Fire Extinguisher?

[Theshandman]

I've seen many hot rods, Cobras, you name it with a fire extinguisher nicely situated in the cockpit. Some appear to be utilitarian, some are blinged with chrome.
There is nothing to say a fire extinguisher is a bad idea; who has installed one in the cockpit of your Cobra, and as a bonus question, has yours ever been deployed in an emergency?

[edwardb]

It's not a bad idea. In fact required by rule by some events including shows. What's the possible downside? I have them installed in all my builds. And no have never deployed one and certainly don't plan to.

I'm trying one of these in my truck build. Not blingy, but has a lot of advantages and so far good reviews: https://www.summitracing.com/parts/efe-el40050

[Jeff Kleiner]

Mine is mounted in the trunk. Never been used but I take it in every 3 years to be recertified and tagged.

Jeff

[GoDadGo]

I have one in the cockpit and it is on the drivers side between the seat and the side bulkhead.

Have I ever deployed it you may ask, the answer is no; however, there was one time where I grabbed it because I came upon an accident.

One of the cars appeared to be smoking, but it was steam from the ruptured radiator, but I was glad that I was prepared none the less.

[RJD]

I have this one installed in the trunk.

176985

I've also deployed one similar about a year ago while staying at a B&B and a car out front caught fire under the hood due to a fuel leak. The fire was coming through the front grill and wheel wells.

I get trained with fire extinguishers on an annual basis, so I'm familiar with using them, and snuffed out the flames to the point where I could get the hood open. Unfortunately, I ran out of agent before I could get the engine bay completely smothered. By the time the fire department arrived, it was a goner.

It was a real eye-opener for me. When I returned home I replaced the two extinguishers in the garage with much larger ones. That small one in my trunk is better than nothing, but bigger (or two) might be better.

[Salty Chief 35]

I‘ve been a firefighter for over 25 years. On my days off from the fire department, I have a business inspecting, rebuilding and certifying fire extinguishers. I have used them countless times and all different types. I will state up front that I have not seen the element extinguishers. I’ve seen their adds, but not used one. My biggest concern with them is they are not ul listed and are not approved for business certification. I know standard extinguishers will work every time if they have pressure. They are continually tested by the manufacturer and by ul agents who are staffed at their factories.
My personal philosophy is anything is better than nothing. A small fire will grow to be a big fire until the fuel is spent, the oxygen is used up or the temperature is lowered. In my personal truck, I always carry an abc extinguisher. In my dads pantera, I installed a halon fire extinguisher (no residue, the abc is corrosive with moisture). If you use an abc extinguisher, clean it as soon as possible and you’ll be fine. Don’t leave it sit on your engine or paint. Halon or other clean agent extinguishes are designed for computers and don’t leave a mess to clean (but they do cost a lot more).
Whatever you use, make sure you put the extinguishing agent on the fuel that is burning (the flames are a byproduct).
Respectfully,
Jeremie

[JohnK]

I have one mounted between the seats on my roadster build. If you do decide to buy one, I would recommend getting a Halotron (or similar), and not a dry agent extinguisher. I used to be a volunteer emergency first responder at work and they made us recertify on fire extinguisher use once a year, so I've fired off many extinguishers of all types. The dry agent extinguishers make an awful mess and the powder is corrosive and will get into every crevice, electrical connection, etc., so if you ever did need to use it you'd be pretty much destroying whatever you fire it at.

Edit: Salty Chief beat me to it, and is far more experienced than me, so go with what he says.

[Dave 53]

I just mounted these 2 red "automatic fire extinguishers" in my 818 engine compartment. I used quotes because I'm not sure how legitimate they are, but for $21 each (price went up to $25 in the past couple of days), seemed cheap enough to not count on it, but maybe they will save the day. Between the surge tank, fuel filter, injector rail and fill neck, there are more fuel line hose clamps than I can count under the left one.
Link to Amazon:https://a.co/d/dbPcnjK176988

[boat737]

In my roadster, two Halon extinguishers, one in the cockpit, one in the trunk. (They are identical extinguishers and mounts.) Safecraft Halon 1211 fire extinguishers, Stainless tank, Summit Racing aluminum billet fire extinguisher mounts.

I've seen Halon work on fires. I'm a believer.

[Papa]

I have a small extinguisher in the car for looks more than thinking it will put out a fire of any significance. If the car catches on fire, I'd rather it burn down to the ground so I can get the agreed value from the insurance company rather than try to deal with repairing a half-burnt car.

