What fire extinguisher should I get (just to be safe.)

also, there was a guy that used to sell/make brackets for under seat/rail mounting. Anyone have a source for that?

Geno

 

Do you carry a fire extinguisher in the family car? Why does anyone feel the need to carry one in a Ferrari? Are you actually going to lift the engine cover to use it? That's a recipe for you ending up in the hospital or dead. If it catches fire, just walk away...as in any car.

 

This one, Amerex Halon
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Thats the one I have as well. The bracket was made by a fellow Fchater local to me. His Fchat name is "VikingELS." Sorry the photo doesn't really show the bracket all that well but you get the idea.
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I look at it this way if the engine catches fire and you want to try to save the car then any extinguisher will do as long as you have enough to stop it. Some say don't use CO2 because it will ruin the engine , well duh it's on fire. Some say Halon which is cleaner but more expensive and less/no clean up. So you just make the call and if your hoses are in good shape then you don't need one.

 

Older cars may be more prone to sudden catastrophic failures, so its probably not unreasonable to keep a fire extinguisher just in case. Take a look at my friend's post regarding oil leakage from a Mondial - the extinguisher saved the car if not more.

Class B will cover fires from flammable liquids and gases.

SNB

 

I've carried a fire extinguisher in every car I have ever owned since May 1983.

ALL military tactical vehicles have one or more as well.


Just a different POV I guess.

 

If you are serious about abating a fire ,which most likely will be in the engine bay, instll a proper Halon system with an activation button in view of the driver. Any race shop can assist you you in mounting the nozzels and bottle in the boot. A small 3-5lb bottle is simply for show. Lost

 

Its harder to find a Halon extinguisher these days - but check out Daniel's Ricambi site - he's got some really nice ones for sale, think they are Halotron ones. (Halotron is not as bad for the environment supposedly)

I got one in my 308 - bought a bracket off someone on e-by for it. Bracket works great - extinguisher - I don't wanna find out ;-)

 

because.............

The worst accident by far that I witnessed was over by Watkins Glen almost 20 years ago now. I was coming back from a friends house who also owns a large scrap yard of 60's-70's muscle cars. I was getting a front clip for a Camero I was restoring. There was a lady in front of me in a mini van. She swerved over into the on coming lane and Hit a New York State Electric and Gas Ford ranger. The impact was massive. Both vehicles were destroyed.
I pulled over immediately and pulled the lady out of the mini van which was on fire. She was screaming in pain and hysterical about her baby. I went back to the minivan and found an empty car seat. No baby. A few of the windows were broken and the windshield was peeled back from the frame about 1/4 of the way down and on the passengers side. I quickly searched for the baby in the minivan and then looked around the road and in the ditch. Nothing. I ran over to the NYSEG truck and Tried to open the door. At this point the NYSEG truck was also on fire. I knew just the night before I had emptied my fire extinguisher on a bon fire I had with some friends. I have no way of putting out the fire. I am pulling and trying to get the door open on the truck. There was a cap on the truck so there was no getting the guy out of the rear window. The steering wheel had the guy pinned to the seat. At this point I look around and see there are at least 20 people who stopped and no one is helping me. I am screaming for someone to help me and everyone is yelling get away from there it is going to blow up. I also noticed several tractor trailers just driving right by. They are required to have a fire extinguisher in NY, none of them stopped. The fire is increasing in size and starting to come through the fire wall of the truck. I had to give up. No one would help. The guy burned up right there in front of me. I collapsed on the side of the road and balled.

The guy who died was young with a wife and 4 kids. The lady had bent over to pick up a cigarette. Her baby was not in the car at the time of the accident. I still wonder what the outcome would have been if I hadn't have wasted the fire extinguisher the night before.

I can still see the guys hand hanging out the window of the truck. His hand was huge. It looked like he could have gotten himself out of any trouble he got in. If he hadn't been knocked unconscious I think he would have had a better chance. I can still see his hard hat laying in the road and some of his tools. He was just at work probably on his way home.

 

This statement is sobering. On Ferrari track days the cars are required to carry an extinguisher that must be a certain size or greater mounted with metal brackets. But at drivers meetings I recall being instructed if you have a fire, get away from the car and let track officials deal with it because the extinguisher we're required to carry won't do any good.

???? When I figure this one out, I'll get back to you. ????


All the same, especially after reading the previous post, it sounds better to have on then not.

 

posted before...

http://www.tradetutor.com/raceprep/

 

All this "carry a fire extinguisher" stuff sounds good BUT the reality is that the most dangerous thing you can do if your engine compartment area catches fire - the most likely place for a fire to happen - is to open the hood to try and put it out. That's when serious injuries occur because when you open the hood the fire will flare up due to the sudden increased airflow.

I raced for years and had to have an extinguisher because it was required but it's an on-paper thing rather than really useful and it tends, IMO, to CAUSE injuries because if you have an extinguisher you THINK you can actually put out a fire. I saw a guy at the track grab his extinguisher from the passenger compartment, run out and open the hood and end up in the hospital with permanent, disfiguring burns to his face, chest, arms. You are safer leaving the fire to people who really do know how to put out fires.

But, like everything else, you need to do whatever you are comfortable with. I don't carry a fire extinguisher in my Ferrari nor have I in any other car I have ever owned except track cars (because the regs required it).

Note that some sort of automatic fire supression system is a totally different thing and if you want to pay the money for one, IMO it's actually useful.

 

Posted before
http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=126748

2.5# Halotron - halon was an ozone layer fatality, halotron is the aircraft safety substitute. Anything else leaves an ungodly mess which can't be totally cleaned up.

I considered but found the passenger seat mount impractical for me because I could not remove it while sitting in the driver's seat, especially if a passenger were in the car. And to me the appearance sends a negative message.

So I fabricated a bracket beside the driver's seat and can reach it easily when exiting the car OR easily from outside the car by reaching in the always open window. I recognize that most guys want to buy things, not fabricate them so mine is rare.

 

Sorry Steve, but that's a huge assumption to make. There are far too many original cloth hoses that I still see in these cars that are "in great shape" per the owner's or that that last shop who did the major said that "they all were fine".

Halon: 2.5lb minimum, 5lb unit ideal.

 

Me too....on a Charness Harness: http://www.tradetutor.com/raceprep/
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I went with these guys. They sell both manual and automatic Halon extinguishers. Right now I just have a manual one mounted in the passenger compartment. Soon I plan to
upgrade to a 2-bottle system in the engine compartment. I like the idea of an in-engine system: if the engine catches fire at 150 mph it would be nice to know something could be done about it before I get a chance to slow down!

http://firefight1.com/upload/prod1.php?pk=2#qvc

 

when did you buy that. I sent that guy an email a few months ago, he sounded uninterested in selling them.

 

Geno,

I didn't buy it. I made it years ago following Mike Charness' instructions on that website. Mike doesn't make those brackets. Any metal fabricator local to you can make one up for you.

Barry

 

duh, i guess that is why he didnt sell me one!!

 

I will gladly risk my life to save my car. I have 2, one on the wall one in the car. If you get to it soon you can put out a small fire. I guess this is up to ones own feelings. BTW Halon when mixed with fire gives of toxic fumes so take a breath before you press the button!
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