Fire extinguishers

[COX5012]

Having had an engine installed recently, I was advised by the garage that I should consider having a fire extinguishing system installed, any advice or pointers as to what would work best, where I should enquire and rough costs would be appreciated.
Vince

[Roger King]

Assuming this is a road car, and you do not have to comply with any racing regulations, I would strongly advise an AFFF extinguisher over a dry powder one. Powder extinguishers are very efficient but will cause a lot of damage to the car - it leaves a highly-caustic residue which causes big problems with corrosion. AFFF is much kinder and from memory I think it's what MSA regs require anyway.

I have one of these in each car:

http://www.firesafetystore.co.uk/fire-e ... 0wodWhcJSA

1 litre is tiny, but I think a reasonable compromise for use in a road car - it just might make a difference. I wouldn't have a plumbed-in system in a road car - in fact I don't think they're legal, I seem to remember rally cars have to 'pin' the extinguisher release when on public roads.
If you get the chance, it's also worth discharging an extinguisher to see what it feels like. Not necessarily as easy as you might think!

[COX5012]

Thanks for the advice Roger, I thought that quite a few Cobras had plumbed in systems so was thinking of going down that route. If it's not road legal then your option seems ideal, do they come with a fixing bracket?

[Roger King]

Yes, I simply put two screws through the floor panel behind the driver's seat and it's clipped down there.
Do check the regs regarding plumbed-in if you really want that, I've never explored that avenue so know nothing about it! Bear in mind the corrosion aspect of dry powder, though.

[COX5012]

I was talking to a chap at the recent revival who had a serious fire in an old Aston Martin, he had a hand held extinguisher but couldn't,t open the bonnet because of the heat, sadly, he watched as his car melted and the molten aluminium ran down the gutter, it certainly has made me consider the piped version if legal. I guess it's better to clean off the powder after the event than having an issue like he had and being left with no car. I intend to use my car as a road car predominately so whatever I do has to be road legal. Vince

[Roger King]

It's not just 'cleaning up' - powder is very corrosive. I have a Chubb contract with annual servicing, and the technician who does this tells me that it can be a toss-up which does more damage - the fire or the extinguisher. Remember, the extinguisher is not there to save the car, it's there to save the occupants.
If I had an electrical fire behind the dash, I'd be a bit hacked off if an extinguisher went off under the bonnet and destroyed my engine. I'd rather have a battery kill switch.

[Paul Blore]

Many of the automatic extinguishers are triggered by the fire rupturing the tube containing the medium, so it is delivered directly at the point of the fire rather than everywhere simultaneously.

Costco currently have extinguishers for sale, but they are the powder variety.

Paul

[COX5012]

Points taken. Are there no non powder options with the automatic systems?

[Roger King]

That's why I favour the handheld type - if it's a small fire, you can stop spraying it once it's out. With the ruptured line once it starts it won't stop until it's empty.
I had a very small coolant fire earlier this year when a large air pocket reached the header tank and puked some out onto a very hot (cam break-in) exhaust manifold.* I couldn't put it out easily so aimed an exinguisher at it - one dab and it was out, no damage or marks anywhere on the car. I don't know what I would have done if I'd had a full system in there - run for the workshop extinguisher, I guess. It depends how severe a fire you're planning on having, and what the circumstances are. But as I said before, I shouldn't really be commenting on any of this as I have no experience of plumbed-in systems whatsoever!!

*I first blamed this on the Evans, then did a 'controlled test' (ahem) with cheap antifreeze with the same result! Coolant is flammable, chaps...

[COX5012]

I never new that, perhaps the answer is a couple of hand held extinguishers and some heat resistant gloves. Simple, but probably very effective.