[BEAR-AvHistory]

Required for some events. Have a bling unit between the seats, bailout bottle, & a heavier one in the trunk.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazine.com-vbulletin/850x637/80-done8_75dc241ad4d30de0fc4fcf69cc2e0cf8ac02fd13.jpg

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazine.com-vbulletin/850x637/80-trunknew_802f8a3ab0bfb0504a8fd091f3024f7b995fa076. jpg

Just like a gun, you don't need it till you need it.

[Kodiak]

5 pound Halon between the seats in mine.

[Mike.Bray]

I will state up front that I have not seen the element extinguishers. I’ve seen their adds, but not used one. My biggest concern with them is they are not ul listed and are not approved for business certification.

I am very familiar with UL and in my opinion they are just an American company desperately trying to remain relevant in a global economy. The European Union requires CE approval and the standards are extremely stringent and higher than UL. My company builds very expensive computer controlled equipment that is sold globally and we only have CE approvals as we cannot sell into the EU without it. With rare exception if you meet CE standards you meet or exceed UL.

I can see in the picture on the Summit site the element extinguisher has the CE label. From my personal experience I'll take that over UL any day.

[Bob Cowan]

I carried a standard dry chem extinguisher. It worked pretty well, but the car was toast anyway.

https://i.imgur.com/mFyWuO2.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/Eli2jUT.jpg

Now I carry the Element behind the passenger seat.

[Railroad]

It's not a bad idea. In fact required by rule by some events including shows. What's the possible downside? I have them installed in all my builds. And no have never deployed one and certainly don't plan to.

I'm trying one of these in my truck build. Not blingy, but has a lot of advantages and so far good reviews: https://www.summitracing.com/parts/efe-el40050

Just watched a you tube review on this product. Nothing good about. Just reporting the video results. I have not used one.
Your choice.

[Railroad]

Something about this thread reminds me of the "helmet buying discussion" putting a $5 head in a $5 helmet, etc.
I have 60K coverage, which would not cover the build and definitely not build another one like it. I would definitely want to save mine if a fire occurred.
I currently have a 5lb ABC and yes it is chrome.

[mladen]

I'm keeping this in my wishlist for when I get to it and have the ability to better measure what could fit where H3R Performance HalGuard Clean Agent Car Fire Extinguisher https://a.co/d/gtGkHXo

[Papa]

My coverage wouldn't cover 100% of the cost to build another car, but it would get me a long way and would be a heck of a lot more enjoyable than trying to rebuild a fire-damaged car. Even if you get a fire out in a couple of minutes, the body, wiring, etc. are going to be damaged. My preference would be to build a new one and make it better than what I have now.

[Al_C]

Can't help but offer an opinion: Salty Chief is the expert here. Bear-AVHistory has the right approach, in my mind, with the big guy in the trunk. As is the case many times, bigger is better. In my experience, (volunteer firefighter in a prior life) a small (e.g. 2.5 lb) extinguisher isn't of much value. You get one squirt and you're done. Better than nothing, but not much. If you're going the ABC route, you want at least 5 lbs. 10 would be better. As stated, the extinguisher needs to have sufficient agent to suppress the fire, and the small things just can't do it. When I swapped out my fuel filter, I was worried about possible leaks, so I carried a small one with me for a few days. I knew better than carrying that little thing, but somehow I guess it made me feel better. Thankfully, it wasn't needed. Next time I'm concerned, I'll throw (figuratively, of course) the 10 pounder in the trunk. There's always a risk, but I believe most of the risk is manageable.

[wrp]

Not a Cobra, had two zones. One zone included my balls and the other the engine. I think this sort of confirms the bigger is better theory. The hand helds are what saved the car. On the other hand was nice to force the flames back when they were coming through the firewall.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMWSFHcnhOg

[BradCraig]

I have this one, figure it isn't a bad idea for a car I built in my garage. However, unsure if it's better just to let it burn or not if it was to catch on fire. :-)

https://www.h3rperformance.com/products/maxout-dry-chemical-car-fire-extinguisher-1-0-lb?variant=42078091051261&currency=USD&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI56e2p_7R_AIViYjICh00ZQUlEAQYAiAB EgKK8PD_BwE

[RoadRacer]

I have a small 3lb kidde one in front of my seat on a quick release. Not going to do much, but it did put out my brakes when a rear caliper seized on the freeway and the pads caught fire.

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