Fire Suppression System Testing

[REBrueckner]

Sandspur has a current about replacing his C02 system. It got me thinking: Anybody know how to test the old C02 systems?

Do you assume the fusable link will melt? As long as plumbing is in place and the bottle weighed, is anything else required to assure a working system?

[MikeP]

is anything else required to assure a working system?

In a word, yes. Go to this thread, it will give you some info though there was another thread re the same subject, referenced in the post which you might hunt up as well:

http://www.samsmarine.com/forums/sho...highlight=Fire

[REBrueckner]

Thanks Mike for the reminder, I must have seen that post but the old gray cells just didn't remember...I copied it..
But the real question is whether I'll remember to use it!!!!

[Nonchalant1]

Bob,

Also check the CO2 bottle for hydro test requirements. It's stamped near the top for the last test date and has to go in every 13 years if it has never been fired or every 5 years if it has.

Doug

[TedZ]

My CO2 system installed in 1972 worked great in 1996 when the genny glo plugs started a fire on the sound shield insulation. It was so small it did absolutely no damage except to burn a little insulation off an AC line.

There is a red diaphragm detector on my boat, original equipment, that is a heat detector or rate of rise detector or both i really don't know but it worked from about 6 feet away from the genny and fired the bottle. It killed both engines and i thought a jet had hit us but we were only a few feet away from the dock and still had a line on.

Hard for me to believe the detectors are that reliable and maybe a new one would be a good idea. My system is batting 1000 so i haven't done anything.

Just a FYI

Ted

[Roscoe]

What is the difference between FE241 and FM200? Other than FM200 is used for occupied spaces. Is it less efficient or more expensive than FE241?

Also, regarding engine shutdowns, does anyone use air shutdowns? We use them in the oilpatch where gaseous hydrocarbon leaks can cause diesel engine runaways. They are basically spring-loaded air dampers installed in the air intake and triggered automatically or manually. They could be rigged into the fire circuit.

I bought one for an 8V92 years ago for about a big boat buck.

[Genesis]

FM200 is more expensive and my understanding is that it is slightly less effective, but less hazardous to people.

Air doors are a great shutdown solution and superior to a fuel cutoff because diesels, as you know, will run on flammable vapor or oil that is ingested - you need to rig a solenoid or other way to trip them when the bottle fires, of course.

On some Detroits air doors cannot be fitted due to their configuration; the most common engine setup that has this problem due to the way the engine plumbing is set up is the twin-turbo 6V92TA.

[Nonchalant1]

My CO2 system installed in 1972 worked great in 1996 when the genny glo plugs started a fire on the sound shield insulation. It was so small it did absolutely no damage except to burn a little insulation off an AC line.

There is a red diaphragm detector on my boat, original equipment, that is a heat detector or rate of rise detector or both i really don't know but it worked from about 6 feet away from the genny and fired the bottle. It killed both engines and i thought a jet had hit us but we were only a few feet away from the dock and still had a line on.

Hard for me to believe the detectors are that reliable and maybe a new one would be a good idea. My system is batting 1000 so i haven't done anything.

Just a FYI

Ted

Ted,

Those red pancakes have no diaphragms or anything. They just get hot and the air in them expands so the air pressure sensor at the CO2 bottle fires the tank. Very simple. Simple is good.

Doug

[SKYCHENEY]

I have wondered how hot those pancakes have to get to trigger the tank. I only ask because I once caught myself working on the genny with a trouble light sitting on the sound shield only a few inches below the pancake. I quickly moved the light when I realized it, but it got me thinking. What a surprise (and not a good one) to have that go off while someone was in one of those engine spaces .

[Maynard Rupp]

On the subject of a hydrostat check. If you empty the bottle it makes sense to hydrostat it before filling to protect the guy filling it. If it is already full and shows no serious rust pits on the outside, emptying it to hydro the bottle is about like waking a patient up for his sleeping pill. The CO2 doesn't rust the inside and if the thing weighs what it is supposed to weigh, what the hell else could be inside, and why would you test it.