What fire extinguisher in my engine bay?

38mess said:
They were originally plastic pipes but the surveyor wasn't happy as they could melt. I guess he ignored the fact that the engine housing is made of wood.
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Wood is surprisingly fire resistant. A piece of 18mm ply will stand up to a fire long enough for you to deal with it or decide you can't and get out. Not many plastics would do that.
 
I would use Blazecut if the engine compartment isn't too big. Search on Youtube of you want to see it in action.
It's a hose with a gas. When the hose explode due to high pressure after temperature rise the gas will turn out the fire.
 
geem said:
On a boat you need to be careful with CO2. It can be pretty lethal in large quantities and no way to remove it.
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Absolutely, also bear in mind that a fire in a confined space is using oxygen and fire extinguishers are, either totally or in part, designed to deprive the fire of oxygen. If you are also in that space there is a serious risk of suffocation.

The powder from an extinguisher, either during use or during clean up, can induce serious breathing problems even in the open air.

There have been deaths on commercial and military vessels due to the use of CO2 extinguishers.
 
The EU ban on the use of Halon in fire extinguishers actually came into force in October 2000 and was implemented in the UK in 2003, as a result of scientific research linking Halon and other CFC's to Ozone depletion.
 
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Also worth noting with automatic gaseous exstingishers that if you have an engine room extract system running they may significantly reduce the performance of the exstingishing gas. On commercial systems the ventilation systems are automatically shut down before the exstingishing gas is released.
You would also want to stop the engine before releasing the gas.
In generator rooms we would use rate of rise heat detection sensors that simultaneously stop ventilation systems, close the shut off dampers on the ventilation systems then release the gas. The excess volume in the space is controlled by weighted pressure relief dampers. All quite complex for good reason.
For these reasons I chose dry powder for my engine room. Two separate automatic exstingishers. They might make a mess but better than a burning boat
 
srm said:
Absolutely, also bear in mind that a fire in a confined space is using oxygen and fire extinguishers are, either totally or in part, designed to deprive the fire of oxygen. If you are also in that space there is a serious risk of suffocation.

The powder from an extinguisher, either during use or during clean up, can induce serious breathing problems even in the open air.

There have been deaths on commercial and military vessels due to the use of CO2 extinguishers.
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It's good to see some sense talked about the use of co2 in what is effectively a hole dug in water.
 
In my boat related fire fighting training, AFFF was the extinguisher of choice. Used to be very e xpensive but amazingly cheaper now. I don't have commercial yachts anymore but if the code allowed it, that's what I would use.
 
capnsensible said:
In my boat related fire fighting training, AFFF was the extinguisher of choice. Used to be very e xpensive but amazingly cheaper now. I don't have commercial yachts anymore but if the code allowed it, that's what I would use.
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If memory serves I think some are made from cows blood extracts or some such..... !
 
I have 3 six-litre AFFF's, one above the chart table, one amidships and one in the forecabin. They have the advantage that you can fire the extinguishers, and aim the foam jet, to reach anywhere in the accomodation, without actually removing them from their brackets. Although that is easily done, if you need to move them.
Plus an auto Halon substitute above the engine.

Dry powder needs to be retired from service.
(Not my boat, but known to me: A mechanic wormed his way into an awkward, confined space to replace a gearbox coupling. The auto dry powder extinguisher went off, right in his face, blinding, disorientating and suffocating him.
He got out the way he came in, but quickly and desperately, and sustained various nasty cuts and bruises doing so, from sticking-out bits in the engine room.)
 
R.Ems said:
I have 3 six-litre AFFF's,
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That will generate an impressive volume of foam. All three would probably fill the below deck volume of my boat. But then, to be effective it does needs to be applied thickly. Its the only extinguisher that once used correctly I was unable to get re-ignition as it cooled everything.

Powder is nasty stuff, it was bad enough filling the extinguishers then using them on the pier during our fire fighting courses especially when there was any wind.
 
R.Ems said:
I have 3 six-litre AFFF's, one above the chart table, one amidships and one in the forecabin. They have the advantage that you can fire the extinguishers, and aim the foam jet, to reach anywhere in the accomodation, without actually removing them from their brackets. Although that is easily done, if you need to move them.
Plus an auto Halon substitute above the engine.

Dry powder needs to be retired from service.
(Not my boat, but known to me: A mechanic wormed his way into an awkward, confined space to replace a gearbox coupling. The auto dry powder extinguisher went off, right in his face, blinding, disorientating and suffocating him.
He got out the way he came in, but quickly and desperately, and sustained various nasty cuts and bruises doing so, from sticking-out bits in the engine room.)
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Always good practice to insert the auto extinguisher safety pin before entering a confined space.
 
R.Ems said:
I suspect that like me, many of us didn't know such a pin existed! I wonder how many have never been removed....
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Not long after I bought my previously-owned boat, I found that the pin was still in place. No idea how long it had been like that. I don't know whether all auto extinguishers have a safety pin but it would be good if they did.
 
R.Ems said:
........ Dry powder needs to be retired from service.
(Not my boat, but known to me: A mechanic wormed his way into an awkward, confined space to replace a gearbox coupling. The auto dry powder extinguisher went off, right in his face, blinding, disorientating and suffocating him.
He got out the way he came in, but quickly and desperately, and sustained various nasty cuts and bruises doing so, from sticking-out bits in the engine room.)
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That's an incompetent mechanic, don't blame the extinguisher.
 
penberth3 said:
That's an incompetent mechanic, don't blame the extinguisher.
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R.Ems said:
I was criticising dry powder itself, not the extinguisher or the person.
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I'd be more inclined to blame the installation. Since the Halon ban, dry powder has been pretty much all that's available, and mechanics have had to crawl into awkward places since Noah was a skipper. It shouldn't have been possible to set it off accidentally like that. It could have been worse if it had been CO2, though. He might well not have got out at all.
 
Stemar said:
I'd be more inclined to blame the installation. Since the Halon ban, dry powder has been pretty much all that's available, and mechanics have had to crawl into awkward places since Noah was a skipper. It shouldn't have been possible to set it off accidentally like that. It could have been worse if it had been CO2, though. He might well not have got out at all.
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Halon-substitute auto extinguishers are widely and cheaply available, (I have one), no need for dry powder or CO2.
 
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