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Fire Extinguisher


Guest paisesmediterraneos

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Guest paisesmediterraneos

Hello, I would like to install a fire extinguisher in my 2B, wich is the best place in the car to fix it?,do you recommend any special model?.

 

Thank you, David.

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Where you can reach it easily with seatbelts on

In reality unless racing where a fitted auto system would be appropriate you'll only need it to put out an engine bay fire

Places such as between the seats, in front of seats, under dash passenger side

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Guest erichetherington

Whatever you do donnot use a powder extinguisher, the powder gets vibrated into a solid mass so when you need them most they don't work. They were banned from motorsport back in the 70's for that reason. AFFF (foam) start from about £30 for a 2litre handheld, will do the job if you need it and are motorsport approved should you ever decide to do any.

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interesting. can you give them a shake every now and then or is it too late once they have settled?

 

 

I have a powder one which i bolted to the floor just in front of the passenger seat (i actually bolted a plate from under the seat frame so i didn't have to drill holes through the carpet/floor). It doesn't get in the way as no-one ever puts there feet there.

 

Might be better in front of the drivers seat to get it quickly but might be more in the way. I do keep meaning to put my seatbelt cutter in a handy to reach place.

 

What i would love to find is some kind of fire retardant that i can put in a breakable case across the back of the fuel tank so in a rear end shunt any fuel that comes out would be hard to ignite. But i haven't found anything along those lines as yet.

 

hth

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AFFF ages too, you'll want to swap that (get it refilled) every 3 to 5 years really if you want to ensure it has any real effect. Even then, most in the sport will tell you AFFF is next to fecking useless on a serious fire unless you deploy it very early on in the start of a fire. It has little knock-down effect. So if you've got a serious engine fire, by the time you've stopped the car, got the extinguisher, popped the bonnet enough to get a leading edge up (for christs' sake don't take it off!) and spray AFFF in, you might as well have not bothered :)

 

You can still get Halon extinguisher for aircraft use though. I know what I'd put my money on :) even if the EU says we can't use it any more....

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Guest paisesmediterraneos

So...the best fire extinguisher is the AFFF type (foam)??, the most I saw in the stores were powder type. Are they easy to find??, where to look??

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Halon is wonderful stuff had a jet boat once that caught fire with a serious fuel leak,fortunately I had an automatic halon extinguisher under the cover, the engine cover blew off but the only damage was a slight charring of some electrical sleeving and the cost of some new under pants.

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If you want AFFF or one of the newer Halon substitutes like Zero360, then look towards Lifeline or SPA. My preference in terms of effectiveness would be Halon, Zero360 then AFFF. All I will say is if you ever feel the need to use it, then if it's AFFF, use it as quickly as you can before the fire takes hold. It is cheap to refill so there are no real cost concerns for using it even if it wasn't unnecessary, but leave it too late and it'll be next to useless.

 

SPA you can buy direct.

Lifeline, speak to Matt at AB Motorsport (01926 632020) and he can price one up for you. Drop my name, he might do you a bit of discount ;)

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Guest chrispine

So long as I'm/we're out of the car I couldn't give a toss either, just wouldn't want to be stuck upside down with the possibility of it going up, although, all the years of tintops and never had a fire extinguisher and that's got to be more likely to roll over.

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Any extinguisher is only as good as the person trying to use it. If you haven't had the training by the time you've spotted the fire, got your extinguisher, maybe got out of your car if you're in it, read the instructions, read them again because you didn't get them all first time, the small fire you initially spotted has probably got beyond the capability of you and your extinguisher.

Best to get out, get anybody else out and call the emergency services. If you're car's completely destroyed that's when you find out how good your insurance is.

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Powder does make a hell of a mess. Fit a cut off switch to kill all the circuits, its no good trying to put out an electrical fire if the powers still on. Tried putting out a fire in a big chip shop fryer once, used four co2 extinguishers without any luck before resorting to powder which did work. So much for trying not to make a mess. Fish was off that night.

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