Fire Prevention
Discussion
After hearing the terrible news at TVR Power (I wish them the very best) I suspect many of us are getting perhaps a little paranoid about spontaneous TVR combustion. quite frankly i'm happy to be paranoid about this as my T350 is kept in an integral garage. I'm no car technician; i struggle to fill the water bottle....what advice can anyone give to keep this risk to a minimum? all this talk of foam protection missing at the battery site, changing wires around, replacing hoses etc...what are the suspected causes and what can be done? Next time she's in for a service I'll give TVR a list! Off to Halfords to buy a fire extinguisher.....
http://www.gx-security.co.uk/dicon-680mbx-heat-det...
Im off to get one right now,i also have an integral garage and it is a worry.
Im off to get one right now,i also have an integral garage and it is a worry.
There was a thing on telly just now about a guy in a helicopter. He was checking for potential electrical faults in the main power lines by flying over them with a thermal imaging camera. When he found a hot spot on the wires they called out the repair man before the fault caused problems.
What if you looked at a TVR with a stone cold engine through a thermal imaging camera? Could you ‘see’ an electrical fault before it set fire to something?
Could it be a rapid fault finding technique for other electrical problems that are hard to find, not just fire starters?
Would the insulation of the glassfibre block the heat from being seen?
Does anyone have the necessary equipment to take a look at a TVR in thermal image and see if it’s possible?
It might justify a garage having the equipment and routinely scanning each TVR that comes in. If it could have prevented the fire at TVR Power then it would have been money well spent.
ETA
Would any firm do us a group buy on automatic, plumbed-in fire extinguishers?
What if you looked at a TVR with a stone cold engine through a thermal imaging camera? Could you ‘see’ an electrical fault before it set fire to something?
Could it be a rapid fault finding technique for other electrical problems that are hard to find, not just fire starters?
Would the insulation of the glassfibre block the heat from being seen?
Does anyone have the necessary equipment to take a look at a TVR in thermal image and see if it’s possible?
It might justify a garage having the equipment and routinely scanning each TVR that comes in. If it could have prevented the fire at TVR Power then it would have been money well spent.
ETA
Would any firm do us a group buy on automatic, plumbed-in fire extinguishers?
Edited by Uncle Fester on Saturday 16th August 18:34
Uncle Fester said:
There was a thing on telly just now about a guy in a helicopter. He was checking for potential electrical faults in the main power lines by flying over them with a thermal imaging camera. When he found a hot spot on the wires they called out the repair man before the fault caused problems.
We used to do this at work every year there would be fight to get to go up in the Helicopter for a couple of weeks....however they put it out to contractors over 10 years ago 
BB
Risoli said:
After hearing the terrible news at TVR Power (I wish them the very best) I suspect many of us are getting perhaps a little paranoid about spontaneous TVR combustion. quite frankly i'm happy to be paranoid about this as my T350 is kept in an integral garage. I'm no car technician; i struggle to fill the water bottle....what advice can anyone give to keep this risk to a minimum? all this talk of foam protection missing at the battery site, changing wires around, replacing hoses etc...what are the suspected causes and what can be done? Next time she's in for a service I'll give TVR a list! Off to Halfords to buy a fire extinguisher.....
I fit worries you that much, disconnect the battery when parked up....you can fit an isolator switch.No power...no fire.
I always leave the bonnet up after a run anyway - stops wires from going brittle, and any other under-bonnet heat related issues.
Check around for bits touching manifolds or other hot areas, same as on any car.
Costs nowt.
Simple enough.
Edited by grahamw48 on Saturday 16th August 21:51
D14 AYS said:
http://www.gx-security.co.uk/dicon-680mbx-heat-det...
Im off to get one right now,i also have an integral garage and it is a worry.
Wouldn't parking your hot car in the garge trigger it?Im off to get one right now,i also have an integral garage and it is a worry.
grahamw48 said:
I fit worries you that much, disconnect the battery when parked up....you can fit an isolator switch.
No power...no fire.
Not quite true. You can still have a short anywhere between the isolator and the battery. As you will generally have run more wire to get to the isolator switch you may end up with more of a fire risk. No power...no fire.
Edited by grahamw48 on Saturday 16th August 21:51
I'm only a potential TVR owner, but have owned many a race car all with isolator switches. I place them close to the battery with free air routes so the wire insulation isnt damaged.
Personally I'd be looking at the potential causes of this problem and fix them rather than attempting a bandaid.
You could run a lifeline automatic extinguisher, but I'd be rather cautious in regards to the trigger. I've seen in car extinguishers go off accidentially and it doesnt aid the driving experience.
http://www.lifeline-fire.co.uk/fireextinguisher/au...
Edited by Redmist336 on Monday 18th August 07:34
Edited by Redmist336 on Monday 18th August 07:35
This is something I am conscious of in my classic.
