Fire Suppression

[pyrojames]

Just had an insurance quote that stipulates an automatic fire extinguisher in the engine bay. I currently have 6 dry powders extinguishers around the boat plus a fire blanket in the galley.

What do people have in the way of fire fighting aboard.

 

[Deleted member 36384]

4 small powders extinguishers, fire blanket, a larger foam extinguisher, 2 automatic fire extinguishers in the engine bay.

 

[Ripster]

Auto (gas) in Engine, CO2 in locker, small powders all over about 6. Blanket in Galley. You can pick up a small auto for about 60-70 quid.

 

[Rivers & creeks]

Two auto gas extinguishers in the engine bay, one small powder in the galley, one office size Co2 in the wheelhouse, one office size foam and one office size powder split between the main cabins. No gas on board, all flammable liquids stored on deck. The only likely ignition source is an electrical fault so battery fuses fitted as well as all items on breakers/fuses and three smoke alarms.

It's three children sleeping on board that makes me take this level of care . Paranoid? Moi?

 

[prv]

2 litre foam at the bottom of the companionway, 1kg powder halfway along the cabin side, fire blanket by the cooker, and an auto foam in the engine bay which is quite old but still has good pressure and I'm told there's not much else to go wrong.

The larger foam was added by me, the rest were inherited.

Oh, and a bucket with lanyard that generally lives in the cockpit.

This is a small boat; chart table and galley either side of the companionway and then the rest of the cabin is a U-shape settee berth around the compression post. No separate forepeak etc.

Pete

 

[William_H]

Just had an insurance quote that stipulates an automatic fire extinguisher in the engine bay. I currently have 6 dry powders extinguishers around the boat plus a fire blanket in the galley.

What do people have in the way of fire fighting aboard.

You havn't said what sized engine and is it petrol or diesel fuel. All these things make a difference to the need to have an auto extinguisher in the engine compartment. My initial thoughts are that they don't want your business if they are demanding what is not a normal fitment or requirement. good luck olewill

 

[alahol2]

Just had an insurance quote that stipulates an automatic fire extinguisher in the engine bay.

My initial thoughts are that they don't want your business

Maybe it's got something to do with your name?

 

[laika]

Automatic extinguisher in the engine bay has been on my "to do" list since buying the boat 2 years ago and this thread has reminded me. Anyone have any links to sites with sizing / mounting best practices? (in my case, engine bay c. 2.5 cubic metres, 40HP diesel). I've got an idea from downloading the installation instructions from a couple of products but not seen anything "independent".

 

[maxi77]

Automatic extinguisher in the engine bay has been on my "to do" list since buying the boat 2 years ago and this thread has reminded me. Anyone have any links to sites with sizing / mounting best practices? (in my case, engine bay c. 2.5 cubic metres, 40HP diesel). I've got an idea from downloading the installation instructions from a couple of products but not seen anything "independent".

All the ones I looked at specify the volume they are good for. Also they all say only one extinguisher, because if you have two because they will never fire at exactly the same time one pops off and fails to put the fire out because it is not big enough, fire keeps going and sets off number two and once again fails.

I know they are expensive but they are effective. I also changed most of mine to foam and had a 2 litre in the cockpit and 2 litre ones in the saloon with dry powders in the for and aft cabins

 

[Deleted member 36384]

My Rational

.... mounting best practices? ......

The suppressants are designed to kill the fire based on a volume of space obviously. I understand that the suppressant is sized to allow for some excess and leakage. However you need to be careful if your engine bay has plenty of space and lots of access for air to get in. In my own case I mounted two of the recommended size port and starboard of the engine to ensure good coverage. My cockpit locker is separated by a loose fitting floor from the engine bay and there is a large gap under the floor that various pipes run through. I believe that this gap would provide good access / egress to the engine room for air or fumes to transverse. My rational was that any leakage of suppressant would be compensated for by the second extinguisher, assuming that it too activated.

Both extinguishers are mounted about 2/3 rds up from the engine bay sump to the top. This would allow the suppressant to release over the top instead of being directly inline with the block. IIRC the nozzle is pointing at a small shape which would direct the suppressant in a radial manner. Food for thought.

 

[emandvee44]

Our boat is coded, and therefore we had to comply with the minimum requirements when replacing our extinguishers 3 years ago. However, I decided to go over the requirements as a 'comfort factor'.
We have
6 x 2Kg. Dry powder in cabins and saloon area
2 x 2 Kg. Dry powder in cockpit lockers
1 x FE36 auto gas (2Kg. equivalent size) in engine bay
2 x FE36 auto gas (1Kg. equivalent size) in bow thruster compartment
1 x fire blanket in galley area, although not close to the cooker

Cost of the above about 25p per day

Not suppression, but in my view equally important - smoke detectors in all cabins and saloon area.

