Fire Prevention

Halon is a gas - does very minimal damage - that's why it's used in computer labs and high-tech places like that...

 

I'm interested in this, but I also wonder if it would go off without an actual fire? Dennis

 

I wanted to do the exact same thing, till I consulted with my son (a fireman in Washington State) His chief (Skip Nichols) commented back to me in an email, I then posted here last Nov 2007. Go to my post #8 in the thread below for those details:

http://www.ferrari101.com/forum/showthread.php?t=174136

I still have not done anything to date. I'm hedging towards a foam system per Skip's recommendations. But, I'm definitely interested in doing some more due dilegence on the subject before deciding.

Maybe Fchatters will have some more input too. Let's discuss further!!!!!


Bob

 

The upside to using Halon is; its one of the best fire suppressant materials, but it’s difficult to obtain since it’s no longer legal to produce. The two down sides to Halon in this application are; Halon is very corrosive, if you mount the extinguisher sideways, the Halon will deteriorate the valve and O-Rings at some point. The other downside to mounting the extinguisher in the engine bay is the tremendous heat, which will increase the pressure in the bottle accelerating the leakage.

The biggest downside to the above installation is out of site out of mind; you may think you’re protected, not check the gauges frequently enough, and in an emergency nothing happens, hopefully no one is pinned in or unconscious.

 

After the halon deteriorates the seal in your extinguisher, can you replace the seal and fill that same extinguisher with halatron or some other extinguishing material or do you have to get a new extinguisher?

 

Halon can be refilled by Firebottle and others. Best way to avoid the normal Ferrari burndown (besides not crashing it) is to change ALL the old oil/fuel lines for new ones.

 

Halon is getting very very hard to refil, My 10lb bottle got accidently discharged by a shop & it cost around 200 to refil & lluckily there was a place nearby that could do it.
The new foam based suppresants are supposedly non toxic , self refillable & much cheaper.

 

What do we look for when buying the foam type (chem name, number,etc.)?

Have any links to stores that sell them?

 

Here is one I know of.....


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_retardant_foam

 

I read up a bit on them and am a bit confused.
Which do you think is best for our 308's (P, FP, AR-FP, FFFP, AR-FFFP, AR-AFFF) ? I do not race my car. I put in only standard available 91 octane pump gas.

 

Better than nothing and is required for track events . .. I made the bracket that mounts to the seat but still need to buy a billet mount for the extinguisher itself.
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Not to pick on you, but that's the key problem: not doing anything. Paralysis by over analysis.

Put *any* fire protection system into your car first...and then later you can debate, consider, ponder, and even decide if you want to go with a better system.

But driving around with no fire protection is your WORST possible choice.

 

And use fuel-safe (there are several types of) Teflon tape on all fuel/oil fittings.

And have an engine-bay fire protection system (even just one automatic extinguisher is a good start). A hand-held extinguisher in the driver-cockpit is likewise a good bonus idea.

 

No problem, No Doubt. I AM carrying a 4 lb. Type B Halon unit on board till I make my final choice. I'm looking to put a bult-in auto activated system in ASAP.

 

http://www.discoveryparts.com/cgi-bin/store/commerce.cgi?cart_id=1207846713.238&product=firesys_charger&pid=516

 

Not bad. But I think I'm going to go with the 2.3 L two nozzle model from this site:

http://www.apexperformance.net/cartgenie/prodInfo.asp?pid=56&cid=7

 

FYI: i have a 5 lbs halon system for sale from my ex-track car. Virtually new condition, includes 2 nozzles and seat mount for a Ferrari 308. See www.EnjoyTheTrack.com/ferrari/