Underhood fire suppression systems

NYSpeed Automotive
1

Due to recent events. As some may know, my car caught fire briefly on the highway this past Thursday. Luckily it went out without much damage.

Now, I’ve been looking at adding some kind of underhood fire suppression system to the car. So I want to know if there are any recommended underhood fire suppression systems, just in case something similar to this happens again and it doesn’t go out.

2

lol you should probbley buy a firesuit also…

3

http://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?storeId=10001&catalogId=10002&catalogIdentifier=Jegs_Direct&categoryId=29289&parentCategoryId=10489

4

Halon or C02… Your motor will thank you.

5

isnt halon toxic?

6

isnt an exploding vehicle on the highway dangerous/deadly?

7

Gaseous extinguishers are good cause you wont end up crusting up your engine bay and damaging your engine as dry chemical fire extinguishers tend to do.

8

Thanks for the info guys. I think I’m going to go with one of the CO2 systems. I initally thought it only sprayed CO2 into the engine bay, taking away the heat. So I was considering the halon systems. But since halon isn’t produced anywhere, who knows if it will be available in the future.

After doing some research on the systems, this website gave some good info on the CO2 AFFF systems.

http://www.dezod.com/pd_firecharger.cfm

9

This will certainly work well but it is not a pure gasesous system. It looks like it uses c02 as a propelant and AFFF mixed with water as the extinguisher.

AFFF is very effective as a extinguishing agent because it interferes with the flame front between gasoline and the air. However because of its water content its not safe for sensitive electrical systems and it will leave a residue although not nearly as bad as dry chemical systems.

Pure c02 systems will work, co2 works by displacing oxygen, and cooling the flame no oxygen= no fire. However this is less effecive than halon. In a closed engine bay this should be a non issue though. C02 will rapidly displace all the oxygen and is the most effective in enclosed spaces.

If you want to remain completely damage and cleanup free halon is the way to go.

Halon displaces are and chemically reacts to interfere with a flame front. After it is done doing its work it dissapates into the atmosphere leaving nothing for cleanup.

Halon is hard to find now because it was banned by the Montreal Protocol because it depletes the ozone layer. It is relatively non-toxic, although you really do want to limit exposure.

Alternatively there are new halon substitutes which are fluorocarbons. These you may see marketed as halon.

Heres a little article I found for you.

http://www.nsxprime.com/FAQ/Accessories/fireextinguishers.htm

10

UGHHHH! go ahead and use an AFFF, your car will smell like fish for the rest of its life. DONT do it. I would use a CO2 system if i were you.

11

http://www.pegasusautoracing.com/
http://www.ogracing.com

try them - on my old Porsche I had something very much like this:

http://www.pegasusautoracing.com/productdetails.asp?RecId=3156

bottle mounted in the rear tire well area, pull line routed back there w/ a handle up front, lines to put out the interior near fueling, and 2 in the engine area. yes, halon can be toxic – iirc it sucks out the O2 in the air – but you get out of the car if you have to pull it…

12

http://www.racerwholesale.com/index.php?cPath=93&osCsid=a3ea8ece1aa9d6aed1acdbe1ed26596f They offer all complete systems…halon, afff, fe36, co2.

13

When you say CO2 system, do you mean the type that mixes to form foam, or straight CO2?

14

Straight Co2 is your best bet. It will leave NO residue to clean up.

AFFF is a protien foam it will leave a residue that could be very hard to get rid of.