Where do most of you mount your Fire Extinguisher (if you have one in the car)? and what type is most common?
Not a track car, just a DD.
Roy.
Here is where I put mine. Bought at my local FLAPS - not sure what type but it says it will put out a fire.
T
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Halon or its updated equivalent would be my choice for a sports car. Put it in easy reach of the drivers seat (not in the trunk) and not where it would hit you if in an accident. Dry chemical ABC extinguishers work well enough but the chemical can do some nasty stuff to 30+ year old engine and electrical parts.
Good luck,
Deputy Fire Marshal Nate
RFD
I used to keep a 5lb Halon lying behind the drivers' seat 'cause I didn't want to drill holes in sheetmetal or carpeting. Halon isn't as easy to get as it once was, but that would be my choice for an extingisher. As a matter of fact, there's a 10lb Halon right outside my office door at work
I too would like to hear some non-permanent mounting methods or ideas.
Paul
Griot's has a nice one, but a little too nice.
Here's mine. The bracket secures with velcro to the carpet pretty securely and it's not an obstacle for the driver.
I've got mine in the same place, but with the nozzle/pin end turned the other way so it tucks just under the seat. That way there is no chance of hitting it with my feet when I get into the car.
I was going to mount it to the center tunnel on the passenger side, but I could just see myself drilling through a fuel line or wiring trying to mount it
Somehow a thin bracket with multiple bends could be mounted under the seat rails. The extinguisher would be right in front of the passenger seat on the floor.
Will somebody please make one and send it to me.
Paul
I have had communications with Brey Krause last week trying to get them to design a seat bracket for the 914 drivers seat rail, they do have a universal mount. I am tempted to purchase an early 911 model and see if i can mod it to work. Here is where i mounted mine for the time being.
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I agree wholeheartedly about using a Halon extinguisher, but mounted mine just in front of the passenger's seat. Made a bracket out of angle iron that bolts onto the stock front seat mounts, and then mounts the extinguisher bracket with the extinguisher just above the level of the floor mat. This way, you can still easily reach it from the front seat position (with your seatbelt obviously unfastened at this point), but it will not interfere with egress/ingress of either the driver or passenger. By tilting the seat a bit, you can even adjust the fore/aft position of the passenger seat if it's a later car.
Unfortunately, the cars are up in Wisconsin at our cottage and I'm back in Chicago @ home, so I can't post any pics currently. If you just get the largest width piece of angle iron they have at the hardware store, two small straight pieces of metal (1x4 inches), and some small nuts and bolts, you can put it together very easily.
Cut the angle iron to the width of the seat rails (outside to outside). Attach the small pieces of metal like 2 small arms to reach back to the front seat mounting bolts, and drill/bolt them to the angle iron ( I welded mine, but not necessary).
The angle iron should have the vertical surface facing down towards the floor of the car a slight bit in front of the crossmember. Attach the fire extinguisher bracket to the vertical surface of the angle iron where the extinguisher will clear the floor and the seat if it moves, and bolt the bracket to the angle iron. A bit of experimenting with exact measurements of your extinguisher will make it perfect, but the normal sized handheld bottles will fit fine.
Someone with a bit of machining experience could easily adapt this into a kit part (Engmann?, others?) that would make it an easy bolt in adapter.
I bought my halon extinguisher on eBay from kansasfire1,
happy with the service, plus he refilled my 20 year old
tiny halon extinguisher.
Apparently all of the halon that exists today already exists, that is, no new halon is being made. SO, I didn't feel environmentally unfriendly buying one.
Paul
I know you arn't looking for a permanent solution but I am looking into a firecharger system when mine comes back from the shop. They run about 3-400 but use a co2 AFFF foam system and has been approved by ALMS. I figure better safe then sorry. Not to mention the fact that you can refill the system yourself for around $70.
http://www.firecharger.com/index.html
My OLD car from the 80's has pics still up on andy_zimm's photobucket album. I had mounted a 1.25 Halon extinguisher on the passenger side with the single bolt that holds the center console together. I wrapped it in Xray film to cover the white writing of the black extinguisher. 20 year old Xray film looks a bit tired in this 2007 picture.
The back of the bracket has thin black foam to protect the center console vinyl, but I suppose it could chafe over years of use.
BTW, as many of you know, I missed buying this car back by only 3 days!
1.25 lb is maybe enough for a small fire...
Paul
bungee
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Does anyone have a recommendation as to where to buy a Halotron Fire extinguisher?
I bought one of the 2.5 lb chrome Halotron ones from Griot's. I swear it was $150 back when I bought it, but they're listed at $200 now. Summit is showing $158 right now for the 2.5 lb chrome one. $120 for red.
I mounted it with the included bracket directly to the driver's side long. It doesn't restrict the seat at all in normal use. I might have to tilt it back to slide it off the rails, but that's all. I occasionally kick it getting in or out, but no big deal. I like having it close.
I would prefer it to be closer to the driver. But it depends on what you plan on using it for.
For a track car, the general concept is the on-board extinguisher is there to give you enough time to GET THE HECK OUT OF THE CAR. But for any real fire, a little bottle isn't gonna do too much good. Secondly, you gotta be able to reach it quick. Mounted under the passenger seat is not exactly easy access in my opinion. Center tunnel, or driver side long.
