Fire system maintenance

[billtebbutt]

All this talk got me to thinking about the system in my car. Pulled it out cleaned the lines, and had a good inspection. very faintly, under the thick red paint, is the date of manufacture. 5/89. No subsequent stamps for refills, checks, etc. Gauge reads good, bottle is "heavy". But not knowing the history, for the cost of a set of racing tires, I am going to replace it (one already on the way). I'm worth it

Will post the results thereafter.

bt

As promised, I set off my ancient fire bottle yesterday (outside, on the picnic table). My daughter videoed it, just for giggles. The Fire Marshall bottle was manufactured 5/89. Just in case it actually DID work, i wore protective clothing and eyeware. Here's what happened:

- With 40psi reading on the gauge, and obviosuly "something" sloshing around inside, i removed the safety pin with the bottle sitting upright on the table

- I squeezed the handle as hard as i could, but COULD NOT MOVE THE HANDLE. Had the bottle been activated by the cable, there is NO WAY it would have gone off. I would have ripped the handle/cable assembly off the car trying.

- I looked at the "fish hook" spring between the two parts of the handle. It was corroded badly. I thought this may have been preventing the spring from sliding through its hole, so i bent the spring out of the way, and attempted to activate the bottle again. Nope, i still couldn't do it no matter how hard i tried

- Almost as a lark, I grabbed the bottle by the handle, lifted it off the table, and reintroduced it to the table with some real force. POOF! The bottle finally activated and scared the shart out of me

- A huge plume of white extinguisher "stuff" aerated, i am guessing for about 10 seconds. I was surprised at the large volume of it, frankly

- As the white plume was finishing up, out came what looked like a lot of liquid water (bottle was on its side at this point,). I am guessing there were a couple of ounces in there

All to say, had I had the need for it in the car, it would not have been at my disposal. Again, for the price of a set of tires......

Cheers,
BT

[swiftdrivr]

I first checked and lubed the cable, then tried to fire mine. It would not fire, while standing beside the car, pulling pretty hard on the cable. I took it outside, and it fired when I squeezed the activator by hand. Pretty bummed that the actuator cable didn't work, as that is a feature of the replacement system too. It is a bit of a bummer that I had a good bottle, that released plenty of [Halon-like gaseous material, uh-humm] but then, as of this year, it is no longer legal anyway, as they removed the exception for older cars.

[DaveW]

This says nothing about older systems being not legal at the time the Dec 2020 update was published. It just says the ones below are recommended. Am I misunderstanding something?
---------------------------------------------------------
9.3.22. FIRE SYSTEM
All cars shall be equipped with an On-Board Fire System except T3, T4, STL, Spec Miata, B-Spec, and
Improved Touring.
A. On-Board Fire System Requirements
It is recommended that all other cars employ onboard fire systems that meet the following requirements:
• Systems certified to SFI specification 17.1 or 17.2, or
• Those listed by the FIA on Technical List No. 16
The following information must be visible of the unit:
• Certification label
• Capacity
• Type of extinguishing agent
• Weight, or volume, of the extinguishing agent
Cars shall meet the following regardless of registration date:
1. The fire system cylinder shall be securely mounted in such a manner that it can be checked during
a technical inspection and may be removed for weighing periodically for compliance to full weight
shown on the cylinder. (Weight is without valve assembly.)
2. Manual or automatic release is allowed. The release mechanism shall be within reach of the driver
when belted in the car.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

[swiftdrivr]

This says nothing about older systems being not legal at the time the Dec 2020 update was published. It just says the ones below are recommended. Am I misunderstanding something?
---------------------------------------------------------
9.3.22. FIRE SYSTEM

A. On-Board Fire System Requirements
It is recommended that all other cars employ onboard fire systems that meet the following requirements:
• Systems certified to SFI specification 17.1 or 17.2, or
• Those listed by the FIA on Technical List No. 16
---------------------------------------------

You are right. The word "recommended" basically deletes any actual standards for fire systems. [not smart, in my opinion] Still better to find out the cable on mine wouldn't activate the system before I actually needed the system.