Mark in Baltimore

Based on the archives and an internet search, I understand that halotron has replaced halon as an environmentally friendlier , FAA approved fire suppressant. Stable Energies sells both halon and halotron but the latter is less expensive, which is great.

Are there any downsides to halotron in an automobile environment that might be a liability such as pressure intolerances to cockpit heat, shelf life, etc. that I am unaware of?

Also, if I go with halon and end up using it, will I be able to recharge it with halotron or do I need a new cylinder?

If it's cheaper and better than halon, it seems to be the way to go. However, I've never heard of the stuff before so I wanted to ask someone else.

Thanks for your help!

Cheers!

Sloth

I asked the same question a while back. The word that I got back was that the Halotron is not as efficient as the Halon in putting out fires.

I bit the bullet and got the halon b/c I wanted a small bottle for my street car.

Mark in Baltimore

Sloth,

Thanks for the quick response. Your answer is just the sort of information I'm looking for.

I ran a search in the Racing and DE forum on Halotron but came up empty for some reason.

Mark in Baltimore

I spoke to Bob at Stable Energies and who said halotron is a foam that suppresses the fire by smothering and cools the fuel with the water content of the foam. It cleans up easily without corrosion but it still has to be cleaned up, unlike halon. Halotron is also more effective than halon in windy conditions. Besides the clean up issue, halotron is less efficient at fire fighting than halon.

Halon supplies are still plentiful and recharging is not a problem.

That said, I think I'll go with halon.

Cheers,

pig4bill

[quote]Originally posted by Mark:
<strong>Halon supplies are still plentiful and recharging is not a problem.

That said, I think I'll go with halon.

Cheers,</strong><hr></blockquote>

With any luck at all, you won't be recharging all that often.

SHRKBIT

Does anyone know how <a href="http://www.firebottleracing.com/3MCEA614.htm" target="_blank">CEA-614</a> compares? (Aside from what the linked page says...)
____

Hmm, found some additional information <a href="http://www.ioportracing.com/faqs-fire.htm" target="_blank">here</a>. It suggests that twice as much CEA-614 is needed to do the same job as Halon.

Curt

Mark in Baltimore

Thanks for the links, SHRKBIT. I''ve never heard of CEA-614 before nor has anyone mentioned it.

Halon 1211 stills seems to be the product of choice for handheld extinguishers.

E. J. - 993 Alumni

Does <a href="http://www.h3r.com/products/halotron_comparison.htm" target="_blank">this link </a> help? See the extra links on the left of the page too.

Then see <a href="http://nmeri.unm.edu/CGET/FAA1pap.PDF" target="_blank">this white paper</a> to see different applications in the airplane industry.

Good luck,

E. J.

Mark in Baltimore

E.J.,

You da man. Thank you for the detailed links. Although the chemistry is beyond me, I gleaned quite a bit of info from both of them.

<img src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" border="0" alt="[cheers]" />