For a street car? Well, anywhere that's not in jeopardy of getting accidentally discharged by an errant foot would be best. But make sure you anchor it well. That fire bottle can become a significant projectile in the event of an accident. Not that it's a pressurized gas bottle (it's not that high pressure), just that it's a big heavy hunk of metal that could clonk you one good if it breaks out of the mount.
I agree though, the dry chem are great for putting out all sorts of fires, but the chemical will wreak havoc with aluminum and electrical wiring on a car. Corrosive stuff that is. Halon, and other displacing gases, are great because they're clean. But they really only work in enclosed spaces. If there's even the slightest breeze, it'll blow the Halon away in no time. Halon (and others) only works when it can fully displace the oxygen, leaving none for the fire (or you - so get the heck out of there). It doesn't smother and cover like dry chem, and it doesn't cool like CO2.
So if it's just for a get-the-heck-out-of-the-car use, I might go Halon, and just take a deep breath before I pull that pin. Not gonna stop that fire altogether unless it's a pretty tiny one though. Dry chem will kill a small fire better, but it's a mess to clean up afterwards. Still, better than burning all the way to the ground any day...
I wonder if you can get cold fire bottles in regular fire bottle sizes...
That's the stuff CHAMP cars used to use before they were absorbed by IRL, great for A and B fires, but not for C (electrical). That would be my optimal choice I think. Relatively clean, effective, and non-corrosive.
-Josh2
I was under the impression that you needed a larger Halon to be equivalent to a dry chem extinguisher, and Josh confirmed it. When I worked in an auto parts store awhile back I would laugh to myself when people would come in and buy these cute little 0.5 lb chrome fire extinguishers. Bling Bling.
If my car catches fire, I'm not worried about saving the engine. I'm worried about saving the REST of the car. I'll deal with dry chem everywhere, rather than having a Halon that isn't enough protection.
I wonder if YouTube has any good Halon vs dry chem videos...
I wouldn't carry anything less than a 2.5 lb extinguisher. That in itself will only buy you some time unless your lucky and catch it real quick and the fire isn't still being fed combustible fuel.
Fuel, electrical shut off ASAP!
i have an old one underneath the glove box
its way too old, and so its gonna get replaced soon (as in next time i drive it) (now that i think about, its probably been there since the 70's)
thanks for a good thread
reminds everyone about simple insurance for ones own rear end
and the abc's work well, even for old cars. I had a 55 tbrid catch fire on me, and it put it out, and was easy to clean everything with some water after the fire was out
Have any of you Canadians spent your almighty dollars on this? Any good?
http://newstarchemicals.com/af11e.html
--scroll to the bottom to see video.
Here's mine. 5 lb. ABC
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These look cool. Don't see that they come with any mounting hardware though. PCA-SBR gets another 15% off. Not sure if it's all regions or just SBR. http://www.automotion.com/productpage.aspx?pid=102439&cid=1&sid=224
since I was listed as Dino Davis, FIREMAN in the last issue of Rondel BMW mag, I say 2.5lb minium, and RED LOL
In confrence racing, we carry them not for our own saftey so much as to aid another driver in crisis! A good friend is alive today after his rx7 caught fire after a horrible looking shunt. The other drivers were able to reach him, bottles in hand faster than the cornerworkers...
Be sure to check them often, nothing would be sadder than having no pressure to spray the goo... My Lancia learned that sad one...
Frankenstien was RIGHT, FIRE BADDDDDDDDdddd
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Bump to the top for Pete's sake.
http://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/category_10001_10002_10489_-1_10481
http://store.summitracing.com/egnsearch.asp?N=700+4294925234+115+4294839021&NeXID=5
http://www.ogracing.com/catalog/2-Car/30-Fire-Suppression
http://www.paragon-products.com/category_s/316.htm
http://store.cdoc.com/products.asp?str=2000-2020&name=Fire+Suppression
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQetHlv4y-8
Hello, any updates on this post? Sorry, I know its an old post, but I am looking for a cool way to mount a fire extinguisher in my car as well in case of a fire after hearing so many stories.
That holder from Griot's is 139.99, sweet but so expensive...more than the extinguisher.
How are others installing them, please post your pictures? Do you drill holes into the floors or is there some part I am missing maybe from a shop like Performance parts or AA?
Thank you
Jamie
I made a bracket that mounts to the stock seat rails on both sides. Got the idea from the 911 mounts performance products makes. My driver's seat has a broken adjustment handle (still adjusts fine), so this mount may get in the way of a stock handle. Have not had a problem hitting it with a foot either driving, entering or exiting.
Hold it. I'm meeting with a company next week to go over a low cost system for the 914's. The engineer has them on his speedster and 356, so he is a Porsche guy. We are going to fit and mount one on my POS 914 and get a club price for these units. You will have the option of automatic, manual, or both. Fuel pump cut-off switch during discharge will be another option. We are shooting for somewhere in the 300 dollar range for a complete 2 head system, so if you can wait a week, it might be worth it.
I ended up making my own bracket for the front seat mount and went one step further and installed on onboard fire system.
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Here's what I did in my previous 914. It worked out well. Current 914 has a plumbed-in foam system with the bottle between the seats in a similar location.
In a 911 the seat is significantly higher off the floor so the brackets that mount behind the driver's shins are a decent option.
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