2 Kilo Auto Fire Extinquisher

PeterBoater said:
Covers 3.4 cu m, which might be enough for oldgit's boat.
Click to expand...

If you have an engin room with a fresh air feed, you also need a way to block that fresh air from feeding the fire in the same way as lifting the engine cover will cause a flash over

If you don't have a way to block the fresh air feed, you may be a fire extinguisher that has a volume in excess of the engine room volume.

If the engine i running the engine would consume of the fire extinguisher gas so again reducing the effective volume
 
In the end
Purchased 2 x 2K from CPC. Cheapest on the market due to free P&P.
Construction far better inc holding bracket than the original installed unit and it would appear the Fireblitz.
1737226189292.jpeg
 
rogerthebodger said:
If you have an engin room with a fresh air feed, you also need a way to block that fresh air from feeding the fire in the same way as lifting the engine cover will cause a flash over

If you don't have a way to block the fresh air feed, you may be a fire extinguisher that has a volume in excess of the engine room volume.

If the engine i running the engine would consume of the fire extinguisher gas so again reducing the effective volume
Click to expand...
Of course there will be a fresh air feed to the engine bay . Diesel and petrol engines need an air supply.
Have you ever seen an arrangement on a boat that blocks off that fresh air feed manually or automatically ? I suspect not.
If an extinguisher goes off it will probably stop the engines as the engines will be starved of oxygen. In the case of powder the engines might be damaged. But the important thing is the folks on board survive.
oldgit said:
In the end
Purchased 2 x 2K from CPC. Cheapest on the market due to free P&P.
Construction far better inc holding bracket than the original installed unit and it would appear the Fireblitz.
Click to expand...
Are you leaving the old extinguisher in place?
 
Stemar said:
Given the issues with powder in the engine compartment, would water mist be better?

They are capable of extinguishing class A (solids), class B (flammable liquids) and class C (flammable gasses) fires. Please note that the current certification standards do not allow yet the the formal certification of water-based extinguishers on B and C fires. Hence the limited number of classes stated on the front of all water mist extinguishers. Water mist extinguishers are nevertheless suited for B and C fires.
Water Mist Extinguishers
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Not rated for marine use AFAIK.
 
Momac said:
Of course there will be a fresh air feed to the engine bay . Diesel and petrol engines need an air supply.
Have you ever seen an arrangement on a boat that blocks off that fresh air feed manually or automatically ? I suspect not.
If an extinguisher goes off it will probably stop the engines as the engines will be starved of oxygen. In the case of powder the engines might be damaged. But the important thing is the folks on board survive.

Are you leaving the old extinguisher in place?
Click to expand...
My boat a temp trigger shuts off the engine room blowers automatically, but there’s no way of closing the side vents.
 
Some years ago we were doing around 32knts in quite large waves. We were taking quite a hammering (but it was fun) until the engine spluttered and died.
Finally worked out that the auto fire supression system in the engine room had been triggered by the violent motion of the boat.
The large air intakes in the cockpit had louvres that were meant to close if the fire alarm was activated. They did not..
The engine fired back up 10 mins later without any problems.
It it had been a foam or powder system we would have had a big problem.
Teething problems with a new boat ?
 
afterpegassus said:
I understood that halon fire extinguishers were no longer permitted due to the impact on the ozone layer ?
I witnessed halon in action many years ago (demonstration )and they were far superior to the alternatives.
A potential headache was the only downside ( ozone notwithstanding!!)
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It's Halon automatic extinguishers in our engine room too, I also thought they had been banned, but as long as it passes inspection I will wait to change it.

I don't know if the military still use halon in their armoured fighting vehicles, I know they did as it gave the best protection against fire in a confined space like a tank.
 
Alicatt said:
It's Halon automatic extinguishers in our engine room too, I also thought they had been banned, but as long as it passes inspection I will wait to change it.

