roll bar mounted fire suppression switch bracket?

[Dangerous Doug]

I have a Halon fire suppression system I'm putting in my ERA 289FIA. In looking for a centrally located position for the pull cable, I thought that, rather than mount the cable in the dash I might install it on a custom bracket that is mounted on the forward brace down tube of my roll bar. This would put it within easy reach and I won't have to drill into my dash for a mounting hole.

Does anyone know of an existing product that I could use for this? Seems like a common racing need. It'd be a bracket similar to attached photo only with a 1.5" id to mount to the roll bar, and instead of a bolt through it would have a flat plane with a 0.6" id hole in it for mounting a switch.

Anyone know of something like this?

[Dangerous Doug]

Okay, how about this:

I scrawled out a drawing, and have a buddy that will CAD it for me. I'll show some pic's once the design is done. Anyone else interested in purchasing this kind of bracket? I'll do one for myself and may be willing to get others manufactured. Any interest?

DD

[RedBarchetta]

Doug, I'll have to look closer on my SPF tonight to see how it is mounted UNDER the dash. There are no holes to drill and it's a clean installation on my car and pokes out plenty enough to pull the pin out and pull on the cable. It may use one of the two center struts that supports the center of the dash to the trans tunnel...not certain if your ERA has a similar configuration.

-Dean

[ccx1984]

try summit racing

[Snakebit]

I made a small bracket out of aluminum angle and mounted it under the dash to the right of the steering wheel. Look at the picture of my dash layout in my gallery. If you look close, you can see the fire bottle mounted under the dash.

[Dangerous Doug]

Tried Summit Racing already. That's where I got the picture of the bracket in my first post.

I have made an aluminum bracket for mounting under the dash. Just not sure that's the way I want to go.

DD

[vanoochka]

How are you going to route the cable?

[Dangerous Doug]

Depends.

If I mount the Halon tank in my trunk, the cable will loop back from the down tube (probably will add a steel braided line over the cable---just because it'll look *****'n) under the E-brake leather cover and then along the frame to the trunk.

If I mount the Halon tank on the cockpit side of the firewall, the cable will run down the down-tube, under the carpet and up the firewall. This is actually the simplest installation, for I can duct the Halon right into the cockpit and into the engine compartment very easily.

Halon fire suppression system just seems like a good idea on an expensive fiberglass car...

[RedBarchetta]

Doug, here's how my set-up is installed under my dash:

Simple angled bracket mounts to the firewall crossmember and then curls around one of the dash-to-trans-tunnel supports. And a simple routing of the pull cable loops cleanly under the car to the 5lb bottle in the trunk.

And here's how it looks from a higher, more normal view:


Flash pictures bring out all the ugly...you can't even see the bracket during the light of day.

-Dean

[undy]

Darn, feeling a little inadequate here.. I put mine in the dash. I sorta thought it went well with the fuzzy dice on the rear-view.

[mrmustang]

Originally Posted by Dangerous Doug

Depends.


Halon fire suppression system just seems like a good idea on an expensive fiberglass car...

This depends entirely on where the nozzles are pointed and what type of fire you may or may not have. The reason why I say this is because Halon works on removing oxygen from the fuel source, but in an open cockpit car such as the Cobra, with the amount of air movement through the interior and chassis structure, it may or may not work the way you expect it to if god forbid, you ever have to use it. You might want to consider refilling the bottle with a wetting agent type foam product that will encapsulate the fire at it's source instead of a gaseous one.......


As for where to mount the activation handle, strap yourself in with your full harness, make sure you are belted in good and tight, then extend your arm and hand out, wherever your hand grips maximum reach is, this is the farthest away you would want to mount the activation handle. Mount it any further, and you just defeated the purpose of having it in the first place, which is to allow yourself extra time to get out of the car as the car can be replaced, but your life cannot be.


Hope you find this post somewhat eye opening and helpful.


Sincerely,

Bill S.

[undy]

Originally Posted by mrmustang

This depends entirely on where the nozzles are pointed and what type of fire you may or may not have. The reason why I say this is because Halon works on removing oxygen from the fuel source, but in an open cockpit car such as the Cobra, with the amount of air movement through the interior and chassis structure, it may or may not work the way you expect it to if god forbid, you ever have to use it. You might want to consider refilling the bottle with a wetting agent type foam product that will encapsulate the fire at it's source instead of a gaseous one.......


