Engine Compartment Fire Extinquishing System

[ArtJ]

a season or two ago I contemplated adding a Fireboy extinquishing system
to my engine compartment. I ended up not doing it because of limited space
in the engine box. The Tartan 34c has a small fiberglass compartment/seat
which lifts off right in the center of the main salon.

I have removed two of 4 batteries with more space available, now am reevaluating a fire extinquishing
system. I have looked at the Fireboy systems in Hamilton Marine's Catalog.

The problem is the catalog states that they will automatically go off
at 165 degrees F. The problem is that the engine runs at 180 degrees F
normally and the tiny box approximately 2 ft x 3ft x 4ft (guess only)
get much hotter normally due to engine and dry exhaust to standpipe.
if the engine is ran for hours with the top cover on , it almost gets too hot to touch
normally. I leave cover off on long engine runs presently.

So I would be worried that the alarm would go off automatically too early
I called Fireboy and asked if they made a version with either a higher
trip point or strictly manual control. Also if they had a version in which
a hose could allow the extinquisher to be mounted remotely .
The tech person was gone for the day, but the operator insisted
that they automatically go off at 175 degrees F , not 165. Still too low
for my application. She also stated it is not Halon.

Does anyone have suggestions for how to solve this issue with
various extinquishers. I would like to be able to pull
a cord remotely in case of fire, or have it go off around 300 degrees F??

Comments appreciated

Art

[lat 64]

I'm not trying to be a smart-alec, but I think if your engine box is too hot to touch, you have a fire hazard!

I wish I had your extra heat though. I could use it.

Russ

[ArtJ]

Not too hot to touch, but hot. That's the way the T34C runs by design.
Even with Normal temperature on engine.

[hanleyclifford]

In an engine room the best fire suppresant is CO 2 since it offers the restart option which you must have. Halon is no longer sold for this purpose. In your situation I would find a way to cobble a remote CO 2 B-2 unit thru a pipe and dispersal fitting in the engine room. You don't need automatic because you're going to be there when it happens. You need a chain pull manual set up that allows you to fight the fire without opening that hatch.

[romantic comedy]

I had a buddy that had a halon bottle mounted on the inside of his engine box on the t 34. Far as I know it was halon. Almost 20 years ago.

Yes the t34 is a very hot enclosure. I have been trying get mine cooler for years. I am amazed that none have caught fire. Seems most guys just avoid the issue.

[hanleyclifford]

I have a halon automatic mounted in my engine room but it is near to the bottom of acceptable pressure range. The USCG has always honored it on inspection but will not allow it to be replaced or recharged. I will soon be shopping myself.

[ArtJ]

THanks for the inputs guys. I will look into the remote co2 option

I keep the blower running always whenever the engine is running.
I also, as mentioned above, remove the cover when running engine for extended
periods of time.
Thirdly, a particularly hot spot is where the dry exhaust bends upward
at a 90 degree angle. This spot is very close to the plywood battery
compartment corner. It originally had a plugged T there I replaced it
with a elbow, which helped a little. I also double wrapped the area
with exhaust wrap and covered that will a piece of stove pipe.
The Tartan factory originally used asbestos plaster, which may have
helped insulate that. But that is long gone before I owned the boat.

I wonder if there is a way to combine the Tartan standpipe with a
double walled water cooled exhaust pipe for the first couple of feet instead
of letting it be dry and wrapped only?

Best Regards
Art

[hanleyclifford]

Art - Is it possible to increase the size of the motor box to get more clearance?

[ArtJ]

Hanley there is a adjacent outboard compartment that can hold 4 large
batteries which when only 2 are mounted has room for a extinquisher.
The only question is what ambient temperature can the (co2 ?) extinquisher
withstand.
To enlarge the box would be very impractical due to space constrains
for passage, table, bunks.

Thanks

Art

[jpian0923]

For shits and giggles can you get some engine compartment temps?
I have a fireboy mounted about 1 foot away from my engine. It also says it goes off automatically at 165F. It never has gone off though. You might be pleasantly surprised at the temps you get.

[sastanley]

Art, my hot section is only 1/2" from the bottom of my teak plywood galley cabinet. I bought some of that self-adhesive firewall insulation lots of folks put in their cars...it at least keeps the wood from catching fire by close contact and disperses the heat.

No solution for your immediate issue of an extinguishing system though.

[romantic comedy]

My dry exhaust section got so hot, I finally just wrapped tubing around it. Sorry but I dont know how to make the image smaller.

Try right click, then view image.

[hanleyclifford]

Oddly enough this old Windows 2000 allows me to save the image from the post and resize it, but the right click and view option does not work. Shawn, help us out here. BTW, RC; that's a lot of copper - are you makin' sumpthin' down there?

[sastanley]

Hanley, I use paint.NET. It is free and works on Windoze just fine..maybe even Windows 2000 according to the link. You need the Microsoft .NET framework 3.5 framework though, which it will install if needed. For a free product, this far exceeds regular old MS Paint and other products out there, although Paint will re-size pics just fine too.

Cameras on phones these days have so many megapixels they overwhelm us. I re-size all my pics with the tool mentioned above. I e-mail it to myself or move it to the HDD or whatever, and then re-size with this tool and then post it.

Like any other free product, don't fall for all the other links and free stuff on the site. Just keep an eye on what you click.

http://www.getpaint.net/download.html#download

RC, have you plumbed some antifreeze into that copper line!!?!???!?!?!?

Another trick is to use CTRL and (+) or (-) to change the total Internet browser aspect..this often works with huge pics.

[romantic comedy]

I was planning on running some sort of fluid thru the tubing, probably anti freeze. It is 110 feet of 1/4 tubing. A lot of resistance. Maybe just blow air thru it. As of now, it is just there. It seems to be keeping cool enough. I have not run the engine for very long yet, so am still in the testing phase.

I think that I should have really tried to ventilate the space much better, rather then doing this. I was trying to stay more mechanical.

To run anti freeze, I might need another pump. maybe I can tee the salt water, or the anti freeze. Choices...

BTW, I have a Mac. I resized a picture a while ago, but cant remember how I did it. Cant remember much now a days. I will eventually ask wife. She loves computers.