Mankee Posted March 3, 2013 Share Posted March 3, 2013 Following from Chris' recent thread about plumbed-in fire extinguishers, I thought about having a look at mine and seeing if I can actually trust the thing to do its job or whether it's just a dead weight not worth depending on. I've checked the label on it, a dumpy 2.25L Lifeline Zero 2000, and it has a manufacture date of 1997! Not only that, it doesn't look like to have ever been serviced either. The Merlin catalogue says that they won't touch anything over 10 years old and a rallying friend of mine suggested that I let it off in a controlled manner to decommission it, which sounds fun. Apparently, they can rust from inside out and spontaneously go pop... I don't compete in the car or drive it on the road, just trackday use in normal clothing. The indicator currently shows green and full. Is it worth even thinking about doing something with the extinguisher apart from removing and replacing it? Or is having an extinguisher that might work one day be better than having no extinguisher at all? I've gotten a bit obsessive about car weight recently, so ditching the system will save a few kgs. But, then, I've also seen a few small fires out on the circuits too. Hmm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z3MCJez Posted March 3, 2013 Share Posted March 3, 2013 The short post is "ditch it". The long post needs a proper keyboard. Jez Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
virden Posted March 4, 2013 Share Posted March 4, 2013 Ditch it and buy a new one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Area Representative Nick Chan Posted March 4, 2013 Area Representative Share Posted March 4, 2013 Or mine is available for £50 and it will screw straight onto your fittings! My one was serviced last year at £85 plus Vat... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mankee Posted March 4, 2013 Author Share Posted March 4, 2013 Thanks for the offer, Nick! I did spot your bottle for sale just now. I'm going to remove and discharge mine for now and look to replace it another time when I'm actually using my car again. Will be in touch then if you still have it. Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z3MCJez Posted March 7, 2013 Share Posted March 7, 2013 Back to the long post! Have you ever seen a plumbed fire extinguisher set off? It will not put out a fire that is anything other than a very basic oil on an exhaust style fire. If there is any petrol involved, then forget it. What a fire extinguisher will do is give you a bit more time to get out, before your car becomes engulfed. And to give the race marshalls an opportunity to arrive with proper fire extinguishers. In a Caterham, this is of pretty limited value as getting out should not be a big issue. In a road car, I would probably not replace a plumbed in fire extinguisher. It's obviously got some weight, but it also takes up quite a bit of space and it won't stop a major fire (which is in any event very unlikely in a road accident). As there aren't any marshals on the roads, if your car catches fire through a fuel fire, then it's going to burn out. Jez Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mankee Posted March 7, 2013 Author Share Posted March 7, 2013 Cheers for the thoughts, Jez. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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