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Bargain Fire Extinguisher


Wilfman

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For those who don't have one, how can you ignore a 1KG ABC Powder Fire Extinguisher for £7.49 (use code SUMMERSALE for discount) delivered!

Rated 5A 34B C

BS EN 3

http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/p/car-accessories/car-accessories-products/emergency-and-breakdown/car-fire-extinguishers/?545773051&0&cc5_825

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Looks good, where's the best place to mount it?

Normal advice is in front of the passenger seat, on the floor; can make getting in and out a little trickier, and obviously makes it harder to move the seat, if your not careful.

Obviously, quite a few mount it on the rear bulkhead, over the tunnel, between the seats. But you normally get a load of posts warning of the dangers of it coming loose in an accident - "they fly forwards, bounce off the windscreen and come back at you!"

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Thanks, ordered and collecting one this morning. Between the seats is deadly. In an accident, they do fly out with enough force to land in the passenger footwell and punch a big dent in the end panel and without doubt would have broken the passengers foot if it hit. As you can guess I know. Since I have an easy access boot, mine will be in there. Although not 'handy' to get to, I dont have to worry about it flying around.

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Haven't decided yet, I'll see how it looks when it arrives, but mine will either be the pax floor, (not keen) or more likely the boot box

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(Slight thread drift - sorry!)

 

I've got a plumbed in one coming (thanks Danny!) and wonder if under my rear panel (no boot box) is a good place to fit it.

 

Any thoughts??

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(Slight thread drift - sorry!)

 

I've got a plumbed in one coming (thanks Danny!) and wonder if under my rear panel (no boot box) is a good place to fit it.

 

Any thoughts??

I've got an old plumbed in one somewhere, that I got second hand and never got round to fitting, (needs more tubing and a refil).

I had similar thoughts about tucking it away at the back. My only considerations were, how, if at all I could replace or remove the safety pin, or would it have to stay "live" - worrying when the car is left parked up somewhere, and someone has one of those "what does that do" moments with the release handle! And the other one was where do I put the remote release handle? (In my case, it's a road car dash, so didn't want a handle sticking out of it, and there's no room below it). I settled on the idea of putting the handle on the rear bulkhead between the seats, but never did look further into solving the locking pin issue.

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I'm quite liking the boot idea..... in front of the passenger seat leaves it a bit awkward for getting in and out plus restricts movement of seat.

Plus it solves the problem of what to put in the boot!

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Plus it solves the problem of what to put in the boot!

:blush: oh I never have a problem there; tool kit, old plastic ice cream tub full of roadside spares, (fuses, tie wraps common nut/bolt sizes etc) an old towel, and my old golf waterproofs. And depending on the weather, my cars hood!

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I would never rely on the standard clip-in mount to retain a fire extinguisher on a bumpy road, never mind in an accident.  When I used to have my own stage rally car (nearly thirty years ago now), I added extra restraint to the hand held extinguisher using a bicycle toe strap - a leather strap with a quick release buckle - fitted around the cradle and the bottle.  This never gave me any hassle and, though I never crashed my car, I did hit a lot of potholes and rough surfaces - one hidden edge on an airfield hard enough to move a front strut up a couple of millimetres.  Releasing the extinguisher was simples - flick the clip and out it came.  A quick look on e-bay shows that nylon toe straps are available for less than £3 for a pair.  They are available in Halfords for between £4 and £6.  As a minimum, I would have them securing the extinguisher in the cradle - even if that puts the cost of the installation up by 50%.

 

I have a hand held gas extinguisher (bought for when I shook down my Eleven and carried when I am navigating in road rallies).  The bracket is similar to the one pictured above but, being newly bought, it comes with stainless steel over-centre clips to replicate the restraint that I put in with the toe straps.

 

I'm just finishing off my Eleven build and have fitted an electronic plumbed in gas system.  A lot of money, yes, but I have much, much more money sunk into the build and I now have more peace of mind knowing that flicking a switch and pressing a button should release enough gas to the engine bay, behind the scuttle and onto the footwells to put a fire out. 

 

Hand held powder and AFFF extinguishers generally will only hold back a small fire for sufficient time to help you to get out (it's no accident that fire engines are the size they are!) and you need to have clear access to the fire to cover it in powder/foam to prevent oxygen getting to the fire itself - so get ready to open the bonnet to put one out.  I am old enough to remember halon extinguishers and have put out some reasonable fires with 2.5kg BCF extinguishers, starting by squirting gas through the radiator grill or into the engine bay from below - hence my ongoing preference for gas extinguishers.  Halons are not available (to the public) any more but I always thought that the damage to the ozone layer from my little 2.5kg hand held paled into insignificance compared to a car burning for some minutes until "Trumpton" arrived to douse it.  I put out and held back an engine fire in a hire company's Transit pick-up with the BCF but the engine block was so hot that it would reignite as the remains of the wiring loom kept flickering.  Oxfordshire Fire Service's finest came along, took off the oil filler cap and filled the Pinto with water.  That did the trick, but so would have a covering of powder in that instance!  At a rally once, we put out an Escort Cosworth that was well on fire (the fuel pumps were not wired through the cut-out and were still pumping 102 octane onto hot surfaces).  That was knocked down with two 9 litre AFFF extinguishers and then covered with powder to keep it out.  Sadly, the solution might just need more than one extinguisher.

 

Simon

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