Which fire extinguisher to buy?
Discussion
Contact firesafetydave he'll give you an unbiased opinion
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Edited by SB - Nigel on Wednesday 11th August 00:34
gareth.e said:
don't do it.. It looks gay unless there is a genuine risk.
Travelling at speed carrying approx 60 litres of highly flamable liquid in close proximity to other vehicles doing the same. Some of them being driven by a moron like you. Yes I would say there was a geniune risk a fire extinguisher may be required !!!gareth.e said:
don't do it.. It looks gay unless there is a genuine risk.
That's the most useless comment I've heard on here for months 
were talking classic old skool cars here not chavs in corsas & chrome rollcages with the 10gram B/O size fire ext bottles zip tied on. As mentioned DO NOT get a dry powder one as should you need it it will wreck your car & it might as well burn anyway. Dry powder makes everything rust in days. Go for an AFFF type which is foamy soapy stuff, works just as well & its easy to clean the mess up. A neat plumbed in job that you can still access is a nice way to do it.
One of these
http://www.driftworks.com/shop/p203/2Ltr-Handheld-...
or plumbed in version
http://www.driftworks.com/shop/p202/2.25L-plumbed-...
Edited by cptsideways on Wednesday 11th August 09:50
cptsideways said:
gareth.e said:
don't do it.. It looks gay unless there is a genuine risk.
That's the most useless comment I've heard on here for months were talking classic old skool cars here not chavs in corsas & 306 Peugeots with chrome rollcages with the 10gram B/O size fire ext bottles zip tied on.Hi,
I was kidding about the boot (in response to gareth-e!). It's a two seater, it's handy enough to reach across behind the passenger seat to grab the extinguisher.
Hopefully I'll never have to find out though!
I've ordered an AFFF type, thanks for the info, I'd have gone for dry powder from Halfords otherwise, not knowing any better, cheers!
Dom
I was kidding about the boot (in response to gareth-e!). It's a two seater, it's handy enough to reach across behind the passenger seat to grab the extinguisher.
Hopefully I'll never have to find out though!
I've ordered an AFFF type, thanks for the info, I'd have gone for dry powder from Halfords otherwise, not knowing any better, cheers!
Dom
Defcon5 said:
I beleive sparco do something called a Fire Eater which is a slimline chemical extinguisher.
Juat about to get one of these myself. They are apparently very effective, extinguish for up to 1 minute and are very light and compact. They are now discontinued because they do not pass EU regs as an extinguisher, purely on the grounds that they cannot be stopped once started - they just stop when run out.Not cheap though -
http://www.elise-shop.com/sparco-fireater-fire-ext...
My recommendation is a minimum 4 kilogramme BCE powder extinguisher, with a pair of welding gauntlets and an extended hose (to enable you to sit the extinguisher on the floor on its base, correctly orientated, whilst directing extinguishant upwards from under the car.
Plumbed-in AFFF type foam extinguishers are designed to save you - to save the car you need powders superior take-down. Halon would be better but its now illegal to posess, let alone discharge.
Id suggest that you secure the extinguisher using a pair of plumbed-in extinguisher mounts. 'Chubby' bottles have the same diamter as many extinguishers and you want to be certain that the bottle is secure: if your bottle is outsized then the straps are easily altered (Id suggest mounting the
bottle longitudinally).
If youve got the room then buy a 6kg or maybe even a 9kg extinguisher: theyll cost less than £30 and itll be the best £50-odd (in total) that youve ever spent should you need to use it...
Plumbed-in AFFF type foam extinguishers are designed to save you - to save the car you need powders superior take-down. Halon would be better but its now illegal to posess, let alone discharge.
Id suggest that you secure the extinguisher using a pair of plumbed-in extinguisher mounts. 'Chubby' bottles have the same diamter as many extinguishers and you want to be certain that the bottle is secure: if your bottle is outsized then the straps are easily altered (Id suggest mounting the
bottle longitudinally).
