Foretravel Owners' Forum

What units are folks installing? I looked at Mack the Fire Guy's website but he doesn't show one at the moment. A Google search pulled up Fire Fight's offerings Fire Fight - Our Products (http://www.firefight1.com/products.html) which are also resold by the RV Cooling Unit place. Search on the board here pulled up a post from Dave Katsuki recommending a remote-head version for flexible placement options.

My recollection of Halon fire extinguishers is when we evaluated the earthquake safety of the cable spreading room under the Control Room of nuclear power plants. If the fire extinguishing system turned on while we were in the cable spreading room we had seconds to get out before the doors automatically locked. It was impossible to exit this fast for cable spreading rooms because they were so closely packed with cable trays, cables and hardware. So in the event of triggering the Halon fire extinguisher system this meant we'd be dead from lack of oxygen even if there was no fire.

ANS:  For personnel safety reasons, before the release of any suppression agent, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission requires that fire supression systems (Halon or Cardox) must alarm for one and one half times that length of time required to traverse the longest evacuation route within the protected, confined space (such as a vital switchgear room, cable spreading room/vault, battery room, etc.), .  Routine communications protocols require permissions prior to entry and notifications of exit.  Also two man access rules are in effect.  If one doesn't make it out before a suppression agent is released, survival probability is low because the release volume is very large and the spaces are very tightly sealed. And it takes time to man Scott Air Packs and mount a rescue attempt.  BTW, once "triggered", the doors lock personnel OUT of the confined spaces, not IN the spaces.  They all have "Breaker Bars" to always allow emergency egress.

So is my recollection correct? Would triggering a Halon fire extinguisher in the small confines of an RV mean between the Halon and the fire's consumption of oxygen we'd have seconds to exit?

ANS:  Once "triggered", for Nuclear Plants, seconds is an over estimate, because the suppression agent volume and delivery rate is HUGE and the spaces are sealed so tightly.  For RV's, I would think that one shouldn't even contemplate a design that releases Halon or Cardox into a sealed, inhabited space.  Even with warning, the probability of exiting safely would not be good.  For non-inhabited spaces (engine compartment or refrigerator compartment),  the effectiveness would be hindered because the spaces are not tightly sealed and the suppression agent volume (and release rate) is low, but obviously would be much less destructive than a foam or a powder.

Would personal safety be as effectively achieved by keeping both pocket doors closed at night to isolate the fridge (and its fire)? With or without a fire extinguisher?

GUESS: Routinely keeping pocket doors closed is only as effective as the quality and reliability of the fire/smoke detection alarm system.  If the fire detection system is of high quality and reliability,  routinely keeping the pocket doors closed and properly using good hand held fire extinguishers could be very effective.

Should a Halon fire extinguisher be used only in the area of the refrigerator accessible from the outside?

ANS:True.  Only uninhabited spaces.

What are the odds that a Halon fire extinguisher triggered automatically by a fire would suppress the fire enough to be considered a success?

GUESS:  Only as good as the volume and rate of delivery and how well sealed the space is.  The refrigerator compartment is obviously a better bet than the engine compartment.

Do automatic triggering Halon fire extinguishers ever falsely trigger?

ANS: Depends upon the quality of the equipment.  In Nuclear Plants, it's a "two out of four logic, taken twice" so it's very reliable.  There are four trains of logic and at least four sensing channels in each train. It requires that two channels within a train detect a fire, in order to "trigger a train" and then two of the four separate trains must be in agreement that there is a fire, before the suppression warning alarms initiate and then the agent itself is released.  All four trains have different/redundant AC (and DC Emergency) power supplies, maintenance and surveillance.  Thus, in the nuclear plants, it is a BIG, BIG deal if something triggers inadvertently, and the systems are highly reliable.  RV's?  Not so much so, I am sure.

What is the experience of Halon fire extinguishers in RV fires?

ANS:  Halon and Cardox are as deadly on fires as humans, IF the flame source can be continually deprived of oxygen.  But, confining the suppression agent to the source of the flame is a problem on RV's.

best, paul

Paul,

As someone who started in the Instrumentation and Controls end of the Nuclear Industry, I've had some experience with designing, installing and maintaining/surveilling Halon, Cardox and Purple K systems in the Nuclear Industry. And, I've experienced being knocked out cold (in an instant) when Vital Switchgear Room doors inadvertently blew open and the suppression agent (that was being tested) escaped into nearby inhabited areas. Thought I'd share some "Nuke" insights with y'all. FWIW,

Neal