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Fire Suppression System - Asset ProtectionProject DLM Gets A Dual-Nozzle Fire Suppression System From the November, 2010 issue of Circle Track By Bobby Clark Photography by Bobby Clark
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If there is one thing that... If there is one thing that all race car drivers fear it's fire. But a good fire-suppression system can help you avoid an inferno like this. Despite the severity of the fire, this driver walked away thanks to a quick-acting safety crew. Courtesy Lake Erie Speedway The rule book at our local racetrack reads: "All cars MUST have an approved fire extinguisher securely mounted within reach of the driver." I never really thought about it much, but that's kind of vague don't you think? I mean, what do they mean by "approved" and exactly who does the "approving?" The truth is many rulebooks at tracks around the country are pretty vague when it comes to fire extinguishers. So, once again when it comes to safety it's up to us, the drivers, to do all we can to protect our ass-ets. While the old fire extinguisher I had in Project DLM conformed to rules written in the rulebook, we wanted to go to the next level and install a fire-suppression system that would provide the maximum protection for a reasonable cost. We purposely steered clear of the NASCAR Sprint Cup-level systems since we don't have their budgets and opted for the Firecharger two-nozzle system from Smiley's Racing Products. Smiley's sells this system for $299. I thought the coolest thing about it was the fact that the design allows it to be recharged in the field by someone with basic mechanical skills and tools, which covers just about every last one of us oval track racers. So you could have an issue in hot laps, discharge it, pull back into the pits, recharge it and still make the heat race. Installing this system is easier and takes far less time if you have two people working on it. So I enlisted my dad to give me a hand. Truth is, I really don't think I'd want to try to install one of these by myself and you'll see why shortly. At a couple of points in the installation you really need four hands to get the job done. Enough talk, let's get to it. This is a five-pound system and basically comes with everything you need to get it put into place.  The Firecharger Fire Supression...  The Firecharger Fire Supression System from Smiley's comes with everything you see here for just $299. That's a small price to pay for the safety and peace of mind of having a two-nozzle system. With the addition of a T connector and another nozzle, you could make this a three-nozzle system, but we chose to keep it a deuce.  Finding a space to mount the...  Finding a space to mount the five-pound bottle turned out to be a bigger challenge than we thought. The tight cockpit of Project DLM meant we had to get creative. Well, we found what turned out to be the perfect spot, a hidden compartment where the master cylinders are housed, just in front of the driver's cockpit. There was just enough room there.  With the gauge panel removed,...  With the gauge panel removed, you can see where we'll mount the bottle. The kit comes with enough lines and cable to make remote mounting of the bottle a snap. Just keep in mind that you'll want it easily accessible if you need to allow the tech officials to check it or if you ever need to recharge it.  According to Firecharger,...  According to Firecharger, for maximum efficiency the bottle must be mounted horizontally with the two brackets a minimum of 6 inches apart. With the car sitting on the ground at ride height, a triangle helped us ensure that the bottle would sit perfectly horizontal.  Marking the width of the bottle...  Marking the width of the bottle helped us to be sure that we had plenty of clearance around the whole system.  With everything marked out,...  With everything marked out, we then attached the bottle brackets to the aluminum panel using 5/16-inch Grade 5 bolts with washers and Nylok nuts, which is what Firecharger recommends. Now is a good time to figure out where you want to mount the T-handle. It must be within easy reach of both the driver and safety crew. As you'll see later on in the story, we chose to mount it to the left of the steering wheel near the A-pillar.  On the side of the bottle...  On the side of the bottle you can see a black round knob, that's the actuator which rotates when you pull the T-handle to discharge the system. The long nut sitting in front is the pull cable end which will get screwed into the tall side of the actuator bracket.  The cable on this system will...  The cable on this system will remind you of a brake cable on a bicycle. The black sheath literally gets screwed into the pull cable end, then the cable wire gets threaded through the black sheath.  You must install the bottle...  You must install the bottle into the brackets for the next step, which is to cut the cable wire to the proper length. Here's where you need that extra set of hands I was talking about before.  Behind the T-handle there...  Behind the T-handle there is a solid aluminum block that is notched, which means once the handle is mounted it will not turn. Plus, the wire cable won't twist. So one person must hold the T-handle in the direction you want it to face once mounted while the other person feeds it through the black sheath and cuts it to length.  While I hold the T-handle,...  While I hold the T-handle, Dad cuts the cable wire 1 inch past the actuator.  Here you can see where the...  Here you can see where the cable wire will be attached to the actuator-see the groove?  You must use a pair of needle...  You must use a pair of needle nose pliers to bend a "Z" into the cable wire in the same direction that the T-handle is going to be mounted. Yes, you guessed it, I am still holding the T-handle.  Firecharger says that it's...  Firecharger says that it's extremely important that once the cable wire is attached to the actuator that there is no more than 1/4-inch of play in the wire, otherwise you could prematurely set off the system.  