I don't know if the military still use halon in their armoured fighting vehicles, I know they did as it gave the best protection against fire in a confined space like a tank.
Click to expand...
It has been illegal to own a Halon extinguisher in the UK since 2003 . And in the EU since 2000. With some military and aviation exceptions.
Ban on Halon Fire Extinguishers
 
Alicatt said:
It's Halon automatic extinguishers in our engine room too, I also thought they had been banned, but as long as it passes inspection I will wait to change it.

I don't know if the military still use halon in their armoured fighting vehicles, I know they did as it gave the best protection against fire in a confined space like a tank.
Click to expand...
Halon in a confined space is deadly! I worked in a place protected by a serious halon system with many massive cylinders of the stuff. We were warned that if the fire alarm went off we had some small number of seconds to get out before the halon was released, and that if we didn't, we'd be dead. I think it asphyxiates on its own, but releases serious poisons in contact with fire.
 
2 litre water-filled coke bottle, pressurised with baking soda and vinegar close to its failure point, determined experimentally. The heat of a fire will cause it to melt and fail, with the jet from the failure point directed "automatically" towards the source of heat.

Thats my theory, which is mine.

And completely untested.

PS I have extracted the powder from a dead dry powder extinguisher and used it as an electrolyte for cleaning up rusty cast iron, which it seemed to do quite well.

Exhausting All Options

It MIGHT have some use in solution in such a water based fire suppression system,

OR a small pyrotechnic dispersal charge for the powder, fuze ignited by a fire, could be used. The powder does seem to gas off a bit though which could be a problem if it needed to be sealed to exclude moisture, though I suppose a simple vent valve could be devised.
 
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rogerthebodger said:
If you have an engin room with a fresh air feed, you also need a way to block that fresh air from feeding the fire in the same way as lifting the engine cover will cause a flash over

If you don't have a way to block the fresh air feed, you may be a fire extinguisher that has a volume in excess of the engine room volume.

If the engine i running the engine would consume of the fire extinguisher gas so again reducing the effective volume
Click to expand...
This seems to assume that the engine inhales from the engine compartment.

If you had direct ducting of the engine air intake to the outside, it should be less of an issue, though I suppose the engine compartment probably still couldnt be sealed due to heat build up.
 
Rappey said:
Some years ago we were doing around 32knts in quite large waves. We were taking quite a hammering (but it was fun) until the engine spluttered and died.
Finally worked out that the auto fire supression system in the engine room had been triggered by the violent motion of the boat.
The large air intakes in the cockpit had louvres that were meant to close if the fire alarm was activated. They did not..
The engine fired back up 10 mins later without any problems.
It it had been a foam or powder system we would have had a big problem.
Teething problems with a new boat ?
Click to expand...

I had this happen some time ago, so this is why I advocate a remote manual operated engine room fire extinguisher so you can shut down the engine, shut off the fuel then set off the fire extinguisher if circumstances allow
 
ducked said:
This seems to assume that the engine inhales from the engine compartment.
Click to expand...

Most engines on pleasure vessels do.

I have vents into my engine compartment with valves to close the air flow as required by out safety authority
ducked said:
If you had direct ducting of the engine air intake to the outside, it should be less of an issue, though I suppose the engine compartment probably still couldnt be sealed due to heat build up.
Click to expand...

In this case the engine would need to be shut down as the engine would still run as the fire extinguisher would not deprive the engine of the require air
 
Momac said:
Of course there will be a fresh air feed to the engine bay . Diesel and petrol engines need an air supply.
Have you ever seen an arrangement on a boat that blocks off that fresh air feed manually or automatically ? I suspect not.
If an extinguisher goes off it will probably stop the engines as the engines will be starved of oxygen. In the case of powder the engines might be damaged. But the important thing is the folks on board survive.

Are you leaving the old extinguisher in place?
Click to expand...

https://cpc.farnell.com/ceasefire/cf-001402/2kg-powder-auto-fire-extinguisher/dp/SR11973


Nope, both old units in the RED on the gauges..
and what does one do with the old bottles ?
 
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