morganabowen

One of my friends car recently caught fire and unfortunately for him, he did not have a fire extinguisher. I purchased a B&K fire extinguisher mount from a fellow rennlister and am waiting for it. What is the best fire extinguisher to purchase Last weekend I was at the swap meet, and saw a 2.5 lb extinguisher for $45.00. It was new and still in the box. I wasn't sure what kind to purchase, so I didn't buy it. It was a Halon. What is the correct one to buy, and are they in different sizes or shapes I appreciate any replys

Hardback

Sorry to hear of your friends misfortune. I have a halguard dry chemical extinguisher on a rennline seat mount. I hope I never have to use it. I bought one as a precaution for track days. I watched my cousins race car burn down twice in 2 events. He released his fire suppression system and it gave him enough time to escape.

ttreat

Any fire extinguisher would work to put out a fire that is rated for class A, B, and C but you probably want to a halon or equivalent fire extinguisher in your car. Halon is no longer produced but is still legal to use in the US. Halon or suitable replacement extinguishers are safer to use on electronics. The chemicals in the other extinguishers will toast the electronics in our cars.

I have been an advocate of carrying fire extinguishers in my vehicles ever since I saw a friends car nearly go up in flames at an autocross because the battery moved and shorted out causing the surrounding material to catch fire.

crownfireinc

For cars, the best suited fire extinguishers are dry powder fire extinguishers.Both fuel and electric related fire spread are successfully dealt by these fire extinguishers. These involve a monthly inspection and an annual recharge.

OZ951

I'm looking at a fire extinguisher system at the moment and I notice that there are FIA approved foam extinguishers available these days as well. I like the fact that they are non corrosive and dont have environmental issues/constraints either.

C4CRNA

If it catches on fire run away from the car as fast as you can.
Don't try to fight the fire with some small extinguisher.
Let it go and get it totaled, then start over

Mfletch

I rebuilt mine after a dash fire. The previous owner did not have an extinguisher. A CHP officer stopped and put the fire out with a dry chemical extinguisher. The mess made by the dry extinguisher was worse than the damage caused by the fire. I would either use Halon or watch from a safe distance.

aviography

I have a B&K mount attaching to the front of the seat, I got a 2.5lb Halguard halon type extinguisher and was able to mount it to the driver's seat with a very minor non-distructive modification to the B&K mount.

Some people have argued a hand-held fire extinguisher is not effective, however all else being equal i would rather have one than not, even if I don't use it on my car but am able to help out someone else, especially if the extra time gave someone time to be extracted to safety.

OZ951

Having had an engine fire in my 944, I can attest to the value of having a hand held extinguisher. I can also attest to the corrosive nature of dry chemical powder. That's why I have a halon extinguisher in that car now, and also why I am looking for a non powder extinguisher for my 996.

thirteeneast

I used to always carry an extinguisher, Problem is maybe your better off letting it burn? its insured.

Fire or water can cause so much unseen damage.

I'm on the fence on this one.

Different if your stuck inside or there's some threat to life of course.

Any thoughts?.

996_North

Carry one, it doesn't mean you have to use it. They are good for breaking glass as well.
Does anyone use this rear seabelt mount ? Does this meet DE metal to metal requirements ?

OZ951

It probably depends on whether you prefer to have a replacement car or not I guess. I had a lot of work into mine so I didn't want to start again with a stock standard / unknown car.

By extinguishing the fire the damage was fairly limited even though the insurance company wrote the car off. Hence when I bought the car back and restored it with the payout I was in a position to improve the car (more safety features - go figure).

morganabowen

Well in that case, I don't think you can tell the CHP not to use their extinguisher. But you are correct, they make a real mess As far as letting it burn, with that much damage from the extinguisher, the insurance will still TOTAL it

aviography

Are you a non site-sponsoring vendor?

Torontoworker

It wouldn't meet an SCCA or CASC requirement - not sure about DE. What you have there is a potential missile coming forward if the metal band/clip fails on the strap holding the bottle to the plate in either a front end impact or a rear end impact from someone else. I wouldn't worry about the belt latches per say. At least with the floor mounts the bottle mount if it fails - fly's into the lower passenger foot well.