Speaking of setting off the...  Speaking of setting off the system, remember I said that the actuator rotates when you pull the T-handle? Well, in this picture you can see the brass arm that it rotates around. A CO2 cartridge will screw into the end of that bracket closest to the actuator. Inside the actuator, there is an oversized needle which, when the T-handle is pulled, punctures the CO2 cartridge, pressurizing the bottle.  There are two safety pins...  There are two safety pins on this system-one on the actuator (shown)and one on the T-handle, both prevent the system from being accidentally discharged. You will see later that the part of the system in photo 16 is covered by an aluminum hood. It's important that you remove the safety pins before you roll onto the track, otherwise all of this work will be for nothing if you have a fire.  This is the two-port cylinder...  This is the two-port cylinder head at the top of the bottle. Inside there is a brass rupture disc. When the pressure inside the bottle builds up enough, the disc ruptures and releases the chemical. Here the threaded nut that will be attached to the aluminum feed tube gets tightened.  This is the location for the...  This is the location for the T-handle. We had to fabricate a small tab out of some angle aluminum that we had around the shop so that we would have a place to attach the handle. You can see the release tube being threaded through the hole in that tab. The tank is already in place and while I'm feeding cable through the hole, Dad is pulling it to measure and cut it prior to securing it to the actuator.  To mount both nozzles we had...  To mount both nozzles we had to drill through the aluminum cockpit wall with a step bit. These nozzles spray in a 180-degree pattern giving us a number of options when choosing mounting locations. This nozzle is mounted just above the dry sump which sits above the transmission. It is aimed so that part of the spray blows on to the right side of the engine from carb to headers, the dry sump, and then toward the oil tank down the tunnel toward the back of the car.  With the hole for the 1/4-inch...  With the hole for the 1/4-inch aluminum tube that feeds the nozzle cut, we decided to head down to our local parts shop and get some rubber grommets. They just press into place and provide an extra level of protection. Overkill maybe, but we don't like to take any chances.  Because of the throttle linkage...  Because of the throttle linkage that was in the way, we had to bend the aluminum delivery tube.  This is the mounting hole...  This is the mounting hole for the second nozzle location. Here you can see the grommet in the hole which holds the tube snugly. This is very important, especially in dirt racing where the constant bumping and banging can damage the tube if the grommet was not there.  This nozzle is located directly...  This nozzle is located directly in front of the driver, slightly to the left side of the car. It is aimed at the left side of the motor and will cover from carb to headers, to power steering pump, and everything on the left side of the motor. You can see the power steering tank to the left of the tube and nozzle. This nozzle will also blanket the entire area in front of me in the event of a fire. Coupled with the other nozzle, I have protection on almost three sides from just two nozzles. If we wanted, a third nozzle could be added by running a T-junction into an extra 5 feet of 1/4-inch aluminum tube and mounting the nozzle directly in front of the fuel tank.  A close-up of the nozzle shows...  A close-up of the nozzle shows the outlet hole that creates a 180 degree fan pattern when the bottle is discharged. This creates maximum coverage, a very good thing when you're talking about a fire-suppression system.  Now comes the fun part-filling...  Now comes the fun part-filling the tank. Make sure you have plenty of space and that the bottle is sitting upright on a solid surface.  After filling the bottle with...  After filling the bottle with purified water completely to the top we proceeded to pour out 8 ounces into a measuring cup.  If we had a 10-pound system,...  If we had a 10-pound system, we would have removed more water, but since ours is a 5-pound system, we removed exactly 8 ounces.  The AFFF concentrate is then...  The AFFF concentrate is then poured into the bottle. As you can see I have on safety gloves. Firecharger recommends gloves and eye protection because the AFFF concentrate can cause permanent eye damage. Once the bottle is filled to the top we attached the discharge hose and head assembly onto the bottle. Since there is an O-ring seal on the head assembly, Firecharger recommends torqueing the head to between 15 and 30 pounds, although additional torque may be required to get the plumbing to line up.  With the bottle in place,...  With the bottle in place, we tighten down the brackets.  Here's a close-up of the mounted...  Here's a close-up of the mounted bottle in the car.  Firecharger includes a nice...  Firecharger includes a nice aluminum cover for the CO2 cartridge, which snaps into place and protects the cartridge and actuator.  The bottle is in the car and...  The bottle is in the car and the lines have been run.  The Firecharger is a pull...  The Firecharger is a pull system and comes with a traditional red T-handle with white lettering. But we added more after a quick trip to Office Depot for some red press-on labels. Now, the T-handle's location is really obvious to safety crews. This is particularly important in the event of a wreck where the driver is unconscious. With the help of my father, Robert, I mounted the system in the car so I already know where everything is and what lever to pull in the event of a fire. But if I was knocked out it would be up to the safety crews to figure out where the on-board extinguisher was located-now that it's clearly marked, they can.
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