Fire Suppression Systems

[arush]

I am looking to purchase a (2) 10# fire suppression system for my Blown FED and have some questions.
What agent are you guys using? FE36, Halon 1301, Novec 1230 or a Foam agent.
I realize that a foam agent would be messier to clean up but my concern is, does a gas agent work in an open cockpit car?
Is there a particular agent that is mandatory for a FED ?
Are steel lines mandatory?  Are aluminum lines safe ?
I have a tendency to over think things but considering the importance of the subject and the expense I want to do it right the first time.
I respect and appreciate all feed back.

[dreracecar]

Rules prohibit aluminum lines,
any agent will only work when an "OPEN" car is stopped/not moving
Downfall of the gas is that its $25lb
downfall of the foam is that its a mess to clean up and a particarly when the bottle gets set off by accident
Good news is that other than the Top Fuel classes, you will more likely to set it off by accident than an engine fire.
 You did not hear this from me but some racers out there only have one bottle set up to fire, in fact they kinda say that the systems be set to fire seperatly so that you dont dump 20# of foam on the track to clean up. Haveing one bottle set to fire allows you to still have 1 bottle left if the other goes off, If something happens and both bottles go off during qualy or in the pits, you will either have to have spares or borrow (highly unlikely)some.
I had to go with halon because those were the only bottles small enough to fit in my car and I did not want to hang the larger bottles outside the frame or build another fuel tank

[arush]

Appreciate your feedback dreracecar. You made some valid points. I am thinking about going with a SAFECRAFT Novec 1230 unit. Anyone out there using there equipment?

[dreracecar]

My stuff is from safecraft,  No issues, smallest bottles available and run them side by side between the frame rails. run one cable to the first bottle and then from that bottle a seperate cable housing to the other bottle, cant remember if I put the cable in it or not

[GlennLever]

Two 10 pound bottles will fit between the rails.

Set up to both fire, one on the engine, one in the cockpit.

Yes it has been set off by accident, once by me when my arm restraint strap caught the lever, and once by my wife when she thought she was pulling the master shut off and pulled the fire lever by mistake.

What a mess and it cost $'s to refill the bottles

[arush]

Thanks guys for the info. Do you know if it is legal to paint the bottles, obviously leaving all sticker information exposed.
Glen, what agent are you using?

[GlennLever]

Thanks guys for the info. Do you know if it is legal to paint the bottles, obviously leaving all sticker information exposed.
Glen, what agent are you using?

Coldfire Vs Others Fire Suppressant Agents



ColdFire 302 is a harmless plant and water based fire suppressing agent for class B oil/fuel fires. Cold Fire puts out effectively and easily any Class A, B, D or K fires

http://www.goodvibesracing.com/DJSafetyFireSystems.htm

[dreracecar]

Glenn, I could not fit the CF bottles in "MY" car, I built my own car and at that time for the class it was only 5#, stepped up to 7.0 and changed over to a 10# safecraft because a friend gave it to me. Then NHRA without any reason mandated 20#, I could have bought 2 CF bottles for what the SC "bottle" cost but I was not willing to re-figure my car for the larger bottles.
There hasnt been a fire in our type of cars that I could remember and its only effective when the car has stopped, The last thing my driver needs is to be slippin anda sliding in the foam if the bottle goes off for a minor issue.

[GlennLever]

I fully understand

[wideopen231]

for the differance in time on fire I might rework car some how.

Great video and makes my choice easy.

[dreracecar]

No reason to, -20 suit is good for 20 sec.   20 sec is a really long time and for a dragster it has stopped in 10 sec so no direct flame,  Fire crew should be right on top within 5 sec, and if not , race someplace else.
 The vid does not show how big the bottles or system is and only one nozzle. CF does knock down the flame rather quickly as evadent by the vid, but most rules require more than one nozzle location, so now lets take that into account when using halon to get a more realistic time.

 By all means use CF if you can if you have the room, Its what I mostly install on my customer builds anyway, but you dont need to infer that halon is bad or does not work--- it works fine for the app. You will not find CF in airplanes both civilian and military , along with computer control rooms--- only halon as the CF is damaging to circuts

[GlennLever]

An important point is fire suppression is not to save the vehicle but the driver.

[arush]

For the record.  I called DJ Safety yesterday to get a price on a Coldfire system and the guy there said that they have no systems available at this time because they lost their cylinder supplier. He said that it has been a couple of weeks since this happened and he had no idea when systems would available again. I will have to do some research to see what other companies sell the Coldfire systems.

[GlennLever]

For the record.  I called DJ Safety yesterday to get a price on a Coldfire system and the guy there said that they have no systems available at this time because they lost their cylinder supplier. He said that it has been a couple of weeks since this happened and he had no idea when systems would available again. I will have to do some research to see what other companies sell the Coldfire systems.

Try Good Vibrations, they may have stock left.

http://www.goodvibesracing.com/DJSafetyFireSystems.htm

[dreracecar]

Goodvibes is generally  cheaper than going direct (on a lot of things besides) to the manf.. The systems are dated and stock moves quickly, so they could be out also waiting for inventory.