got boat,which extinguishers

[capel679]

yippee. now have boat just need to fit her with correct fire protection.
43 ft bayliner.(4-6 berth) diesel. no engine fire fighting equipment either.
starting from scratch.
any ideas chaps.

 

[ShipsWoofy]

Yachting monthly or PBO did a test of fire extinguishers last year or so, might be worth contacting their print service for a copy.

PBO have also been running a FIRE on board series over the last few months if you can get back copies.

Not trying to duck answering you question, it is a very relative subject to your boats layout and I know very little about automatic engine room systems. FWIW, I carry 4 1kg Kiddie dry powder units on my 26ft cat. The only real stipulation by a surveyor was to have one at each end of my galley, which is in the port hull accessed from only one end.

You should also have a fire blanket.

hope this helps....

 

[pjohnson]

I am not a fire expert but this is my understanding of fire extinguishers (note; they are determined by the coloured square on the body of the extinguisher).

Black: Carbon dioxide, for liquid, gas and electrical fires.
Blue: Dry powder, for wood, paper, fabric, flammable liquids, electrical and gas (if no explosion risks).
Cream: Foam, for wood, paper, fabric and flammable liquid fires.
Red: Water, for wood, paper and fabric fires.

I would personally go for a carbon dioxide nearest to electrics and a dry powder for everything else. Only point is though, I don't know what GRP burns like and hope I never find out.

Hope this helps

---------------------------------------

Some boffin may correct me but I try my best.

 

[Cloven]

I was in the same situation a few of seasons ago. Surveyor suggested a fire blanket, a min of 2 dry powder ABC extinguishers plus an automatic heat sensative one in the engine bay. Size obviously depends on the volume of the engine bay.

Fire blanket to be located close to cooker.
One ABC extinguisher close to companionway steps and other within easy reach of galley. This was for a 27ft boat.

For replacement 32 ft boat I have gone for as above but increased the ABC extinguishers to 4 - one close to companionway steps, one in aft cabin, one in forward cabin and one close to galley. The idea is that you should be able to lay your hands on one from almost anywhere inside the boat or anywhere you can access the cabin - ie companionway entrance or opening hatches.

Hope this helps.

 

[Strathglass]

It may sound like a silly sugestion but look at the Boat Safety Scheme which the waterways board publish for inland waterway boats.
In this area, for once, I think they have got it correct. Two ABC extinguishers (one small and one large) and a fire blanket.

I have seen the complete document on their web site but don't know the URL.

Iain

 

[jerryat]

HI, Do not under any circumstances, use dry powder in your engine room. We had an automatic version fitted in our compartment that went off despite there being no fire. It was only a few months old but it happened. The mess was indescribable and took almost 8 hours to clear up, because we couldn't use our little battery vacuum cleaner as the extemely fine powder passed straight through the bag and back all over everything!!

By far the worst problem though, was the terminal damage done to the engine, which was running at the time, though switched off within a couple of minutes. The powder was ingested by the engine and seized up the piston rings, leaving us with no compression and no motor.

Unfortunately, we were then in the Cape Verde Islands where tech things like this presented a major problem. In the end we had to remove the engine, take out the pistons, remove the rings, clean the grooves and re-assemble. This got us to the Caribbean and back home to the UK, but the engine then needed a full rebuild as the bores were damaged etc etc.

I am just finishing a major refit (the engine work was part of this) and will be fitting one of the Halon replacement units alongside the engine - definitely not powder.

I do not know why dry powder is STILL advertised as being suitable for engine rooms when, if the engine happens to be running, serious damage is very likely.

Hope this helps your choice and possibly saves you a very expensive repair job! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Cheers jerry

 

[wooslehunter]

A really common place to mount the fire blanket is on the side behind the cooker or bulkhead at the side of the cooker.

NOT A GOOD IDEA - you'll have to reach over the cooker to get the blanket.

Mount it close but not too close.

 

[capel679]

ta for the info,sorry to hear about the powder release..ughhh.
hope she`s better now.
james.

 

[ShipsWoofy]

I would be very cautious of using carbon dioxide on board as it is heavier than air.

Yes I understand fire is dangerous, but once you have extinguished it you are going to need access to the boat, which will now be full of unbreathable CO2.

I would not have carbon dioxide without bilge blowers installed.

Just my thoughts.

 

[tcm]

yep. The powder is a very deep-[censored] and effective extinguisher, tho the engineroom issues as above v good.

The Co2 as well as being unbreathable is also not a whole load of kop for serious fires: the moment the CO2 stops being sprayed at the fire, the heat, oxygen and fuel are all back in place so fire can restart.

Separately, the powder ones, once released or "tested" a little bit have pretttymuch haddit: the fine powder jams open the valve and the pressure is released over the next hour or so - so powder extinguishers are usable only once.

 

[TrueBlue]

Thanks to our European friends fire extinguishers are now all red (reasonable colour, I suppose), but you have to read the label to see what they do.

In practical terms for "private" use the dry powder type is all you can get - CO2 and water types only come in larger sizes, and are difficult to handle on boats as well as being very much more expensive.

The link to the Boat Safety Scheme document is here. 3 off 1Kg units is probably adequate for most.

Lidl may have some left at £5.99....

 

[oldharry]

Black, blue cream and red, are the old 'sensible' colours. EEC has standardised it so that everything is red, regardless of the contents.

Our local Fire Brigade recommends a minimum of 4kg of dry powder extinuguishant, in two 2 kg units, which will give you a few seconds longer fire fighting ability than the four 1kg units, which they reckon will empty themselves before they have had much affect, allowing the fire to regain hold while you find the next one. Fire blanket, NOT mounted over the galley! And automatic gas or halon extinguishers in the engine room, where it could be difficult to reach the seat of the fire with powder.

Any extinguisher will give off a cloud of noxious substance that you definitely do not want to breath if you can avoid it, and so does the fire! Over 95% of fire deaths are caused by inhaling the products of combustion (i.e. smoke and poisonous gasses), not by actually being burned to death, so the 'breathability' of fire extinguishants is not really an issue. Fires give off amongst other things large amounts of Carbon Monoxide and Hydrogen Cyanide - one good whiff of which will kill you outright.

Water extinguishers are too bulky for on board use, and are not much use in a plastic boat.

The point is that at sea you are on your own, and unlike at home will not have immediate access to highly trained and equipped fire fighters, so you need much more equipment to tackle a fire succesfully than ashore.

 

[spv737]

Just gone and bought an automatic powder extinguisher for the engine bay as its a requirement for the insurance but now think I've done the wrong thing with the powder. I did think about what if it goes off inadvertantly as it says it operates at 80 deg C, I would think the engine bay would reach high temps especially in the summer and the risk of it going off is great!!

 

[Nauti Fox]

Hi Paul, if you look back to Jerryat's post you'll see what happens when one goes off, real mess and it can destroy the engine(s) as well, saying that they are very good at putting out the fire! Most people choose a inert gas type for the engine room as they don't leave a huge mess although since the demise of halon they have become bulkier as you need more volume and are more expensive.
Hope it helps, Al.

 

[TheoSr]

If you have to spend a lot on the extinquisher, why not spend a little more and allow your engine to breathe directly from outside the engine room. Then the powder will still make a terrible mess but it will not enter the engine. Besides the engine is a powerfull air pump and you do not want it to suck away the powder/gas.
Keep smiling,
Theo