Fire Suppression for your daily driver

We've seen the articles on fire systems for your race car in a recent issue.

So, the question is, those with not quite modern cars, classics, vintage, antique, what ever you would like to call it, even project drivers, do you keep an extinguisher on board when you are out for a drive, you know, just in case ?

And if you do, what size, any particular type ?

I have a small cockpit,hehehe.... I said cockpit, sorry, channeling Bevis and Butthead for a second, I want it to be small enough to be non intrusive, BUT LARGE enough so I don't end up with a puddle of melted fiberglass, cause it did not have enough umph to do the job.

Thanks, Steve

My project car has a fire system in it. :)

As for size of extinguisher, all you're really looking for is the ability to knock down a small fire before it gets bigger. if it's already gotten bigger then you're not going to put it out without involving the fire department, so the goal is more of the "get the car stopped so you can get out and run away" variety.

as an ex-commercial driver.. I -always- have an extinguisher onboard. I have never needed it for my own vehicles, but I have put out a couple of fires over the years in other's

If it is anything other than a box-stock commuter, it has an extinguisher.

Yes:

Because:

Caused:

A moderate size ABC dry powder costs $25. Rewiring my car cost $100 and a few months. This is ignoring the whole melted hole in my bumper problem, my trunk no longer having interior, and my car smelling like an Indian casino for several weeks.

mad_machine wrote: as an ex-commercial driver.. I -always- have an extinguisher onboard. I have never needed it for my own vehicles, but I have put out a couple of fires over the years in other's

Yeah my grandpa was a trucker and kinda beat it into my head to have certain things on hand in a vehicle and a good fire extinguisher was one of those items.

This is a good idea. I need to do something in the commute attack car.

What about a system that automatically goes off?

plance1 wrote: What about a system that automatically goes off?

Small fires can be put out quickly and can also happen anywhere. We're talking brake fires, small electrical fires, battery fires, etc. These are best attacked with a handheld bottle, especially since you'll need very little extinguisher to put it out.

Fire suppression systems go off everywhere and are expensive and time consuming to undo. Even on track, our CFR training suggests to use it only as a last resort. If your commuter car has reached this stage and is enveloped in flames, it isn't worth saving.

Automatic triggering is also tricky since cars can be both hot and smoky but not on fire.

Interesting. But if my car flips over and regardless where a fire breaks out would it hurt anything if the onboard system went off in the pass compartment as a preventative measure?

I have a fire bottle size medium in all of my street cars and my track car. Cheap insurance.

I also carry a small portable extinguisher in my truck although not in the passenger area, it lives in the toolbox. I have never needed to use one on my own cars thankfully, but I did help out a guy when his car caught fire. A fire extinguisher is one of the first things I buy for any new addition to the fleet.

Anyone have a reccomendation on best brand or mount or best place to buy?

I wanted Halguard for my '79 E21. It costs a freaking fortune, but there are Ebay vendors that sell new ones for better prices than I could find anywhere else.

plance1 wrote: Interesting. But if my car flips over and regardless where a fire breaks out would it hurt anything if the onboard system went off in the pass compartment as a preventative measure?

Well it might kill you unless you can get out almost instantly!

Lack of breathable air can be a problem. That's why whenever an indoor halon system is installed there must be an audible alarm so people know to run for their life and breath.

plance1 wrote: Interesting. But if my car flips over and regardless where a fire breaks out would it hurt anything if the onboard system went off in the pass compartment as a preventative measure?

Well it might kill you unless you can get out almost instantly! But it might save the interior for your heirs.

Lack of breathable air can be a problem. That's why whenever an indoor halon system is installed there must be an audible alarm so people know to run for their life and breath.

Any powder-type extinguisher will cause horrible rust on anything it touches...so setting it off is a big deal. I don't think halon is used in cars, but if it were, yeah you wouldn't want to be inside when it went off.

GameboyRMH wrote: Any powder-type extinguisher will cause horrible rust on anything it touches...so setting it off is a big deal. I don't think halon is used in cars, but if it were, yeah you wouldn't want to be inside when it went off.

IIRC it's the monoammonium phosphate dry chemical that's the corrosive one. Not all dry chemical extinguishers use that, there are some that are baking soda.

For a built-in system I would (and did) go with AFFF over halon-style gaseous systems. Cheaper, no breathing hazard, and from what I've read it works better given the open nature of the Miata driver area.

Fire extinguisher? Good idea. I need to buy a few myself for my hoopties.

But you don't want a pressurized, full-tilt HALON or clean agent system in your daily driver. The upkeep would be obnoxious.

If I've screwed with it, it has a fire extinguisher and tools on board at all times. So far, I haven't needed any of them.

I just put one in the Motovan. It's a marine fire extinguisher for under $20. It's a good luck charm I hope to never use.

codrus wrote:

GameboyRMH wrote: Any powder-type extinguisher will cause horrible rust on anything it touches...so setting it off is a big deal. I don't think halon is used in cars, but if it were, yeah you wouldn't want to be inside when it went off.

IIRC it's the monoammonium phosphate dry chemical that's the corrosive one. Not all dry chemical extinguishers use that, there are some that are baking soda.

Good point, but one that uses baking soda would be a BC extinguisher which wouldn't meet any typical requirements (and technically might not be smart) for racing use...so the point stands for racing extinguisher systems.

GameboyRMH wrote:

codrus wrote:

GameboyRMH wrote: Any powder-type extinguisher will cause horrible rust on anything it touches...so setting it off is a big deal. I don't think halon is used in cars, but if it were, yeah you wouldn't want to be inside when it went off.

IIRC it's the monoammonium phosphate dry chemical that's the corrosive one. Not all dry chemical extinguishers use that, there are some that are baking soda.

Good point, but one that uses baking soda would be a BC extinguisher which wouldn't meet any typical requirements (and technically might not be smart) for racing use...so the point stands for racing extinguisher systems.

My impression is that the 10BC baking soda based fire extinguishers are usually legal for race cars. It's mostly oil and gas fires that you're interested in using extinguishers on -- there's not much wood in a race car unless you're racing a Morgan. :) The NASA regs say it's OK, I can't find the SCCA ones online easily.

"real" race cars are all built-in fire systems, and AFAIK those only come in "halon" (or replacement) and AFFF.

I know in the midwest, almost all the bottles at our corners are ABC yellow powder corrosive fun because it works, FAST. We have a few coldfire water-additive bottles too, but they're really not that useful except for ethanol fires...

I neutralized my trunk with lots of vacuuming and a few rounds at the self-service car wash. I also dumped in a ton of 3 M Tris buffer because science. I topped it all off with Rust Bullet paint.

I actually owned an AFFF fire suppression system but gave it to a friend who actually has a caged race car. Oops.