600 mm. It is easily transportable and has become the product-of-choice in laboratories around the world. Previously test tunnels were built as permanent fixtures of buildings.

Archer's involvement is from 3D CAD design to sourcing materials, manufacturing, electromechanical integration, product test-ing, installation, commissioning, training personnel and producing operations manuals in foreign languages. The tunnel features custom fabricated stainless steel duct work with ceramic insulation, painted mild steel exterior cladding, programmable process controller, electric fan motor and variable speed drive, pressure switches/transducers and temperature thermocouples. It took just over three months to build. Archer has just returned from the Japan Fire Equipment Inspection Institute where they installed a tunnel and trained their engineers.