> << Halon is good for enclosed spaces/electrical fires. For an
> engine bay use
> drychem. Say for example your belt decides to fall apart and
> cuts your
> tranny lines to the cooler, you'll have ATF spaying all over
> the inside of
> your bay hitting those nice hot headers and such, Halon will
> snuff it out
> momentarily, but once it is gone the fire will rekindle due
> the high temps
> and flashover. Drychem by nature is messy, but will keep the
> fire out. >>
>
> i talked to my roomate(works for Grinnell fire protection)
> and he said that if you used drychem to put out the fire you should pull
the
> rims, seats, and cd player out of the truck and tow it to the dump.
drychem is
> mildly corrosive gets everywhere and would have to be removed from
> the engine with a toothbrush.
[snip]
Very true. BUt again you mentioned cost. Halon is very expensive and
envionmentally unfriendly (actually very dangerous in a confined space since
Halon displaces O2). Sure if you used DryChem you trash a few things(which
are replacable thru insurance(comp))but at least you can recover some
things. Due to the inherent design of engine bays the draft goes under the
truck for the most part so the guy behind you will get the whiteout. What I
have done when confronted with an engine fire was keep the car moving and
the engine running until I got to the side of the road. What that does is
that the moving air helps keep the flames down until to get to the side of
the road, and ready with the can. Once to the side of the road pull the
release on the hood, get outside and shove the nozzle under the hood and
squirt. Cars and trucks today have more magnesium than ever in them, and
water and CO2 will not put those types of fires out once they start. Alumium
too will burn with the same intensity as magnesium, and is just as hard to
put out(ask any Firefighter who has had the pleasure of putting out a VW
Beetle engine fire). A water is a good idea, but a pain to implement. It has
to be pressurized, and water is heavy and likes to slosh around. Best we can
do is hope to keep the fire down until the FD shows up with the water.
Greg
95 DSCC v6 5spd
Rahway NJ
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