Fire Extinguishers: What Do I Really Need?

I imagine this has been covered in detail before and I apologize if reading another extinguisher thread annoys anyone.

For years, I've always had an extinguisher in each car. Nothing fancy, just something of good size, ABC rated, and--most importantly to me--these extinguishers included steel quick release clamp. So, they were super easy to get and secure.

Now, steel quick release clamps seem to have gone the way of the dinosaur. I've looked at the halon and full on race setups but those are super expensive. Safety is important, witness my cage, fixed bucket seats, and Sabelt harnesses. one of those halon systems that have nozzles in various spots would be sweet but, I simply can't spend that kind of cash and the car is pretty tight inside. A small one would work but again, price....do I really need a Halon extinguisher? I do solo II, HPDE, and starting to get into very low level hillclimb.

Now, I've seen the roll cage mounted extinguishers but I'm seriously doubting I can locate it some place easy to get to as a 82 Starlet is a small car. So, I was thinking a floor mount....if I can find one with a steel quick release band.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Ideas? Anyone know of the extinguisher I am speaking of--the one that has a steel quick release band?

Thanks JP

What's your goal with an extinguisher?

IMHO, a hand-held extinguisher is not really a personal safety item. If the car is on fire and it's stopped on the side of the track you don't try to fight the fire, you get out and run away. If the car is moving and on fire then you stop it ASAP and then see above. In neither case is a hand-held extinguisher useful. What is useful from a safety standpoint is a built-in extinguisher with a pull handle, because it will buy you a little bit of time to stop the car and run away.

Now from a convenience standpoint, a hand-held extinguisher is potentially useful for putting out a small fire in the pits before it becomes a large fire. That's not really in the same safety category as cages, seats, harnesses, etc, and arguably in the pits you're better off with a BIG fire extinguisher sitting next to the car than a small one mounted inside it.

As for cost, halon is very expensive these days. An AFFF system is about $400, which is pretty reasonable as far as safety equipment goes, IMHO.

AFFF type is what you want. What ever it touches will not re-ignite, and no toxic reaction fumes to damage your lungs or suffocate you. Cleanup is easy and you can recharge them yourself.

I have this one. Haven't installed it yet but it seems like it should do the job. I'm sure you could directly mount it to the floor if you were so inclined. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003BZLHRQ?keywords=fire%20extinguisher%20quick%20release%20mount&qid=1456901919&ref_=sr_1_4&sr=8-4

Access just needs to be halfway reasonable. The idea is to be able to put out a simple fire caused by your hot exhaust on dry grass after a spin or whatever, not to be bailing out of the car for your life while trying to grab the extinguisher. I got one for my car after I put out an engine fire in our chump car. I was able to egress, assess the modest nature of the fire and then reach back in to grab the extinguisher and put it out. Managed to keep a small fire from totaling the car

Edit: I disagree with the previous posts. I think it's still useful to have even a small hand held extinguisher in the car for cases like I mention. Especially if you track with your nice DD or whatever. You can prevent a massive loss from a minor fire. Obviously if it comes to it GTFO and don't look back but it's nice to have the option. It's less a personal safety net and moreso a cheap insurance thing. That said, your post makes it seem like you want a safety improvement in which case I say save up and buy a real suppression system, ideally with thermostat. The small hand held won't save your life. A real system might. That or get some nomex underwear for your suit. Your 2nd degree burn time will go from ~10s to ~17s!

Personally, I like them big and effective.

I want it big enough to actually get the fire out. This includes the time wasted spraying whatever in the wrong direction, being too far away, etc. Yes, I am well trained in fire fighting. It's still exciting, and it's not always me using the extinguisher. A pee-wee extinguisher that goes Pfft for half a second isn't nearly as usefull as one with 10 seconds of spray.

I want the extinguishing agent to be universal. I don't want to waste time studying the label trying to figure out if this extinguisher will put out that fire, or if I need to go find some other extinguisher. That's why I generally prefer a dry powder. It works on everything, no short circuit concerns, etc. It can be corrosive, but usually when I'm dealing with a fire, that's the least of my concerns.

I also want the agent to help keep the fire out. Something that puts the fire out, but lets it promptly restart is not very useful to me, in my experience. That's why I don't use CO2 or Halon all that much and prefer a powder that will stay in place and help keep the fire from reflashing. This is very much a big deal when dealing with burning undercoating or upholstery or rubber and the like. That stuff is very good at reflashing.

I feel bad saying this, but during F&C training, ABC dry chemical was much more effective at putting out fires than Halon. It's just very, very dirty and will ruin your car with yellow powder that sucks to clean...but fire sucks more so it's cool with me!

If you roll waaaaay off of the track away from the racing line, feel free to check and make sure you didn't just park a hot car on dry grass. You'll put that fire out before a corner worker gets there with a bottle! That corner worker will be carrying ABC dry chem (because it works) or possibly ColdFire (because it's best for grass but isn't so great under the hood). They won't be carrying halon.

Your race car should have an AFFF nozzle system with pull handle. It won't put out the fire in your engine bay but it'll slow the flames enough for you to get out. One of those nozzles should be pointed at you.

I think that all cars need a reasonably-sized ABC extinguisher, not just race cars. Reasonable means forearm size; bigger if it's a Saturn. If your car costs more than $25,000, the halon is worth it. If you just need the fire out, dry chem.

I'm now looking at the afff suppression systems for the classic cars. Fire sucks, and I've had one in each.

Is there a good article or thread on installing them?

For open spaces like a car engine bay, you want AFFF or a powder type. Halon and other gaseous types are meant for confined spaces like boat engine bays, server rooms, etc. where you can prevent fresh air from getting in to displace the halon (fire can re-ignite once the halon is gone).

I've been looking at some of the AFFF type units, the only concern is freezing in winter (although I've seen a couple that you can get a lower freezing point solution to fill with, I think Coldfire may have been one of them).

AFFF indeed can freeze, just like the water it is. So if you're where winter is real and cold, remember that.

Not a problem (much) on cars, but AFFF can conduct electricity. Bear that in mind too.

Powder never freezes and doesn't conduct electricity.

I have one of these in my Miata chump car; 2 nozzles, 2.25L, $289. It might be appropriate for the lighter duty scenarios you've described. They're pretty simple to install. You need to bolt the bottle down, drill a few holes for the nozzles, hoses and mount the pull cables. http://www.racerpartswholesale.com/product/SPATechniqueFireSenseSystemHPC225/FireExtinguisherSystems

Here's my thinking--if an oil line ruptures I'm probably not hanging around. The car can burn in that case. What I would stay around to put out is something small like maybe grass under the car, maybe a small electrical fire. However, I'm also of the mindset "Do it once and do it right."

I am actually quite fire paranoid if you haven't figured that out. Fieros started this paranoia as in the summer there would be one on fire along the highway about every twenty miles. I also don't use SS braided AN lines everywhere but the brakes. I had a friend who had an MR2 and had just completed a 20valve swap. On his maiden voyage, car caught fire, allegedly because he forgot to tie the battery down and it slide into the SS fuel line causing a short. Aeroquip socket less for me.