Fire extinguisher and mount recommendations

K

kareembadr

Low Mileage
Is there a specific fire extinguisher you prefer to have on hand for your X 1/9?

What is the simplest way to mount a fire extinguisher inside the X 1/9? I know that located between the seats, attached to the bulkhead, is the standard location. Would that require drilling holes into the car? Is there a place to mount a fire extinguisher, while keeping it readily available in the event of a fire, that would not require drilling holes into the interior?

(I've tried doing searches of this forum, as well as broad Google searched, but haven't come up with anything that specifically addresses this question for the X 1/9. Apologies if my searching skills aren't up to snuff)
 
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I keep mine behind the passenger seat, between the seat and the rear firewall.
If I need it I can just grab it. Touch wood, so far it has not been needed but is just ballast. But as they say, better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.
 
So it's effectively loose behind the seat, kept in place by the seat being in position?

Just discovered the Element fire extinguisher in another thread and that seems like another option.
 
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Just FYI, we have an Xweb specific Google search right here. It is also stickied in the Workshop Forum and linked in my signature, so you can find it again in the future. There really isn't much about the extinguisher locations. Between the seats, behind the pass seat, in the rear trunk, everybody has a spot they prefer.

As a first line of defense to hopefully give me time to get to the engine bay with a real extinguisher, I installed an "automatic" fire extinguisher in the engine bay mounted near the fuel pump. My real extinguisher is on the floor behind the passenger seat. I haven't decided where I want to mount it.
 
JimD said:
Just FYI, we have an Xweb specific Google search right here. It is also stickied in the Workshop Forum and linked in my signature, so you can find it again in the future. There really isn't much about the extinguisher locations. Between the seats, behind the pass seat, in the rear trunk, everybody has a spot they prefer.
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Thank you! I will definitely be using that a lot in the coming weeks.

JimD said:
As a first line of defense to hopefully give me time to get to the engine bay with a real extinguisher, I installed an "automatic" fire extinguisher in the engine bay mounted near the fuel pump. My real extinguisher is on the floor behind the passenger seat. I haven't decided where I want to mount it.
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Thank you again. I will hopefully *not* be using a fire extinguisher a lot in the coming weeks. But I have some ideas on where to stash one.
 
Dr.Jeff said:
I haven't tried one but I like the concept of the "Element" extinguisher. The size makes it easy to mount anywhere.
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Yeah, the size plus length of operation makes it seem like a good option. Looks like there's a mount that connects to the seat rails/bolts, which could keep it safely tucked out of the way in the passenger side.

*EDIT* Though now I am seeing reviews on Amazon saying it doesn't work very well. Going to do some more research...
 
Personally I do not keep a fire extinguisher in any of my vehicles. For one thing I've never seen a vehicle fire saved by a small extinguisher. But more importantly if any of my cars ever did catch fire I'd just let it burn. That's what insurance is for. Frankly I would not want what was left of the car after the fire was put out. Also, in my 55+ years of playing with cars I've only had one catch fire, and I purposely set that one a blaze myself (turns out it is actually difficult to set a vehicle on fire). ;)
 
I have always kept it in the trunk on the left side alongside the injector fan.

The logic being I will open the door, pull both levers on my way out. Pull the trunk open, grab the extinguisher and slightly open the engine cover to shoot through the gap into the engine bay.

I have saved two other peoples cars with my extinguishers over the years.
 
The other good choice and a typical one you see, is to install it just forward of the passenger seat. This puts it easily to hand and if you use the bracket will hold it in place.
 
kmead said:
The other good choice and a typical one you see, is to install it just forward of the passenger seat. This puts it easily to hand and if you use the bracket will hold it in place.
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That's what I did on mine. There was a time we had a different rule structure in AutoSlalom and Time trials than the one from SCCA and the use of a fire extinguisher was giving bonus points who can be used against some modifications, allowing you to stick to a level of preparation. I never had to use the fire extinguisher.
 
I carry a fire extinguisher in my X because it was required by the SCCA for all autocross participants. I keep it there even though I haven't done an autocross in some number of years in case it's needed by someone else's car on a club tour. Hmm... it's probably due to be replaced due to its age (the extinguisher, not the X).

I also took a fire safety course with the SCCA some number of years ago. For the fire extinguisher training, most programs from local cities set fire to a pan of gasoline in a parking lot and give you a 5 lb fire extinguisher to wave at it (following the PASS methodology). They did the same basic thing at the SCCA safety course, however the pan of gasoline was under the car. As I recall, someone said to open the hood, but the instructor reminded us of the fire formula - namely fire = fuel + oxygen. Opening the hood, engine lid, thing covering the fire makes the fire very happy and appreciative of all that increased oxygen.

