- Joined
- Mar 17, 2012
- Messages
- 4,405
- Location
- Australia
- Vessel Name
- Insequent
- Vessel Make
- Ocean Alexander 50 Mk I
I have a Fireboy automatic system (halon replacement gas), including the engine and exhaust fan shutdowns. The latter are crucial as pointed out above. Manual overide of the engines etc from the helm is possible (and also very important to have) should the boat be in an unsafe location at the time. I also have ER cameras, smoke and CO alarms and a bunch of handheld extinguishers of various size at various location in the boat.
My main concern in the ER is not one of the engines or fuel leaks, but a battery failing and going into thermal runaway. It would take me a little time to be able to disconnect and remove one, even though I have made some mods to expedite that process. Unless I caught it very early I probably could not get it out without running the risk of being overwhelmed by smoke etc. I shoot battery temps whenever running after a deep house bank discharge. My alternators total 400A and the solar 160A, so the batteries can get quite warm during charging. Of course an internal battery short could occur at other times as well......
The PO had a fireboy in the ER but no shutdown. It and numerous handhelds were all halon. I had them all serviced by a place that still has some halon, but then discovered I would have a big problem on entering Australia. Halon is banned here except for commercial aviation and the military. You can get a permit for a 'permanatly installed' halon system. But the cost of the permit exceeded the cost of replacement of all the halon units I had on board! Who says all bureaucrats are dumb! I sold all the halon units in the PNW before leaving, including a couple to TF members.
My main concern in the ER is not one of the engines or fuel leaks, but a battery failing and going into thermal runaway. It would take me a little time to be able to disconnect and remove one, even though I have made some mods to expedite that process. Unless I caught it very early I probably could not get it out without running the risk of being overwhelmed by smoke etc. I shoot battery temps whenever running after a deep house bank discharge. My alternators total 400A and the solar 160A, so the batteries can get quite warm during charging. Of course an internal battery short could occur at other times as well......
The PO had a fireboy in the ER but no shutdown. It and numerous handhelds were all halon. I had them all serviced by a place that still has some halon, but then discovered I would have a big problem on entering Australia. Halon is banned here except for commercial aviation and the military. You can get a permit for a 'permanatly installed' halon system. But the cost of the permit exceeded the cost of replacement of all the halon units I had on board! Who says all bureaucrats are dumb! I sold all the halon units in the PNW before leaving, including a couple to TF members.