stevensa

Hey guys,

I am in the process of looking for a fire suppression system for my C5 and am leaning towards the SPA 4 liter unit.

For those of you who have experience with it, please let me know what you think. Would you buy it again/recommend it?

Are there any other units that you would recommend instead?

Thank you

rfn026

Here's an article I wrote a year ago. You have some real choices to make when it comes to fire systems.

Richard Newton

Bill32

I'm not that thrilled with Spa Design products, had problems with their early sequential shift lights.
This year we had the connector on the fire system power pack break on one of our Formula Atlantics (but I'm not exactly sure why it broke).
So, I'd rate them as just OK but not great.

I installed 3 systems this year, all were from FireBottle.
Their customer service is great.
The only thing on their system is that the driver's hose/nozzle is under pressure from the factory and can't be removed from the bottle for installation but that hasn't caused me a problem.

Ol Blue

I also need a fire system and was leaning toward firebottle but find the Coldfire system very appealing. If anyone has fire system experience and could provide some insight into why or why not one should consider the coldfire system I would be greatful.

http://www.coldfire.biz/racing.htm

Bill32

Interesting.

But I don't see an on board system on their website.

Ol Blue

Deist has a fire system that uses Cold Fire. I think I saw more options using cold fire that had an automatic function depending on the temperature. I'll post url if I can find it again.

http://www.deist.com/fire-systems-c-38.html

jlutherva

I've got an SPA system and I'm very happy at the moment. I just got an price of $352 to refill the canister (OG Racing). To refill, you have to replace the dip tube assembly as well as the electric valve.

There has to be a better system.

Jim

Bill32

Jim, I get the Firebottles refilled for $160.

stevensa

Other than the refill cost, how do you like the system?

Did you have to discharge the system? If so, how did it work?

Racer parts wholesale shows $99 for non-discharged bottle service/refill or $199 for discharged bottles (electric 4L systems).

http://www.racerpartswholesale.com/c...ottle_Refills2

Mechanical systems are only $86 for refills.

MySR71

I have an ESS (Emergency Suppression Systems), dual pull, mechanical system. It is supposed to be user refillable although I have never done it. The instructions look pretty straightforward. I've never had to use it so I can't really comment on how well it works. The system isn't the prettiest.

Being in Texas, you might not care, but one thing that is a little annoying about the ESS fire system is that since the tank contains a significant amount of water and my car is in an unheated garage in Michigan, I have to remove the tank each winter. This is per their recommendation. I'm not sure if all the foam type systems or other systems require this.

rfn026

NASCAR requires 2 bottles. One is for the fuel cell.

The other thing to consider is where (and how many) nozzles you're going to use. That's more important than the brand of the system





This is a very early Porsche that's being used in vintage racing.

Richard Newton
Historic Racing Images

jlutherva

Each morning you should check the status of the battery when you turn the system on and each evening you should remember to turn the system off. That's more complicated than a mechanical system but other than that, it's totally transparent. I guess that since AFFF is a water-based system, I should be removing my bottle in the winter also. I never thought about that.

The discharge was inadvertent during some other mechanical work.

Thanks for the info; I'll look into those alternatives.


Jim