| Author |
Message |
David Anderson (209.223.227.129)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, April 26, 2001 - 11:43 pm: | |
I saw a really neat diesel pusher that had the genset in the nose with a full blown fire suppression system in the compartment. Sprinkler heads, extinguisher bottle, and sensors. Anyone ever do this in their coach? If so, how much would such a system cost? Is this something worth exploring? My genset only has hose spuds on the injector manifold for the fuel supply return and on the fuel pump for supply, so rubber hoses with clamps are my only option. It makes me nervous to think that if anything happened to that rubber hose return line in that box, a rainstorm of fuel will be falling around the top of the generator. Perhaps I'm a pessimist, but I always remember Murphy's Law. Thanks for your thoughts.
David Anderson |
Frank Allen (205.188.195.38)
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Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, April 27, 2001 - 12:49 am: | |
Its good to think about it , i had a diesel Gen set catch on fire in my bus and came close to loosing the bus ,car and all . they will burn and this should be taken seriously . i cant go to sleep with that thing running , you have no way to know what is going on in that gen compartment so any safety devices you can install could be a life saver .
Frank Allen |
jmaxwell (66.42.92.111)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, April 27, 2001 - 1:01 am: | |
There is a company in Redding, Ca that manufactures a foam extinguisher systems, primarily for the military, but they do tout it for individuals. It is compact enough that it fits inside the case of a gas pump at the gas station. They have fitted it to engine compartments in a couple of buses. Cost is about 1k |
Steve Fessenden (63.25.54.211)
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Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, April 27, 2001 - 9:24 am: | |
Water for a diesel fire? I guess it would cool it down, but it might spread it. Maybe for the wood compartment around the generator.
If you can get Halon that would be the best. It is harder to get now, an ozone depleter. CO2 is also acceptable if you will not be breathing the air from the compartment.
There was a neat simple system made for small aircraft a few years ago that you could duplicate.
It had a length of steel tubing terminating at the most likely source of a fire around the engine and fitted in the cockpit with a slip coupling machined to fit over the nozzle of a standard fire extinguisher. You put in several tubes and fittings and placed the fire extinguisher nozzle in the appropriate one for the problem and fired it. This assumes you can get Halon. There were two types and some blends. One type would make you dizzy, the other you could breath.
Maybe the remote temp gauge in my generator bay (currently nonfunctional) was there to detect fires.
Our use of Halon should be so seldom, nearly never, that we would qualify to buy it for our bus fire extinguishers. Putting out a fire early would save a lot of pollution which should make up for the potential damage to the ozone layer if and when the Halon is ever released to fight a fire. Should stop a runaway engine too.
Steve Fessenden |
Wayne Stayton (64.129.121.117)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, April 27, 2001 - 10:17 am: | |
About the hose "spuds" on your generator, David . . .
I would guess that they are just 1/4" or 3/8" NPT fittings that you can unscrew and replace with something else . . . like 1/4" (or 3/8") NPT to 1/4" (or 3/8") flare.
There are lots of different kinds of "hose" manufactured that are more fire resistant than the $1.00 per foot, Discount Auto stuff that you describe . . .
Aircraft quality "teflon" hose with steel braid overlay and fire shield shouldn't cost you more than about $10.00 per foot, plus $10.00 per end, fabricated to exactly the right length with the fitting of your choice, like 1/4" (or 3/8") flare, on the end.
Pretty cheap insurance compared to watching the whole bus go up in smoke! |
David Anderson (209.223.227.177)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, April 28, 2001 - 1:11 am: | |
About the hose spuds:::
Yes they are 1/4" and 3/8" but they are formed and soldered tubing integrated into the injector manifold and fuel pump respectively. I spoke with Dick Wright from Wrico and he said I would have to solder npt fittings on the spuds for them to receive fire sleeve hoses. That shouldn't be too difficult. Fire sleeve hoses sure would give me some more comfort about this. DOT must be picky about them because all the lines in the engine compartment are fire sleeve hoses. That 6V92 is the biggest genset of all.
I got some hits on the Eagle BB about some halon and other extinguisher systems used in race cars. I may explore that angle. It would be nice to wire a pressure switch in the line that when the bottle fires it would close the genset kill switch. This would turn off the fresh air fan to the compartment and help starve the fire of oxygen. Just some mental engineering on my part.
Thanks, David Anderson |
JJ (152.163.206.207)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, May 03, 2001 - 11:12 pm: | |
Install a check valve at the bulkhead fitting where the fuel line goes through. This will prevent the fire from going back to the tank. I lost an airplane to a fire by not haveing one. Cheers...JJ |