First night on boat woke up to fire alarm!

[Greenhorn]

Well, my first night on my first boat didn’t go well! I was woken up to an alarm and eventually tracked it down to the fireboy system in engine room. The indicator at the helm said that the extinguisher had been discharged. I’ve been quoted €4K for a new one.

But on further investigation it looks to me that it hasn’t been discharged the pin is still in place. The gauge however is in the red. Any advice greatly appreciated, I’m in Portals Mallorca.

 

[julians]

I *think* you should be able to get it refilled, give these guys a call - they're in palma

Fire Extinguishers for Boats and Yachts in Mallorca | Types of fire extinguishers (rebecca-yachting.com)

 

[harvey38]

Not sure what boat you have or engine room room size but why complicate things, I have a 6kg clean air automatic discharge unit, good for 10m3, cost £400 in the UK.

Further details may provide more helpful advice.

 

[Greenhorn]

It’s a Princess V39. Fire extinguisher is a Fireboy clean air auto discharge MA2-350-227 it does an area of 350 ft3. The pin is still in the top so I don’t think it needs replacing? Perhaps it was a false alarm?

 

[penfold]

If the gauge is in the red it needs attention, even if it's only to get the gauge replaced.

 

[petem]

These fire extinguishers have a little glass tube which breaks (either by detecting heat or when the manual activation is triggered) to activate the extinguisher. Can you still see the glass tube?

If it had activated overnight you should have felt / heard a very big bang when it went off.

 

[petem]

Not sure what boat you have or engine room room size but why complicate things, I have a 6kg clean air automatic discharge unit, good for 10m3, cost £400 in the UK.

Further details may provide more helpful advice.

The Fireboy ones (also known as Sea Fire) are part of a system that sounds an alarm and shuts down the engines and fans.

 

[petem]

You may find that firms are reluctant to refill such an old extinguisher. What capacity is it?

I had to replace mine and it was under €2k (but I was on the mainland, not rip-off Mallorca).

Be aware that a working engine room fire extinguisher is likely to be a condition of your insurance.

 

[julians]

You may find that firms are reluctant to refill such an old extinguisher. What capacity is it?

I had to replace mine and it was under €2k (but I was on the mainland, not rip-off Mallorca).

Be aware that a working engine room fire extinguisher is likely to be a condition of your insurance.

dont think its that old - boat is 2016 I think.

I'd have thought theyd have no issue refilling a 2016 extinguisher , I had my 2007 extinguisher refilled a few years ago - only one way to find out though

 

[Greenhorn]

Luckily the system didn’t go off, it was a faulty pressure switch. Found a really good company that can repair and recharge it. Another company wanted to charge €4K and gave lots of excuses why I needed a new system.

 

[henryf]

For future reference the main unit in the photo needs taking away and testing at 10 years old. The thick end of £1,000 once sorted and serviced.

 

[Bouba]

Anyone know of someone who can re-certify the engine room fire extinguishers in the French Med?

 

[petem]

For future reference the main unit in the photo needs taking away and testing at 10 years old. The thick end of £1,000 once sorted and serviced.

I'm not denying that this is a good idea but when you say 'need' and '10 years', where do you get that requirement from?

 

[Portofino]

I'm not denying that this is a good idea but when you say 'need' and '10 years', where do you get that requirement from?

Commercial coding for charter purposes.
Extra aggro trying to shove personal boat ownership through your books I suspect .Adds up in the end .
Its a path once started they find it difficult to get off .

 

[Portofino]

We have manual systems to close the air vents on the hull sides , close the tank cocks thus cutting off diesel and displacing the auto bulb if necessary.
I bought a Fire blitz iirc for the ER size about either £350 or £450 ? Packed it in hold luggage - no issues taking to Nice .

The local guy in Cap D Ail quotes upwards of €2000:+ any more after he eyeballed the boat .

So I just bought a Fire blitz inert gas .Used one of the many tinternet guides for the vol calcs .

Fitted it DIY .It’s has a 5 y life so I will bin it and buy another when it’s ticket it up .


Black is fuel cocks , red the bulb , the other two ( awaiting blue tape ) are the air vents .
I suspect you pull them from R to L ….vents , gas , fuel .

Apparently as PeteM infers discharging the gas with the engines running at near full pelt is a no no as the gas is immediately sucked away through the motors .
Also the vent thing is important as fresh oxygen enters if they are left open or unable to be closed off .So they tell me .

Fuel lines self explained if the rubber hoses have been breached racor bowls meted etc best the taps are off - obviously!



You should have 1 large one as opposed to two smaller .Reason one of a pair might fire off but it’s not got the vol to do the whole room , the fire comes back then the 2 nd fires , same result not quite the vol so this fails as well .
One huge one ( excuse the name ) “ Blitzes “ the fire .

All theoretically of course .

 

[Bouba]

Just had my two engine room fire extinguishers plus two portable ones recertified today. €100 I could not be happier ?
Good for a year!

 

[jrudge]

The system requires pressure testing every 10 years pre the sea fire schedule . If the boat burns and you have not maintained it the. The insurance con are not going to be very cooperative

also make sure the pin is supposed to be in. Most only have the pin in to stop it going off when removed