Engine Bay Fire Extingulsher? Anyone installed a system like this?
 

When I was at Gotham I saw a first gen with a fire extinguisher system installed in the engine bay...

Basically it was a fire extinguisher bottle inside the cabin with a pin that you pull in the event of fire...When you pull this pin the fire retardant stuff (whatever you call it) travels through copper lines that are run to different locations in the engine bay (through the firewall) and then out some sprayer nozzles...Basically just dumps the whole bottle in the engine bay in the even of fire...and all you have to do is pull a little pin...

Anyone do this, pics, write up? I was thinking about doing something like this.

Um i was watching mtv today and i guess chrysler put something like that on their "super car" i duno what its called

didnt someone already make a post just yesterday about this? in anycase, its called halon. just do a search on google or something and you'll find many companies which offer this. pretty much any race car has to have this installed so this is nothing new.

Note: halon works by displacing O2 which means if you have it in your cockpit, it will put out any fires there well but you might also knock yourself out. im sure you can hold your breath though (at least for a little while) and it is an invisible gas so its not gonna blind you unlike foam or powder type of fire extinguishers. also there is nothing to clean up after it goes off (you just have to refill the cannister).

https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generation-specific-1993-2002-16/interested-full-car-fire-extinguisher-kit-371642/

Here is the earlier thread. Firecharger.com is a good system i am going that route. Non halon AFFF agent.

www.firecharger.com

http://www.firecharger.com/ is a foam though right?

perhaps 1 tank of halon for the engine bay and a firecharger for the cockpit? haha thats probally gonna cost wayyy to much.

the firecharger is a liquid agent mix. most of the time like 6-9% AFFF( The anti fire agent) and the other % water mixed in. so it is pretty easy to clean and ultra cheap tpo refill. since it operates on Co2 it only cost about what a paintball gun tank does to refill+ more agent;) so around 70 bucks when used instead of the high cost of Halon and such.

Plus the added bonus that it won't kill you if you happen to be pinned in the car:( Like Halon could, or at least burn the hell out of your lungs. NASCAR drivers complain about this alot after fire)

I will give you some info on AFFF its not easy at all to clean up. It also LOVES AND LOVES AND LOVES to corrode. GRANTED if you have a fire the engine and everything in there is TOAST so it doesnt matter mcuh anyway. Just some added info.

intresting. very much the opposite of what they told me over the phone...Damn salesmen.. :D

Good info anyways. Hopefully I will never need to find out how it is to clean;)
and as you said if there is a fire the main reason for these systems is to save the "entire" car. not particularly the engine harness and such. That stuff by comparison is cheap to a shell/chassis.

And the air in Hawaii loves and loves to corrode too. probably worse than AFFFhaha! metal flash rusts in ;like 10 minutes here.

Halon's definitely the way to go IMO, simply cuz that way whatever isn't burned can actually be salvaged, since the halon won't mess it up (including interior pieces, which will pretty much be garbage if you spray a conventional extinguisher on 'em. Also, I don't think the NASCAR drivers know enough to tell ya what exactly is burning their lungs. Halon, by simply displacing oxygen, shouldn't have any health related consequences (passing out yes, but no damage to the body per say). What the NASCAR guys are burning their lungs w/ is the incredibly hot air they're inhaling as a result of the fire. That, coupled w/ the fact that if they actually do use halon in the interior, they may end up gasping for air, which will only increase the flow of that hot air into their lungs, further singing their throat and airway. So in short, it's not the halon burning 'em ;)

right,.. I understand that there are other elements that play a roel in there breathinmg issues, but the FIA doesn't aow it to be used for health and enviormental issues. As far i i can remember.

and interior pieces are not a worry for me. it is gutted out. but on the road cars i think anything you use is going to be a bitch to clean. and until one of us goes and actually deploys it in a car and tries to clean it up it is all hot air we are talking. And not really worth trying to prove one better than the other. But any chemicals in your lungs are a BAD thing IMO. and that will not be in my car.

And you don't give some of the drivers enough credit. some of the younger guys are actually very intelligent.The older guys are to pigheaded to care or change:D And they have first hand experience with putting them off inside the car. So they know better than you or I unless you have let one go before.Like i said ealrier, I hope i never have to find out!

"So in short, it's not the halon burning 'em "

True, BUT it is playing a major role in them gasping for air and sucking down chemicals and hot air/ash etc..
So in short, it IS the Halon playing a big role in the lung issues imo.

Yea I'm not trying to argue "mine is better than yours" either. Just exchanging thoughts (although Halon IS better :rofl: j/k)

I personally thought that Halon production was halted solely for environmental reasons. Because Halon is a CFC, there is no cost effective means of safely and effectively disposing of the Halon that has already been produced. Health risks posed by Halon IMO are only applicable in the case of pre-existing conditions that make one more susceptible to ill effects from very transient and temporary hypoxia. Otherwise, I think the health effects are essentially negligable.

You're also right that we don't really know for sure w/ respect to these two different systems w/o having tried them first. But I gotta say that for once, I'm glad we're talking just hot air :p:

I thought the NASCAR comment might be taken the wrong way, but I decided it might not need clarification, so I left it alone. I didn't mean to insinuate in any way that the drivers are dumb. I just don't think that the vast majority of them have any strong background in human physiology, that's all (as w/ the vast majority of the human population in general). Distinguishing between the ill effects of the extinguisher and the hot air would require a shallow understanding of upper level physiology & pathology at the least. Realizing that something is burning your lungs and attributing it to one factor or another w/o solid evidence can be done quite easily, however. That's all. No hidden innuendoes. Besides, those guys know more about cars than I'll prob ever know, so you won't find me trash-talking them (although they could prob get better cars lol...not a fan of stock cars haha)

I seriously wouldnt be discharging any fire agent on a motor/oil/fuel thats on fire. I would be doing this while im running, hints the reason most RACE cars have the activation level/pull cord near the hood etc......

Explosions can occur, so personally I wouldnt car if halon was bad for oxygen (just thinking outload) since I would like to be running once that first shoot of halon/AFFF/PKP, CO2, or water hits that fire and not be in a firemans flame suit hehe