Quote:
Originally Posted by JWA
Sooooooooooo much wrong with that question!
That'd be exceptionally wise on your part! This thread is a bit lengthy because it contains a lot of good information about vehicular fire fighting.
This is NOT about cost-per-unit---trying to cheap out on saving a vehicle on fire is a bit foolish IMHO. It IS about effectiveness of whatever device or system we keep on-hand for quick easy deployment when/if the need arises. Compare the cost of replacing a total loss or worse yet repairing fire damage and the Element devices seem like mere pocket change.
The size of the Element devices is just another positive aspect they present. Traditional extinguishers are typically under-sized due their larger physical size and weight. I'd rather carry 4-5 Element's than a 20+ pound pressurized extinguisher.
Just my $0.02 worth..................
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So when people are saying that Element and Halon both go after putting out fires very similarly, and neither weight nor space are something I particularly care about (I'm never at gross weight, and don't have a built-out interior), it's a valid question. Chiding my question and just leaving it at, "There's so much wrong with that!" isn't helpful.
I've looked at their videos. -- OK, they're more portable (Smaller and lighter) than a conventional extinguisher, and they have a reasonably long run-time at 60 seconds. -- Almost all of the fires put out were reasonably small and seeing halon extinguisher demonstrations, appear to do exactly the same thing.
The
only thing I have seen that you can do with an Element extinguisher and not with a halon extinguisher is place it in an enclosed space, and it will extinguish the fire. That being said, there appeared to be some debate in this thread early on that it was not recommended to chuck one of these into the engine bay (The claim being the engine bay was too open, and the user didn't have enough control over it) and close the hood- so my read is that it's only good for an enclosed interior fire.
On the surface, the rest of your post dodges my question, and although I think you mean well, if I chose to read into your comment it might even seem that since I pointed out a big bottle of halon was cheaper or equivalent in price that you think I'm somehow into cutting corners and being cheap.
Guess that will teach me to pose honest questions on this forum. I think I'll stick with my bottle of halon.