halon system ok

[labrador]

Had the allied fire safty guy inspect my 19 year old haylon system and it checked out to be right on the money weight wise. pulled the bottle and looks to be in pristine condition, no rust anywhere. My question is that the inspector says it has to be inspected yearly. I thought I saw a post saying you were good for 6 years if it weighes out ok. Is he just trying to get some yearly business or am I mistaken regarding the 6 year period.

 

[Genesis]

They should be weighed annually. Some insurance carriers are now requiring SIX MONTH weighings! I personally think that's outrageously excessive, but there's a solution - bring a scale over and do it yourself, log it in the ship's log and on the tag. If it has a gauge, the gauge reads full, and the weight is ok then its good.

Unless you're operating a passenger vessel there is nothing wrong with this. My defense to a boarding where some USCG guy gets a hard-on over me weighing my own bottle is to have FAR more extinguishers on board than are required. This way my ER fire bottle is legally an "extra"; its presence is not required by law, but it sure will work if I need it!

The recert on the bottle ITSELF is for CO2 and is for the hydrostatic test requirement, and is required to FILL the bottle. With a CO2 bottle the pressures involved are much higher and as such there's a legitimate safety issue as well.

 

[captddis]

When I had halon I always weighed it and initialed the tag. When sold the surveyor never questioned it. I started this after I had a certified fire ext. company screw me.
I was having a cust boat inspected, so it seemed like a good time to bring mine over for inspection. At his van I handed the two bottles to him. He pulled out a K mart fishing scale, put a cable around each bottle and hung it on the scale. I asked how he measured the ounces. He replied they did not worry about the ounces! After maybe 5 minutes they were tagged and I was presented with a 250.00 bill. I asked if he traveled to my boat a hour away, what would it have been? Same thing because our insurance is so high, because we have no way of knowing if it will work. So we might get sued if the boat burns. The final insult was that he said he had a thousand dollar quota per day and he was half way there . Never again.

 

[labrador]

Thanks guys! Looks like I'll invest in a small scale an do the weighing myself from now on and initial the tag myself. I do by the way carry 12 ext. on the boat and only 8 are the 2 1/2 lb size. Ther others are 5 and 10 lbs. The guy only charged 125.00 for tags and weighing the halon bottle. He did say whoops I seem to have dropped some tags. Hint put them on all your bottles!!
No charge!!!!!

 

[Genesis]

No requirement in the US for recreational users to have portables weighed and tagged. As long as the gauge is ok they're good.

Rules for commercial use are different.

Check your INSURANCE POLICY too - carriers are always looking for a great excuse to deny a claim, and if you have a fire and didn't meet their requirements in some way......

 

[Traveler 45C]

When doing the annual inspection (weighing bottle) on a CO2 system, is there any requirement to have the firing head and heat detectors tested also?

 

[Genesis]

I would.

A leak in the capillary tubing or heads will prevent it from going off.... that would be bad!

 

[Nonchalant1]

You can test them yourself if you want to. Obviously, you have to be careful not to set it off in your face and kill yourself. You disconnect and remove the firing mechanism from the CO2 tank top but leave it connected to the capillary tube. It comes off by unscrewing the large nut where it is connected to the tank top. It operates the tank by a spring bolt being shot horizontally into the tank top valve. With the firing head off, run a heat gun on one of the sensors (really just air expansion tanks) from about 12 inches away. It gets too hot to touch comfortably but not hot enough to scorch the paint. You'll hear the firing mechanism go "sproing". The head can be reset with a screwdriver and the reset screw.

If it doesn't fire the firing mechanism in 45 seconds, you have to find and fix the leak(s) which are usually at the tube connector joints. If it doesn't fire, test the firing head only by dismounting one of the sensors, attaching it directly to the head (which is still off the tank) and then run the heat gun on it. It will fire the head reasonably quickly (like 15-20 seconds).

If the first sensor works OK, repeat with each sensor. If any of the heads don't work there is a leak in the tubes somewhere. Just go tighten each tube connection a little and try again. It's possible for an air leak not in a direct line between a sensor and the head to cause that sensor to not fire the system. Sometimes you have to tighten them all slightly. If that doesn't work, unscrew each connection all along the tubes, wipe out each flare and flare nut, moisten lightly and retighten.

Sensors can be tested by removing their tube and testing to see if they hold a vacuum by sucking on the flared tube end and blocking it off with your tongue. It should stay stuck to your tongue for a while. If it doesn't, it may have an air leak.

If that doesn't work, it's time to call the fire system inspection people.

While you're at it, you can test your fire alarm connection from the CO2 system. Mine is a red box mounted on the discharge outlet pipe. the CO2 pressure pushes up a pin which makes a connection to the Crozier alarm. I can just pull the pin up, it beeps at the helm, and push it back down to reset. Check yours first to see if it's the same type.

Doug

 

[Traveler 45C]

Doug,

Thanks so much! I'm not afraid of it anymore...

 

[MikeP]

Good info Doug!

I seem to recall seeing something from Hatt on checking the fittings on the sensors periodically to preclude the leaks you describe. Based on your post I think I'll disconnect the firing mechanism and check as you describe. Until your post, I wasn't sure how to do that since there were no instructions on the boat about the system and I didn't want to end up with a 75 lb CO2 tornado blasting through the boat. I don't think it would kill me because even though I'm 60 and retired now, I can still move pretty fast when I'm scared!