As for where to mount the activation handle, strap yourself in with your full harness, make sure you are belted in good and tight, then extend your arm and hand out, wherever your hand grips maximum reach is, this is the farthest away you would want to mount the activation handle. Mount it any further, and you just defeated the purpose of having it in the first place, which is to allow yourself extra time to get out of the car as the car can be replaced, but your life cannot be.


Hope you find this post somewhat eye opening and helpful.


Sincerely,

Bill S.

...can't speak for others, but..

My main intention was to prevent engine compartment fires. I think that is the most likely area for a fire source, short of a major wreck. One would probably NOT be conscious and able to pull the cable anyway in a severe wreck. My engine compartment is protected well with 2 outlets and 6 nozzle angles from the front and down both sides of the intake manifold. I have another outlet under the dash with 3 nozzle angles spraying the under dash electrics and the driver's foot well. A typical fire of major concern would be, a ruptured under hood fuel line. If the halon doesn't knock it down then there's always the hand-held extinguisher in the trunk.

Easy of access is the major reason mine went on the dash, other than the fuzzy dice


Dave

[John McMahon]

Originally Posted by undy

...can't speak for others, but..

My main intention was to prevent engine compartment fires. I think that is the most likely area for a fire source, short of a major wreck. One would probably NOT be conscious and able to pull the cable anyway in a severe wreck. My engine compartment is protected well with 2 outlets and 6 nozzle angles from the front and down both sides of the intake manifold. I have another outlet under the dash with 3 nozzle angles spraying the under dash electrics and the driver's foot well. A typical fire of major concern would be, a ruptured under hood fuel line. If the halon doesn't knock it down then there's always the hand-held extinguisher in the trunk.

Easy of access is the major reason mine went on the dash, other than the fuzzy dice


Dave

My 2 cents.....

You better be able to reach that handle in any situation and you better have a 10 lb canister with all those nozzles....otherwise what is the point?

under the dash in my old FIA...

[Dangerous Doug]

There are some good points on this thread. In summary, for me, the main concern would be under hood or under dash fire, and getting out of the car safely. I did sit in my cockpit and felt for "reach" and I think I have a good position picked out (should I mount this on the roll bar---still considering the drop bracket on the dash). The other is Halon as an oxygen displacement to remove the catalyst, and that spraying into the cockpit---other than the footwells---would probably be ineffective.

I have three nozzles on mine with a 5 lb. tank. I'm thinking two under the hood for engine protection and one under the dash for electrical protection. I have a 2 lb. bottle (chrome!) that will mount on the driveshaft tunnel between the seats to protect driver and passenger.

All that being said, I'm taking a second look at the aluminum drop down I had previously made for my dash and reconsidering it. I have a big red "punch button" kill switch that I don't want to mount into my dash, but tucked away on the bracket might look pretty cool. I have room for the fire cable and a power indicator light or extra switch.

I'll likely make my decision (uh, for at least six months...) and once I get it set up I'll post some pictures.

[Ron61]

One point that I may have missed in reading the thread. Here the release lever must be in easy reach of the driver AND a safety worker if you plan to run the car on a track at all. That is one of the first things they looked at on mine when I had it at Thunderhill was to see that in case I was disabled, a safety worker could easily reach in and pull the release knob. I don't know if this applies at all tracks and in all states or not.

Ron

[undy]

Originally Posted by John McMahon

My 2 cents.....

You better be able to reach that handle in any situation and you better have a 10 lb canister with all those nozzles....otherwise what is the point?

I only actually have the three nozzles, 2 in the engine compartment and one under the dash. Each nozzle has 3 different angled discharge orifices. I worked with SafeCraft on the system and it's sized for my 5 lb bottle.
Dave

[tkb289]

Doug,

One more option to consider if you are interested, and that is a thermally activated fire suppression system. I have a buddy with an INTERMECCANICA ROADSTER ( reproduction of the Porsche 1959 356A Convertible "D" ) equipped with just such a system.

The company is Safecraft Safety Equipment, in Concord, CA. ( http://www.safecraft.com/MinstalledExtinguisher.asp ). They also have manually operated systems as well. I know that you already have the parts for your fire suppression system, but thought you or other CC members might be interested.

The automatic system may not comply with track use ... always lots to consider when making these kind of decisions ...

- Tim B.