• Help Support Hardline Crawlers :

More fire safety ( fire suppresion systems)

1tonyj

1tonyj

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 29, 2011
Messages
1,452
Location
Panama City
looking at putting a manual/auto fire suppression system in my new build like the ones Stroud and Safecraft makes. Any of you guys have one of these in your buggy or have any advice as to which system?
 
1tonyj said:
looking at putting a manual/auto fire suppression system in my new build like the ones Stroud and Safecraft makes. Any of you guys have one of these in your buggy or have any advice as to which system?
Click to expand...

Same here.

I like the one Greg posted except I am going to look into the 2 liter and at least two nozzles pointed in the engine bay and not at myself.
 
Yeah I want two nozzles as well ….I do like the size of the cold fire unit though. I figure for 5-600 bucks its cheap insurance for protecting the rig and buying some time to get out of the damn thing should the worst happen.
 
Let me know what you want and I will check with my distributor and see if they can cut a deal. John G had this system on one of his buggies and was a good piece of mind. I carry two preloaded Cold fire extinguishers on my buggy at all times. They work...Period
THat was just a listing that was internet friendly




ADMINISTRATOR
 
I spoke with Justin yesterday and he is working me up a deal. I'll get back to you as soon as he lets me know. thumb.gif




ADMINISTRATOR
 
Nozzle based suppression systems have their place...but please please do NOT think that they are a replacement for a fire extinguisher. In our applications, they are even sometimes sub par when compared to a handheld unit. There arent enough nozzles to really protect the entirety of the engine compartment in enough scenarios to make them worth while. Not to mention the fact that on most buggies (especially a bouncer) there is no hood, no real firewalls, no front radiator, etc etc to contain the chemical. It will simply fog out and dissipate into atmosphere or on the ground almost instantly. They do not spray a cloud like an extinguisher does, and the chemical will fall to the ground, so if you are upside down (when a fire is more likely one could argue) the chemical wont even get to the motor unless you put the nozzles on the bottom of the compartment (which would then negate any benefit of them if the buggy caught fire while it was on all 4s).

These suppression systems are way more adequate as, and in reality are designed to be, a driver safety item and NOT a vehicle saving item. That is what an extinguisher is for. Point the nozzles at you and your nuts to give you the few seconds that they will spray to get the hell out of the death trap and grab your actual extinguisher to put the fire out. In order to have one be a really effective system to kill a major engine fluid fire, you would need a massive bottle with a ton of nozzles and it would start to not make sense pretty quickly.

In the end, they are really better suited for spraying into an enclosed space (like under the hood in a normal race car), they wont be super effective in a wide open engine bay with no hood or firewalls, fenders, cowl, radiator support, etc around things to keep the chemical contained. Use them as a safety item and keep the handhelds for putting out the fire...you can at least get right up on the source and spray the **** out of it with a handheld...cant really do that with a nozzle.
 
Thanks for the input … I totally agree. I look at this as just another addition to safety and definitely not a replacement for handheld extinguishers. A good point you brought up in a bouncer style buggy is the amount of open tube and lack of containment for the agent. In my case we are running a hood and somewhat of a firewall so I feel it to be a worthy addition. The buggy will still have two hand held extinquishers...one inside the cockpit and one external rear.
 
slravenel said:
Nozzle based suppression systems have their place...but please please do NOT think that they are a replacement for a fire extinguisher. In our applications, they are even sometimes sub par when compared to a handheld unit. There arent enough nozzles to really protect the entirety of the engine compartment in enough scenarios to make them worth while. Use them as a safety item and keep the handhelds for putting out the fire...you can at least get right up on the source and spray the **** out of it with a handheld...cant really do that with a nozzle.
Click to expand...

I agree for the most part. I would add please do NOT think one of these systems couldn't save your open tube buggy or you, even with handheld extinguishers on board. My thought was to point nozzles at the fuel rail and headers (most common ignition areas) to help suppress a fire until I can get out and point a extinguisher at it. I can tell you first hand a fire can gain a lot of ground before you can get a hand held out and pointed at the source. I have also seen a few buggies burn to the ground from people having too small of hand held. Basically they almost got the fire out and the bottle ran out.
 
Fully agree with what was posted earlier that in our application ("non-contained" environment for the fire to be suppressed) these systems are for merely buying time and minimizing damage...

My rig has 2 x 8L tanks, one under each seat, with two pull toggles behind the gear/transfer case levers. One activates to the front with 6 nozzles (two on the firewall, 2 on each side of the headers), and one activates 4 nozzles inside the cab (2 on each side for the driver/passenger) and 2 towards the rear where the radiator sits atop the fuel tank.

We also have 2 x 2L fire extinguishers within easy reach and quick disconnect, one on each side outside the cab.

We went with OMP for the system as it was on sale in our market.
 
have a Safecraft in mine. 2 nozzles. seems to work well (cousin freaked out and used one time when we ended up on our side :rolf:). also have 2 large Coldfire extinguishers in the buggy.

wouldn't run one without a sus system now.

mine is the LT series and is a halon style. no "solid" chemical to fall with gravity. https://safecraft.com/product/model-lt/

here's when it was used. gives you an idea on how it works. filled up the entire engine compartment really well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g75bb9vT3dc

and my extinguishers
 

Attachments

  • extinguishers.jpg
    extinguishers.jpg
    1.2 MB · Views: 180
Well i guess it is time to bring this back up. What are the recommendations now? Are there different price levels? Why is one better than the other?
 

Latest posts

Random media

Judd.jpg
DSCN1888 (Small).JPG
FB_IMG_1601345365901.jpg
100_0418 comp.JPG
100_2123.jpg
DSCF1041.jpg
23F87E20-4E81-4E47-AB2D-F7D1975A6069.jpeg
IMG_1095.JPG
DSCN1884 (Small).JPG
Back
Top