fireboy

[seayoulatertoo]

Has anyone had there fireboy extinguisher tested or is there any way to have it checked. I tried at the regular place they didn't know what to do. It reads good and all but would like to get it checked if I can

[Fishinspot]

If its a couple years old I would just go ahead and replace it. you can keep that one as a backup.

[SCORPIO]

My boat has a Halon 1211 automatic extinguisher installed. The gage and idiot light show green but my surveyor said I should have it "tested". How do they test it without discharging it? I've been told that the 1211 is a very effective fire fighting agent and is now unavailable due to ozone issues. I'd like to have it checked but not replaced if its ok. What do you people think?

[paul h]

Halon systems are typically checked by weighing the bottles and inspecting the piping system. A pressure gauge is meaningless as it just lets you know you have something in the bottle to propel the halon, but you don't know how much agent is present. Yes, 1211 is a wonderful agent and is pretty much unavailable. I've seen it used on a pan fire and looks like magic the way it puts out a fire.

In addition to knowing if the bottle is full, you want to make sure the discharge lines and nozzles aren't clogged. If there is a flexible hose that attaches the halon bottle to the discharge piping, it will need to be inspected and possibly replaced. I know on 1301 systems the rubber hoses have to be removed and pressure tested every 5 years. I don't know what type of detection is used to activate the system, but you'd want to have that inspected.

There are clean agent replacements for halon, so if your system has loss the agent, you would have some options to replace it, but you'd likely have to have the whole system replaced as the new agents have different flow characteristics and use different nozzles, pipe dia etc. There is a really neat product for engine compartments called Firetrace that is a combination of fire detection and discharge tubing all in one. But for some reason they've never been able to really break into the US market.

The biggest problem you are going to have is finding someone that is qualified to work on it. The manufacturers no longer support the systems, and anyone that recieved manufacturers training would have gotten that training upwards of 20 years ago. I can't even find an NFPA standard for 1211, even the Halon 1301 standard was frozen at 1997. I've worked on modifying a few 1301 systems in the past couple years and its become a nightmare to get them calculated and to get nozzles.

Good luck!

[SCORPIO]

Thanks Paul, my system is a very simple bottle type (about 5 pounds) mounted to the transom behind the engines and triggered by a heat sensitive metal "soldier" holding the valve closed. Once the valve opens, the agent just sprays out over a snow flake shaped disk, like the ones on commercial fire sprinklers, and floods the engine compartment with Halon. I've seen that pan demo as well and it is like magic. I used a small hand held halon about the size of an aerosol can on a car engine when I had a fuel fire in my garage. One shot of about a half second and the fire was out. I'll have to call some fire extinguisher places and see if they can weigh the unit. I also carry a five pound hand held halon 1211 unit for emergencies.

[paul h]

Hopefully on the inspection tag on the bottle it lists the weight of the empty cylinder.

For that simple system you just need to weigh the cylinder to see if it's weight is cylinder empty weight plus the 5#'s for the agent. Asside from that visually inspect the fuseable link to see if there is any apparent damage and you should be good to go.

If you ever decide to upgrade the unit, find a company that recycles halon, there are several around the country.

[whotookmyhandle?]

Thanks Paul, my system is a very simple bottle type (about 5 pounds) mounted to the transom behind the engines and triggered by a heat sensitive metal "soldier" holding the valve closed. Once the valve opens, the agent just sprays out over a snow flake shaped disk, like the ones on commercial fire sprinklers, and floods the engine compartment with Halon. I've seen that pan demo as well and it is like magic. I used a small hand held halon about the size of an aerosol can on a car engine when I had a fuel fire in my garage. One shot of about a half second and the fire was out. I'll have to call some fire extinguisher places and see if they can weigh the unit. I also carry a five pound hand held halon 1211 unit for emergencies.

The ID tag on the bottle should list the GROSS weight of the self contained fixed system. All you need is a certified scale and a pen. Grocery and postal scales are certified. It either weighs, or it does not. If it weighs out, fine. Date and sign the tag until next year. If it does not weigh you must either replace the unit with FE241 or have it tested and charged with recycled 1301 Halon at a fire suppression service provider. This is for self contained systems only. Plumbed systems (generally C02) do not apply