333pg333

Just thinking of all the money going into new rebuild and seriously considering a better system than the single kitchen sized fire extinguisher bolted to the armrest. I hope to never need it, but having seen an RX7 burn down to the ground within 5 minutes at the track last year has me seriously concerned. The insurance of being able to flick a switch for some decent retardant is becoming more and more appealing. Any ideas or experience are welcome.

Jon Moeller

AFFF

Ski

yep, foam it.

333pg333

So this is on a road/track car. Where would be the best place to mount the tank? Has anyone ever had the unfortunate need to use one of these? What sort of effectiveness do they have and what's the clean up like afterwards?

Ski

Do you use your back seat area? I thought it was a track car but the tubing from the head is easy enough to route and hide behind carpet. That's the beauty of AFFF, it's really a detergent based foam - clean it up with water. Old foam systems (industrial) were of a biological base and stunk like hell.

Most 944 fires have come around the fuel system. New fuel lines are the best defense against this. Most of the foam systems, have at least two heads, some three with one usually by the driver and the other 1 or 2, inside the engine comparment pointed toward the fuel line and exhaust manifold area.

Geneqco

G'day Patrick,

I've been thinking about the same thing myself. Paragon has a system. This link should give you most answers:

http://www.paragon-products.com/category_s/317.htm

333pg333

Thanks Ski for the good info. Scott, yes I saw the one on Paragon. Wonder if they ship that sort of thing. There's probably similar things available out here anyway. Worth checking out. When I saw that RX7 go up so quickly I just thought how bad that would be not even considering any personal safety.

azmi951

Foam will be your best protection. The Halon (or equivalent) are intended to give the driver enough time to get out of the vehicle and as soon as the gas leaves the fire continues. Foam will help cool hot parts and provide a vapor barrier.

Have you thought about an extinguisher mounted to the passenger seat with a Brey Krause mount? I keep a 5 lb foam extinguisher in my car.

333pg333

Where abouts mounted to the passenger seat? Under the front or behind? No one sits in the rear but it's good for some storage, but that may be the best place to mount. I was looking at the spare wheel well for sometime to mount the oil tank for the d/s, but that is not going to happen there so maybe out back in the well?

Bri Bro

And AFFF will freeze, so it can't be left in a car that will see freezing temperatures.

333pg333

No chance of that where I live. Thanks for the tip though.

TRP951

Would that be a problem if I were to leave it in my car in my garage during a NY winter? I considering getting one for my car

Bri Bro

Depends on how well insulated your garage is. Most just pull the unit out of the car and store it indoors for the winter. I never have figured how people use these in the early spring and late fall in the Nothern US. I am lucky because I still have a large bottle of Halon but when it discharges it will be very hard to get refilled. Can't ship the stuff anymore.

azmi951

333, My extinguisher is mounted using a seat mounted bracket to the front. The extinguisher is mounted to the seat so it all still slides. It required no drilling and is totally reversible.

333pg333

Sorry, do you mean a single extinguisher or the tank for one of those systems that is mentioned above?