If youve got the room then buy a 6kg or maybe even a 9kg extinguisher: theyll cost less than £30 and itll be the best £50-odd (in total) that youve ever spent should you need to use it...
Having read the rest of the thread I see that my advice contradicts some pof the other posters. Foam is cleaner, but powder will have a far higher rating for a equal size/weight. AFFF may be easier to clean up, but this is a moot point if you dont have a car worth saving afterwards.
Plumbed-in extinguishers are designed to save lives, not save cars; and this seems to be frequently misunderstood. Theres a thread that I contributed to on here not too long ago where a misguided individual had fitted a 4 litre AFFF system into his TVR and directed one of the nozzles towards his fusebox!!! All a plumbed-in car system is intended to do is to suppress a fire for long enough for the occupants to get out - this is why the hand help AFFF extinguishers have to be mounted within reach too. If you want to put out a fire then you need a decently sized powder extinguisher - it wont cool and its not nice to be around, but itll knock down a far larger fire than a comparable foam extinguisher, and thats what matters.
If you want to protect your own car then consider fitting an electircal cut-out too, because many fires will be stopped short when you kill the current - unlike the TVR mentioned above, whichll almost certainly be destroyed if the owner activates in plumbed-in system.
My car has a split chamber 4 litre AFFF system (two nozzles under the bonnet pointing at likely sources and one in the cockpit pointing at my lower body/legs - the 4th is capped but would point at the co-driver if appropriate), along with two hand-held AFFF extinguishers mounted within reach of the driving seat, along with an electrical cut-out. All of that is designed/intended to save me and if I need saving then b
ks to the car! To put out the sort of fires that we are talking about here I have a 4 kilogramme powder extinguisher secured in the boot, along with the other kit I mentioned: and THATS intended to put out vehicle fires: mine or yours...
Plumbed-in extinguishers are designed to save lives, not save cars; and this seems to be frequently misunderstood. Theres a thread that I contributed to on here not too long ago where a misguided individual had fitted a 4 litre AFFF system into his TVR and directed one of the nozzles towards his fusebox!!! All a plumbed-in car system is intended to do is to suppress a fire for long enough for the occupants to get out - this is why the hand help AFFF extinguishers have to be mounted within reach too. If you want to put out a fire then you need a decently sized powder extinguisher - it wont cool and its not nice to be around, but itll knock down a far larger fire than a comparable foam extinguisher, and thats what matters.
If you want to protect your own car then consider fitting an electircal cut-out too, because many fires will be stopped short when you kill the current - unlike the TVR mentioned above, whichll almost certainly be destroyed if the owner activates in plumbed-in system.
My car has a split chamber 4 litre AFFF system (two nozzles under the bonnet pointing at likely sources and one in the cockpit pointing at my lower body/legs - the 4th is capped but would point at the co-driver if appropriate), along with two hand-held AFFF extinguishers mounted within reach of the driving seat, along with an electrical cut-out. All of that is designed/intended to save me and if I need saving then b
ks to the car! To put out the sort of fires that we are talking about here I have a 4 kilogramme powder extinguisher secured in the boot, along with the other kit I mentioned: and THATS intended to put out vehicle fires: mine or yours...Defcon5 said:
I beleive sparco do something called a Fire Eater which is a slimline chemical extinguisher.
If you look around a little these can be bought for a fraction of the price from the Italian manufacturer. I dont have the link unfortunately, but a little digging should save you a lot of money (you may have to buy acarton of six though, but theyre balance will easily sell).GC8 said:
...All of that is designed/intended to save me and if I need saving then bks to the car! ...
Best advice here IMO.ks to the car! ...Handhelds are best used for helping someone else out. Car fires can/do get out of hand very quickly, and personally I wouldn't be pissing about with a small point and squirt close to a car on fire unless there was someone in it.
As much as it's a crying shame to see rare/classic cars be damaged, they are only cars (insurance can cover any fiscal loss).
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