Safety
 

I just purchased for one of my cars a new fire extinguisher, an upgrade from a 1 1/2 lb unit to a 2.5 lb unit. Even, though they are more expensive than the dry chemical units, the Halon units are a small investment with high returns, if you are so unlucky to have an engine fire etc. The one major advantage of the Halon is the fact there is NO CLEAN UP, which is not the case with dry chemical units. Needless to say the complete under hood suppression Halon system is the way to go but this is very expensive.

Bill K

We go through this same affair every few years, the problem with halon is that it works fantastic in a closed environment, but not so good in an open cockpit or an engine compartment with a lot of airflow, such as your Cobra replica. For it to work, you need to get in awful close to a fire and hope what you have in your 2.5 unit is enough to snuff out the oxygen quickly to extinguish the fire, as that is how halon works, it displaces the oxygen, thus causing the fire to strangle itself for lack of it.

Bill S.

PS; you want a AFF, liquid based (actually plant based chemically) extinguisher or fire suppression system like THIS ONE

Did you ever listen to Cosby's 200MPH routine and his comment on the fire extinguisher?

You can use it to put out SOMEONE ELSE's car fire.

You can use it to put out someone else's house fire.

But if your car is on fire, are you really going to take the time to unstrap the extinguisher, go to both sides of the car (now belching smoke and flame) and unlatch it, and raise the hood (and get yourself burned) and then spray it?

... or ...

Are you simply going to run to safety and call 911?

Underhood systems can help, and halon is probably best, but a fire extinguisher mounted on the transmission tunnel is for show. I had one on mine. It was expired.

It actually makes for a perfect elbow rest. :cool:

The Halon extinguishers started to fade out in 1994, same route as R12 freon.

I still see Halon engine fire bottles though, the Halon is recycled during Hydrostatic testing of the Bottle. It is getting more and more expensive for older aircraft. Exchange bottles run $2500 and up for new aircraft , an old Lear Jet 45 bottle runs $30k IF you can find one. <--these type get damaged when the Squib fires and blows the disc into the bottle.

I did a study for a Six Sigma project I ran a few years ago to remove all the Drychem extinguishers from all 10 Factory owned Service Centers. Result of of someone discharging a drychem extinguisher in the tailcone of a Biz Jet. The dry chem turns to a liquid acid above 386F. Eats the hell out of Aluminum and ruins electronic and electrical systems.

Halotron I is quite good and does have a longer spray 6-45ft. Not a CFC issue like Halon.

This fact sheet sheds more info on the properties.
https://www.h3raviation.com/pages/faq#3

6. Does Halon remove oxygen from the air?
It is a common misconception that Halon "removes oxygen from the air."

According to the Halon Alternative Research Corporation (www.harc.org): "Three things must come together at the same time to start a fire. The first ingredient is fuel (anything that can burn), the second is oxygen and the last is an ignition source. Traditionally, to stop a fire you need to remove one side of the triangle-the ignition, the fuel or the oxygen. Halon adds a fourth dimension to fire fighting-breaking the chain reaction. It stops the fuel, the ignition and the oxygen from working together by chemically reacting with them

https://www.elitefire.co.uk/help-adv...extinguishers/

https://www.halotron.com/images_video.php

Actually,the unit I purchased is a Haltron 1 filled extingusher, I guess dating myself with the reference to Halon.

I remember when computers were kept in sealed computer rooms with raised floors (for running cables between the big boxes). They all had halon systems with a big red button on a wall. Most had two separate systems - one for under the floor and one for above. I don't know what they use now but the sealed computer rooms still exist as server rooms.