So whilst I have the thing appart to restore various bits I have torn out the entire TVR wiring loom (Which was an atrocious mess or connectors and incorrectly sized cables)
I intend to make a new loom using the correct size cables and proper connectors in the hope that it wont get hot and catch fire!
I have also torn out the fuel line from the tunnel to replace the rotton/brittle plastic affair with a nice copper pipe properly attached to the chassis!....
Various other security things that have to be addressed are the locations of the brake lines...copper lines cabletied to the chassis are not really acceptable either..
Im hoping that once I have finished I should have a fairly reliable and safe car...
So whilst I have the thing appart to restore various bits I have torn out the entire TVR wiring loom (Which was an atrocious mess or connectors and incorrectly sized cables)
I intend to make a new loom using the correct size cables and proper connectors in the hope that it wont get hot and catch fire!
I have also torn out the fuel line from the tunnel to replace the rotton/brittle plastic affair with a nice copper pipe properly attached to the chassis!....
Various other security things that have to be addressed are the locations of the brake lines...copper lines cabletied to the chassis are not really acceptable either..
Im hoping that once I have finished I should have a fairly reliable and safe car...
grahamw48 said:
Risoli said:
After hearing the terrible news at TVR Power (I wish them the very best) I suspect many of us are getting perhaps a little paranoid about spontaneous TVR combustion. quite frankly i'm happy to be paranoid about this as my T350 is kept in an integral garage. I'm no car technician; i struggle to fill the water bottle....what advice can anyone give to keep this risk to a minimum? all this talk of foam protection missing at the battery site, changing wires around, replacing hoses etc...what are the suspected causes and what can be done? Next time she's in for a service I'll give TVR a list! Off to Halfords to buy a fire extinguisher.....
I fit worries you that much, disconnect the battery when parked up....you can fit an isolator switch.No power...no fire.
I always leave the bonnet up after a run anyway - stops wires from going brittle, and any other under-bonnet heat related issues.
Check around for bits touching manifolds or other hot areas, same as on any car.
Costs nowt.
Simple enough.
Edited by grahamw48 on Saturday 16th August 21:51
and the good isolators have a small fused wire that bypasses the main switch and is enough to power the ECU,alarm clock etc(no fire risk)this unit can be fitted into the side of the battery tray(key faces passengers feet)in about 30 minutes and cost little http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Battery-Cut-off-master-switc...http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/products/ProductList...Edited by That Daddy on Monday 18th August 10:40
I hate 'tempting fate' but it occours to me that people are getting a little paranoid about 'self combusting' TVRs. Perhaps understandably after the dreadful events at Power last week but lets keep it in perspective.
Allegedly, the source of the fire was a car brought in specifically because of a electrical issue. I have no idea what the reported symptoms were but clearly there WAS an electrical fault. With the benefit of hindsight, this would hugely raise the odds and opportunities for fire to occour following a build up of heat/gradual breakdown of cable or other insulation leading to the ignition of combustable material close by. This was NOT a car like yours or mine which was perfectly serviceable with no known or suspected electrical faults. It therefore follows that there is no need to be unduly alarmed by imagining the same fate could happen randomly.
I'm not aware that TVR's are more prone to 'self combustion' through an electrical source than any other similar vehicle. But I AM aware that a number of engine bay fires have been caused by rupture high pressure fuel lines squirting motion lotion over the hot and sparky bits.
This, of course, doesn't happen in the middle of the night with the car parked and cool in our integral garages. It happens when we are starting/driving. So my contribution to this topic would be to suggest that checking rubber/neoprene fuel lines and joints for perishing/cracking at frequent intervals is potentially much more useful than being distracted by what I think is a far more rare occourance.
All IMHO of course!!
Nick.
Allegedly, the source of the fire was a car brought in specifically because of a electrical issue. I have no idea what the reported symptoms were but clearly there WAS an electrical fault. With the benefit of hindsight, this would hugely raise the odds and opportunities for fire to occour following a build up of heat/gradual breakdown of cable or other insulation leading to the ignition of combustable material close by. This was NOT a car like yours or mine which was perfectly serviceable with no known or suspected electrical faults. It therefore follows that there is no need to be unduly alarmed by imagining the same fate could happen randomly.
I'm not aware that TVR's are more prone to 'self combustion' through an electrical source than any other similar vehicle. But I AM aware that a number of engine bay fires have been caused by rupture high pressure fuel lines squirting motion lotion over the hot and sparky bits.
This, of course, doesn't happen in the middle of the night with the car parked and cool in our integral garages. It happens when we are starting/driving. So my contribution to this topic would be to suggest that checking rubber/neoprene fuel lines and joints for perishing/cracking at frequent intervals is potentially much more useful than being distracted by what I think is a far more rare occourance.
All IMHO of course!!
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