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Old 03-01-2012, 11:37 AM   #7
Larry M
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City: Jacksonville
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 11,681
RE: Engine room extinguisher options.

Quote:
Carey wrote:Art wrote:
Damn, Tom... that is one heck of a need-for-safety story!* I hope your relative is OK for the long run.* Thanks for posting that dangerous accounting so we all have better concept on what may occur. - Art*
*DITTO - I am now removing my old Halon unit. Does anyone know about the safety of the Halon replacement product.

I am not sure if everyone knows this, but you cannot buy new Halon units. The safety factor might be exactly why it was removed from the market.

*Tom:* I'm glad you cousin was OK.* It's a scary story.

The reason Halon was taken off the market was because of it's* properties contribute to ozone depletion.* It lasts up to 400 years in the atmosphere.* Halon's replacements,l which are not as effective,*are*Halotron I, Halotron II, FE-36 Cleanguard and FM-200 which have similar characteristics but are not as dangerous to the atmosphere.

Halon and it's replacements*work by displacing oxygen and removing heat from the combustion zone.* What happened to Tom's cousin was he walked into and oxygen deprived atmosphere!** If he had a CO2 fire extinguisher that had discharged the same thing could have happened.

The reason that*Halon and it's substitutes, including CO2 are used on computer systems*and marine engine rooms are that after the fire extinguishers have been discharged, there is no residue.* That is why they are referred to as clean agents.**Can you imagine that what would happen if you had an engine room fire with the engine running and you used a dry chemical fire extinguisher?* You would probably be looking at replacing or at least rebuilding your engine.*

You can't buy Halon*but it's use is still legal.* We have an engine room Halon system and I don't have any safety concerns as long as we continue to maintain it properly.
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