Thread: Fire Extinguishers

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A friend of mine was checking out my car the other day and noticed the fire extinguisher in the back. He said that he hoped I never had to use “that” fire extinguisher, and I told him “yeh, me too.” What he told me next surprised me.

He told me that my ABC dry powder extinguisher could be the worst part of the fire. Maybe you guys already knew this, but the typical extinguisher’s chemical powder melts and attaches itself to every surface that is warm or hot (that’s how it smoothers the fire). My buddy told me that if I extinguished a fire in the engine compartment, the clean up and damage to “finished” parts could be worse than the fire damage.

There was a recent thread where fire extinguishers were discussed... the one where Pro70Z28 tried to burn his shop down http://www.clubhotrod.com/t4801.html Streets mentioned that Halon extinguishers had been “outlawed” (ozone holes ). There’s a new product called Halotron that’s “environmentally friendly” and legal. This product is liquid and leaves no residue (just like Halon), and does not damage paint or chrome like the corrosive powder types do.

I priced Halotron extinguishers and a 2-1/2 LB unit is about $75 (compared to $10 for the powder type). But, I figure that the extra $65 wouldn’t come close to covering the labor it would take to clean up or repair damaged finishes

Dan J

Originally posted by Dan J


There was a recent thread where fire extinguishers were discussed... the one where Pro70Z28 tried to burn his shop down http://www.clubhotrod.com/t4801.html
priced Halotron extinguishers and a 2-1/2 LB unit is about $75 (compared to $10 for the powder type). But, I figure that the extra $65 wouldn’t come close to covering the labor it would take to clean up or repair damaged finishes

Dan J

Ya but Dan, Jus' fer the record I don't recomend anybody try that at home.
I would be interested in the Halotron extinguishers also if they would pass tech inspection.

I hadn't heard that halon was "outlawed" except for where streets mentioned it in that post. I just looked in the newest summit catalog and they still sell a halon on board system,all it says is that it cant be shipped to canada.

Streets is it outlawed in just certian states or you got any other info on this?

i was thinkin of a on board type system in my drag car and would be interested in this subject myself.

I know somebody who actually had to use his halon extinguisher on his boat and he said it was amazing stuff. He had a fuel fire in his engine compartment, one quick shot of halon and the fire was out.

I think the first two variants of halon, 1301 and something else, have been outlawed entirely. You are supposed to remove any systems that use it. The ship at my school has a halon 1301 system, and if it were to discharge, we would have to throw the ship away because we would have no way to put out a serious fire.

There must be a new halon because I just installed an extinguisher that uses it on someone's boat. I will try to find the name.

Did you know that a diesel can run on halon? If you've got diesel engines, you've got to remember to shut off the diesels before you discharge. It will pump phosgene gas out the exhaust, too, because it gets heated to over 900 degrees in the engine.

Originally posted by 76GMC1500
I know somebody who actually had to use his halon extinguisher on his boat and he said it was amazing stuff. He had a fuel fire in his engine compartment, one quick shot of halon and the fire was out.

I think the first two variants of halon, 1301 and something else, have been outlawed entirely. You are supposed to remove any systems that use it. The ship at my school has a halon 1301 system, and if it were to discharge, we would have to throw the ship away because we would have no way to put out a serious fire.

There must be a new halon because I just installed an extinguisher that uses it on someone's boat. I will try to find the name.

Did you know that a diesel can run on halon? If you've got diesel engines, you've got to remember to shut off the diesels before you discharge. It will pump phosgene gas out the exhaust, too, because it gets heated to over 900 degrees in the engine.

Have you ever tried fillin' a drinkin' glass with halon, then pour it on the fire? purdy' kewl. It's heavier than air so it''l stay in the glass til ya pour it out.

www.nauticalfire.com

Thanks 76GMC1500
Gotta keep that 1 in my favorites file.

So, it's 1211 and 1301 that are outlawed. You can actually buy recycled 1301 still, much like freon, but it's very expensive. Halon 1211 is cool because it doesn't displace the oxygen so you can still breathe in a space filled with it. 1301 was less effective so more had to be used, enough to begin displacing oxygen. So, since we have halon 1301, when the alarm goes off, get the hell out of the engine room.