Cheers,

Michael.

 

[KellysEye]

We have two fire blankets, two gas extinguishers for the engine room and a powder extinguisher in each of the saloon and fore and aft cabins. If you have to fit an automatic one in the engine room make sure it is gas and activated by heat ( generally 79C) not smoke e.g slipping fan belt would activate it.

 

[pyrojames]

Thanks for the responses. I think an auto gas, rather than dry powder is in order for the engine bay. I am also considering the FireTrace, water mist type which I have encountered in vehicles. Gives cooling as well as suppression...

 

[GrahamM376]

Just had an insurance quote that stipulates an automatic fire extinguisher in the engine bay. I currently have 6 dry powders extinguishers around the boat plus a fire blanket in the galley.

What do people have in the way of fire fighting aboard.

Just spoken to the surveyor who will be doing our 25 year first survey later this year. He has never heard of an insurer requiring auto extinguisher on non coded boats before. I'm in the process of replacing our extinguishers and wonder who your insurance quote was from?

 

[Wunja]

This requirement was mentioned on another thread, but it only applied if the engine was capable of driving the boat at more than 17 knots.

 

[MoodySabre]

2kg powder by the forepeak and same in aft cabin (these to get you out of the boat), 6kg powder in cockpit locker to fight a fire, Auto inert gas in engine box (powder or foam can wreck your engine) and a blanket of course.

 

[GrahamM376]

Auto inert gas in engine box (powder or foam can wreck your engine)

A problem with inert gas is that it will asphyxiate you if you remain in the gas flooded area so a knackered engine wouldn't be a worry.

As our engine compartment is adjacent to the aft cabin and engine air is fed through vents under the bunk, it could be quite unhealthy if the required 2kg extinguisher discharged whilst asleep. When I removed our old 1kg auto halon, it was empty despite the bulb being intact.

For that reason, I'm looking at foam with discharge tube which can be poked through a finger hole in the engine compartment hatch.

 

[affinite]

Our surveyor asked for auto extinguisher

Just spoken to the surveyor who will be doing our 25 year first survey later this year. He has never heard of an insurer requiring auto extinguisher on non coded boats before. I'm in the process of replacing our extinguishers and wonder who your insurance quote was from?

Our recent pre-purchase survey for our Moody 44 stated that all extinguishers on board were out of date and should be replaced (including the existing Halon engine room auto extinguisher). The insurance company requires us to implement all the surveyors Insurance recomendations.

So we now have heat activated auto extinguishers in engine room and under rear bunk where cabin heater is located and 2kg powder in each of the 3 cabins and 1 in the galley. Interestingly the surveyor didnt specify one for the cockpit which begs the question how you access an extinguisher in order to fight a cabin fire if it breaks out whilst you are in the cockpit. For that reason Im also putting a 2 KG powder in the cockpit locker.

Also have smoke detectors and gas detectors fitted.

We are insured through Bishop Skinner with AXA

More food for thought - if an automatic fire extinguisher wrecked the engine in the course of extinguishing an engine fire, would the insurance company cover the repair of the engine?
After all if the auto extinguisher hadnt been fitted the boat might have been a complete loss.

 

[MoodySabre]

Graham - the automatic gas extinguisher is mounted inside the engine box which is not vented from inside the boat.

Affinite - a 2kg extinguisher lasts about 10 or 11 seconds only which is why I have those in the boat to get us out and a 6kg in the cockpit to tackle a blaze.

This concentration on unlikely events doesn't do much for the nerves does it?

 

[Deleted member 36384]

A problem with inert gas is that it will asphyxiate you if you remain in the gas flooded area so a knackered engine wouldn't be a worry.

As our engine compartment is adjacent to the aft cabin and engine air is fed through vents under the bunk, it could be quite unhealthy if the required 2kg extinguisher discharged whilst asleep. When I removed our old 1kg auto halon, it was empty despite the bulb being intact.

For that reason, I'm looking at foam with discharge tube which can be poked through a finger hole in the engine compartment hatch.

I would advise that you look at FE36 (a Dupont product common in many automatic extinguishers). They stop the fire by acting on the combustion process through a chemical reaction, rather than directly smothering the source of ignition and thus oxygen starvation.

The exposure levels when harm could commence is quite high. The data sheet advises that at concentrations of 1000 part per million effects can start to be noticed. However, you need to get up to very, very high concentrations before you fall over.

I would look into this type of product, which would be far more efficient than a foam extinguisher, as maybe your fears are unfounded based on the engine room volume and the aft cabin volume. You don't die if you breath in one whiff of the stuff, far from it.