Engine Room Fire Extinguishers

[Bandit]

Neale

I understand that when a powder extinguisher goes off and the engine is running (petrol or diesel) that the powder will get drawn into the engine and that this is the case, a major ammount of work will be required to clean out the engine although I have no first hand knowlege.

We had a powder extinguisher go off at work it didnt half make a mess, very fine powder, I cleared it up with a hoover and it gave me an awfull cough.

I personally would not have CO2 on a boat, if it leaks in a confined space, no smell , no taste and it is lethal.

 

[Questor]

Another one to consider www.fireblitz.co.uk I found them good to deal with and reasonably priced.

I bought 2 x Fireblitz FE36 Halon replacement extinguishers in 2009. They were fitted to the underside of the engine room door in the holders supplied. They are also further secured by a rubber "O" ring, also supplied.

A year after fitting, both "O" rings perished and broke up, allowing one extinguisher to fall from its cradle wedging itself between the crankshaft pulley & the bulkhead. Although it didn't explode, it made a mess.

My advice if you buy Fireblitz stuff, is to further secure the extinguisher to the cradle with cable ties or similar.

I did email Fireblitz, with photos etc. but never received a reply.

 

[beyondtheblue]

I bought 2 x Fireblitz FE36 Halon replacement extinguishers in 2009. They were fitted to the underside of the engine room door in the holders supplied. They are also further secured by a rubber "O" ring, also supplied.

A year after fitting, both "O" rings perished and broke up, allowing one extinguisher to fall from its cradle wedging itself between the crankshaft pulley & the bulkhead. Although it didn't explode, it made a mess.

My advice if you buy Fireblitz stuff, is to further secure the extinguisher to the cradle with cable ties or similar.

I did email Fireblitz, with photos etc. but never received a reply.

I must have had a sixth sense that this might happen and made this secure stand, no problems as yet but thanks for the heads up.

 

[Questor]

This is what happened to mine

 

[rubberduck]

Can anyone out there recommend a service agent for an automatic system who covers st kats in London.

 

[jfm]

Another vote for SeaFire FM200 kit. I have just ordered (yesterday) much of the gear that MYAG has on his boat, to upgrade mine

Many fire ext systems work by smothering the fire. Eg if you fill the e/r with CO2, that eliminates most oxygen sothe fire goes out. Problem is, if it goes off accidentally when you are in there, you are dead. FM200 is different. It needs about a 17% concentration (iirc) to work, so the other 83% is normal air in which case you wont die if it goes off when you're in there. The FM200 works as a negative catalyst: its presence in the 17% or whatever concentration stops the chemical reaction of combustion. Very smart concept

But as with other systems you must link the relays on the control unit to your engines and gensets so that when it goes off automatically the engines/gensets/fans shut down, else they will simply pump the FM200 out down the exhasut pipe which is no good

The back up from SeaFire is excellent. Their tech guy Richard Duckworth has done CAD drawings and schematics for the upgraded gear that i have ordered and they make the whole technical side of things very straightforward to deal with.

 

[Bajansailor]

Another type is 'Flexi-Fog' or Hi-Fog' systems - these are becoming very popular on larger ships, and might be available for smaller craft as well.
They work on the principle that millions of tiny water droplets in the air have an enormous cooling effect - much more so than say the same amount of water in a bucket that is chucked at the fire in one dollop.

Here are a couple of links about them - http://www.discovery-marine.com/index.php?id=flexifog_machinery_spaces_en

And http://www.atlas-csf.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=53&Itemid=69