Be careful out there....
 
JimD said:
Just FYI, we have an Xweb specific Google search right here. It is also stickied in the Workshop Forum and linked in my signature, so you can find it again in the future. There really isn't much about the extinguisher locations. Between the seats, behind the pass seat, in the rear trunk, everybody has a spot they prefer.

As a first line of defense to hopefully give me time to get to the engine bay with a real extinguisher, I installed an "automatic" fire extinguisher in the engine bay mounted near the fuel pump. My real extinguisher is on the floor behind the passenger seat. I haven't decided where I want to mount it.
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Do most engine bay fires start near the pump? Or is the thinking that if this goes off, then air flow will draw the stuff up and into the engine bay to extinguish a fire?

The few fuel leaks I've seen in X's have been from a cracked fuel hose from the rail to the injector and one time, a fuel hose from the hard line to the filter. None has resulted in a fire, but probably could.
 
My solution was to take a 3 inch pvc waste pipe, cut it about 6 inches long. Then I cut out about 150 degrees of the pipe. This let's the standard size extinguisher snap into the remaining 210 degrees of pipe. I bolted the pipe to a quarter inch piece of plywood cut to slide under the seat.
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Larry said:
Do most engine bay fires start near the pump? Or is the thinking that if this goes off, then air flow will draw the stuff up and into the engine bay to extinguish a fire?

The few fuel leaks I've seen in X's have been from a cracked fuel hose from the rail to the injector and one time, a fuel hose from the hard line to the filter. None has resulted in a fire, but probably could.
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Larry, I have never had an engine bay fire with any X I have owned. The 85X is K-swapped, so I guess I should investigate where Honda fires start. :)

The factors RE the pump location were: it seemed like a place that could generate a fire if a line popped off and there was a good flat spot to stick (it comes with 3M tape on it) the extinguisher. Watching videos of this device and the Element extinguisher, it appears they are very similar in chemical makeup. If this automatic unit "pops" it creates a cloud that starves the fire of O2, the Element extinguisher works the same way.

I have several automotive ABC extinguishers, but I bet most would not work even though they are "Green" on the gauge. All of mine are really old, just never used. I watched some testing videos showing similar old units in the green that did nothing but spit when activated. :( Probably time for some new units.
 
JimD said:
Larry, I have never had an engine bay fire with any X I have owned. The 85X is K-swapped, so I guess I should investigate where Honda fires start. :)

The factors RE the pump location were: it seemed like a place that could generate a fire if a line popped off and there was a good flat spot to stick (it comes with 3M tape on it) the extinguisher. Watching videos of this device and the Element extinguisher, it appears they are very similar in chemical makeup. If this automatic unit "pops" it creates a cloud that starves the fire of O2, the Element extinguisher works the same way.

I have several automotive ABC extinguishers, but I bet most would not work even though they are "Green" on the gauge. All of mine are really old, just never used. I watched some testing videos showing similar old units in the green that did nothing but spit when activated. :( Probably time for some new units.
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Yes they do need to be maintained. Every city has companies which do this, most of them have contracts with businesses around the city as fire insurance requires they be updated and checked at a regular interval. Some extinguishers are not meant to be serviced so should be discharged and discarded.

I used to carry Halon extinguishers (which I used on those two cars) but replaced them with common ABC extinguishers.
 
Interesting: not one person keeps it in the 'frunk' - where I would think is a good location. Two reasons: gets you out of the car quickly, and is at the end of the car least likely to catch fire (ok, maybe your battery explodes, but I've never seen that happen). And, you could keep a larger one with more discharge up there? But yeah, Dr. Jeff's idea of letting it burn for the insurance company.... probably the safest...
 
tvmaster said:
Interesting: not one person keeps it in the 'frunk' - where I would think is a good location. Two reasons: gets you out of the car quickly, and is at the end of the car least likely to catch fire (ok, maybe your battery explodes, but I've never seen that happen). And, you could keep a larger one with more discharge up there? But yeah, Dr. Jeff's idea of letting it burn for the insurance company.... probably the safest...
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If I am driving the car, the roof is usually in the frunk. I think that removing the roof to get to the fire extinguisher would be good if you are going to take Dr. Jeff's approach and let the insurance company deal with it.
 
Yeah, true that - I almost never put the thing in the frunk. usually take it off in the garage before heading out. but if you frequently stow the targa where it's supposed to go, yeah, burn baby burn
 
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