Fire suppression

[GavinT]

A guy in our local club posted on our Facebook group about his scary experience with his Esprit and I thought it timely.

Here's what he wrote:
"Well had an interesting club run today. Was on way home out on a country road when a fire erupted in the engine bay!!! Dante's Inferno for all of 15 seconds ...then the Blazecut fire suppression system went off with a bang and no more fire. Not even singed paint!! Yes engine bay is covered in white suppresant and still need to identify source of fire (black smoke indicated oil line probably) but hopefully minimal damage."

I have no commercial interest.
I'd been thinking about a fire suppression system but had no real idea on cost. It appears these "Blaze Cut" systems are quite affordable - about AU$300.
Anyone have a recommendation or experience with these systems?

Cheers,
Gavin

[BDA]

That looks really interesting! I did some digging. It's available on Amazon (I would expect in Australia also). There are several brands: Blazecut, Proteng, and Fireslayer are three I found. Proteng has a cooling gas rather than a foam or powder so it should be cleaner. They are designed to work in confined spaces. I assume that an Europa engine bay is enclosed enough but it might be worth investigating. There are several videos for those systems. The only problem I could see is that it took some time for the suppressant to come on and extinguish the fire. I'm probably being unreasonable in my expectations. You can watch the videos and judge for yourself.

Amazon has some similar products that are much less expensive and designed for smaller areas. One that sounded interesting was called Tenyu Tech. At US$50 each, you could probably cover a Europa engine bay with three of them. The smaller size seems like it would be more flexible.

I think these sorts of fire suppressants seem like a great idea. They are easier to install, aren't refilled (after they are used, you have to install new ones, obviously) which can be pretty expensive, and pretty flexible. I'll look into these further!

extra note: some of these devices are knocked off by Chinese companies which may not be as good. One of the companies that makes a fire extinguishing ball compared theirs to the Chinese knock off. The comparison was powerful.

I would also suggest that you spread your net pretty widely. There are more options than those I've listed here. I think doing more homework will pay dividends.

[jbcollier]

Fire is real concern for sure.  TC/S Europas have the distributor under the carbs, Renault engines have the exhaust manifold under the carbs, so not much better.  Fibreglass fires are difficult to extinguish as they only need ignition to start burning.  The fibreglass combustion process itself supplies the necessary oxygen.

I’m not positive but I believe the systems described use a fire suppression agent that is corrosive.  Great that it stops the fire but there can be considerable cleanup and repairs afterwards.  I would recommend either a foam or gas system.

The foam systems are more common and economical.  They do require more frequent servicing and they cannot be exposed to freezing temperatures.  Foam systems are very effective and easily cleanup with just water afterwards.  Hose it down, hook up a recharged canister and you’re good to go — and repair what caused the fire though!

Gas systems have zero cleanup, longer service intervals and can stand very cold temperatures.  They are effective but should not be deployed at speed, otherwise the suppressant is instantly sucked out.  The order of the day is to stop, exit the vehicle and fire the system as you do.

I went with a gas system that sprays just into the engine compartment.  So far my only complaint is that I thought I was getting a halon substitute but ended up with halon itself.  The substitute required twice as much to be as effective as halon so I have a large tank when one half its size would have done just as well.

[lotusfanatic]

I can only imagine the outcome had the owner not had any other form of fire extinguisher at hand. 

That fire suppressing system looks to have saved his Esprit and the owner from having to try to tackle the blaze - worth every penny/cent!   

[Lou Drozdowski]

Installed in 3307R

https://safecraft.com/

[GavinT]

Thanks for the research and comments gents.
I should have done that before posting but it was late here.

It's been years since I looked at these systems. Back then I recall most fire suppression systems were of the sophisticated professional variety aimed at race car teams - money no object.
Don't know if my memory is foggy but I thought these pro systems were over $1,000 and more like $1,500 by the time all the necessary plumbing was installed.

In Oz, Halon would be banned and yes, I understand the powder can be corrosive if left.
I believe the Esprit guy mentioned had an automated system. Not sure if automatic is better than manual activation.

That said, this eBay link says:

"Basically the plastic tube with fire suppression liquid (HFC-236fa) is there waiting for a fire to start.  If ignition occurs, the liquid agent will be heated, pressurizing the plastic tube.  Eventually the fire will melt the plastic and the agent will be released in an explosive and suffocating manner, extinguishing the fire.
The agent is not corrosive and there are no residues, so it won't ruin the internal components of the engine.  It is dispensed as a liquid and there is no thermal shock possibility."

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/BMW-E10-E21-E30-E36-BLAZECUT-Passive-Fire-Suppression-System-TV200FA-2-Meters/362428300919?_trkparms=aid%3D888008%26algo%3DDISC.CARDS%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20200220090753%26meid%3D05a1ccb753da48cdad9de1f78ffccdc3%26pid%3D100752%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D1%26sd%3D113611157959%26itm%3D362428300919%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2047675%26algv%3DDiscV1&_trksid=p2047675.c100752.m1982

Good point about the design being intended for 'confined spaces'. That seems to have emanated from the original application being electrical junction/fuse boxes. Perhaps the Esprit is more 'enclosed' than a Europa.