Fire Extinguisher Replacement

My F430 fire extinguisher went to a low recharge level so I called all around the SF Bay Area and no one wanted to deal with an Italian fire extinguisher. Ferrari service never got back. I saw a replacement at about $500 from Ferrari parts. Instead, a trip to Hopeless Depot showed a 4 pound ABC extinguisher that had the same width as the Estintore for about $45. Great solution for now. Not that I intend to ever hang around a flaming Ferrari and use the extinguisher.
Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Hi..

And this is important to all Ferrari owners.

A word of advice. DO NOT USE THAT FIRE EXTINGUISHER IF THERE IS A FIRE! ABC Dry Chemical (hence the cheap price) will do more damage than the fire.

The contents of the extinguisher is VERY corrosive and harmful to everything it touches, and it's harmful to you too. Why these are allowed to be sold is beyond me.
Your factory extinguisher was filled with AFFF (Aqueous Film Forming Foam) foam per European requirements. Also a very poor agent for this use. It's the same type of agent used in all the Ferrari Challenge and GT cars. Systems that are poorly designed and non effective.

As an example, one of my customers had a small fire while doing service work on his 308 and used his ABC extinguisher. It did $14,000 damage to the engine as it got inside and corroded the cylinders!

I strongly advise you to purchase a clean gas extinguisher. The best is a Safecraft that uses Halon 1211, or you can get a H3R Halotron. They're both good for all types of fires including magnesium to an extent (the Safecraft). They leave no residue and will not harm your electronics either. The Safecraft is a very nice looking unit vs. the H3R which is a commercial looking unit.

Regards
Don

 

There are fire extinguisher places like southbay fire in hermosa beach cali. They service bottles annually for business to meet code. maybe one of those guys can help since this is really to look factory for your car. If there was a real car fire you are out of there!

 

I'm not sure I would agree with that. The factory bottle says ABC on it. The cheap bottle says ABC on it. Doesn't that mean it is the same powder? You also have very little volume in the little bottle and per ounce I bet the powder can fight more fire? I have cleaned an engine bay fire and the white powder is everywhere but cleans off easily you just have to take everything out and clean it. Massive work if a concourse car! It is not a big deal on a daily
driver. It doesn't wreck anything and I have not seen it corrode silver aluminum but will stick to the red valvecover paint and need to be repainted. You just can't clean it all off.

AFFF is very good and has attributes halon does not have. For example if you get the right bottle system you can user recharge the AFFF system trackside and keep racing. Halon is near impossible to ship back to safecraft for recert and recharge because halon is hazzardous blah blah blah. At the least you wil have a big hazzard charge to ship it. 90% of us racers gave up on halon a while ago. And Halon does not prevent re-ignition of fire and does not work in the wind. So in a fire as you slow down to stop and get out of the racecar you can have the AFFF already triggered. You do that with Halon and the wind blows the halon away and you got nothing. There may be some new halon-like products that help with some of these problems but AFFF seems to be the best. The best thing about halon is no mess IF you can get the fire out fix the oil line or whatever and get back out on the track. But unless you have a second $600 bottle tech will not let you back out on track without a less than 5 year old certified full bottle. My refill system for AFFF is $50 bucks, done user trackside, and is a 1 pint bottle of stuff you mix with water.

This is the mess left behind by powder. During the next service you just clean it all out and paint the valve covers like usual. Not a big deal.

Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Good point. It is preferred to keep the original. I will give them a call and see if they know a local supplier. At worse I can ship the unit down there. Thanks


Sent from my iPad using FerrariChat.com mobile app

 

Thanks Don, I will check out the Safecraft.


Sent from my iPad using FerrariChat.com mobile app

 

I just went through this this year. Fortunately I found a small company who refilled it for £15. I would never use it on my own car. By the time I have removed it from the clips the car would be burned out anyway

However I might use it on someone else's car.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Would you mind telling me the diameter of the OEM fire extinguisher? Trying to find a cheap alternative where I live. Thank you!

 

Your F-430 extinguisher is filed with AFFF foam. If it's low on charge all it needs is a shot of nitrogen as that's what the propellant is. Depending on its age though, it might need to be inspected and re-certified. Check with Sube Sports as they sell Lifleline and the bottles are very similar and Lifeline offers AFFF agent.

 

Hi there, anyone has an opinion on these car extinguishers made Element? (E50 or E100)
https://elementfire.com/products/element-e100-fire-extinguisher-product-information

 

Servicing an extinguisher is quite easy. When they check them in our building, it's a 5 minute job: open the extinguisher, check the tank for corrosion, adjust the level of powder, check the gas cartridge has not leaked, eventually replace it, then everything back in the tank and be done with it for another 2 years.

I presume, you could have the powder replaced by a less corrosive variant?

 

Element fire extinguisher?

Element - Fire Extinguishers – Element Fire Extinguishers

 

Bringing this post back from the dead since I feel it is very important. I have a small bag that I put behind my driver's seat if I am driving my Challenge Stradale or my Jeep. In that bag I have a HalGuard Pro 2.5lb unit, and also an Element 100. I also then have a BC unit strapped inside the frunk of the Stradale and the factory AFFF unit at my passenger's feet in the Stradale. That means when I am in my Jeep I have 2 extinguishers, and when I am in my Stradale I have 4 extinguishers. LOL. Can never have enough IMO when/if it is ever needed for my car or someone else. and with them all out of the way, you don't notice them at all while driving, except the factory unit at the passenger's feet.