Firecharger AFFF Fire Suppression System and Freezing Temper

[Rick Starkweather]

Replacing an old halon fire extinguisher system with a Firecharger. Instructions say to avoid freezing temperatures. Anyone have any experience (good or bad) with this?

Car is a vintage-prepped MGB that occasionally sits outside the British car repair/restoration shop that is its home during the day - and will be outside during the day in the winter. This is Durham, NC so temps are not too extreme, but should we remove the system in the winter?

Rick

 

[Dayle Frame]

Yes....its a water based solution that quenches the fire. Freezing might rupture fittings, lines, etc. It should be easy enough to remove the bottle form the system when its being stored, though. Check with them about specifics.

Dayle

 

[Matt Blehm]

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q ... ZEN93f1u1A

Google says freezing point of 3% AFFF is -5C. 23F. So unless the car is going to be below 20F for more than a few hours, I wouldn't worry about it..
Then again, it doesn't take but a few minutes to pull the bottle in my car. for the 10 minutes, it would provide a 100% safety factor..

 

[racingspridget]

I had a customer car shipped from Colorado to TN. a few years ago. The truck went through Nebraska on the way and when the car arrived the firebottle had frozen and split open. Had to throw the whole thing away.

 

[tdw6974]

Remove during off season to prevent freezing! left car to be repaired at shop late October. I will not reveal any further details. Just remove the bottle!!

 

[blamkin86]

The system is normally pressurized. When you 'pull the pin' you rupture a disk on top of the bottle, emptying the contents through the nozzles in your car.

Here's a link to the disk:
https://www.pegasusautoracing.com/produ ... RecID=7216

If you let the system freeze, the water in the bottle expands an may (probably) ruptures the disc.

It's not a secret.

 

[disquek]

The other thing about AFFF systems is that you HAVE to hit the fire with the foam to extinguish it.

With a gas based system "aim" is less of an issue.

Just my .000002.

-Kyle

 

[James Wiley]

I don't know what the reference to "normally pressurized" means, but just to be clear, the system is only pressurized upon pulling the activation handle. This punctures a CO2 cartridge on top of the bottle, which forces the contents of the bottle out to the nozzles. I'm not sure if this is only gas pressure or if there is also a chemical reaction to create the foam, guess it doesn't really matter. FWIW, I just refilled our Firecharger bottle after about 10 years of non-use, just seemed like a good idea since there's no way to determine the viability of the contents without pulling the handle!

 

[Matt Blehm]

It's a CO2 cartridge. you can weigh the cartridge to determine full weight, but not worth it. just replace the cartridge if in doubt. the AFFF solution can be poured out of the bottle and the bottle itself checked. at that point, just replace the whole thing for the $50 to replace the foam, cartridge, and rupture disc. done and good for another several years.