Fire system?
 

I want to get a fire system, but I'm unsure as to what I might need?

5lb? 10lb? Two of them... Big ones... By tonight?

Halon or foam?


I'm running stock carb, Aftermarket pump and FPR...

I'd like a pull actuated system rather than a push actuated, as I can put multiple locations for activation (IE bike cable). One pull location at the rear bumper, opposite the tow point, one at the front bumper opposite the tow point there or near the battery kill switch on the cowl.

I'd probably mount the cylinder behind the passenger seat in the storage bin area so it'll stay hidden. One nozzle going through the firewall and near the carb, one going under the car and to the fuel pump. (No fluid lines entering the vehicle. Oil temp and pres. gauges will have isolation.)


Since the cylinder will be near me and I'll be there on scene, I'll pull the actuator directly at the cylinder without any additional linkages, the bike cable will only be for actuation external to the vehicle. I'll probably tie it in with a linkage to a fuel pump kill switch.

Don't forget to protect the most important piece of the car: you. Most 10lb bottles will have ports on two sides of the head so you can go to the engine and you with one side and the fuel cell with the other. IIRC they also have a different nozzle for the driver area. You'll have to tie in to one pull cable for the other places but I like the idea. Its very stiff solid core kind of wire if you havn't seen one up close. You would have to create some kind of outer sleeve 'stop' like a bike brake system has because the regular cable butts against the bottle head.

I just put mine in the drivers side window area just inside from the mirror. I figure I'll be the first one to get to the accident I just had and a worker can reach it as well if I'm unconscious.

The best prices I've found were at Summit Racing for a 10lb Halon with three nozzles, right around $300. I've never used a foam set up, I wonder if they leave any residue to clean up?

I got the idea from a bus. On the bus, they have a steel cable running the length of the bus and every few rows of seats, they have a vertical cable tied into the lengthwise cable. Pull one, it pulls em all, and rings the stop bell.

Same principle.

Sounds good. That's better than what I was lookin at at Pegasus. $400 for a 5 lber.

3 nozzles it is...

I've just gotta figure out how to divide it now...

If I have two discharge ports and three nozzles, I have one direct and I'll have to Tee into the other...


5 lbs of Halon goes one place. 2.5 goes to two other places...

Thing is, I have fuel in two places, an ignition source in one, and me in a third place...

5lb at the fuel tank/pump area, 2.5 to me and the carb? Is that enough?

I think I'll put the nozzle below the steering wheel directed at my torso. It'd rather not blast my face with an oxygen depriving substance... I work in a server room. The halon labels indicate it's a fairly nasty substance.

You must have a nozzle on you and your right, keep it out of the face. Near the steering column isn't bad, hit the crotch/footwell area. If you don't make it who cares if the car does. Nozzle 2 goes under the hood or by the fuel cell, if you have 3 nozzles you hit all the spots.

I'm not sure I follow your 2.5 and 5lb thinking. Just because you tee a line does not mean the nozzles on the teed line are going to get half the output. The system is under pressure, what will dictate one nozzle having more output will be the size of holes in the nozzle head.

I know the steel cable system you refer to, I do not see how it would work with a fire system. The pull cable is very thick, it's not really a cable but more like a solid piece of steel about as thick as lead from pencil (not very flexible). When this cable is pulled from the bottle, it lets off. If you find a way to do it, keep these extra pull locations away from fender bender spots. You don't want the system going off when someone hits your rear bumper or you catch someones fender in the front. Also keep in mind corner workers do carry fire extinguishers, the external pulls might be a complicated unnecessary.

It doesn't hurt to also have a handheld extinguisher in the cockpit as well. As far as cost, add braided lines vs. hard lines and the cost just went up. 5lb for a 2 nozzle and 10lb for a 3 nozzle should be sufficient.

Remember, the whole point of a fire system is to give you a little extra time to get out of the car before roasting.

The systems come with all the plumbing parts including T's so its real easy to hit all three areas. One 10lb bottle has enough juice to put out a couple fires(if you could partially release it) so don't worry about dividing things up.

Well, the $500ish kit I was looking at says it comes with three nozzles... It didn't say one big nozzle and two little nozzles. I'd assume all three nozzles were the same.

That being the case, I think my 2.5 - 2.5 - 5 lb division should be accurate.

I wanted to put the most Halon on the fuel tank because if there's a fire there, it'll get big very fast if it melts through the feeder hose to the fuel pump...

Regarding the number of ports - if the nozzle size (and not the line size) is the bottleneck here, then all three ports will probably spray at roughly the same rate, regardless of the order they are plumbed.

I will check to the more knowledgeable racers here, but if I were putting in a fire system, my primary concern (and where I would put the most spray) would be the driver's location. Remember that the purpose of the fire system is not necessarily to put out the car fire, but to put out the fire around the driver and buy you the maximum time to safely get out of the car.

-bill