I take it these are proper tests and come to a dead stop ? Who has a 14kg tool box in thier car I'm still more than happy to have mine fixed that way, do you have calculations on how a larger cable tie reacts when its tightly fixed under heavy braking

 

...hence why my 2kg extinguisher has a velcro strap round it to the holder frame, and the frame is bolted to a piece of box section steel, which is secured under the 2 front seat runner mounting points

I wouldn't want to imagine what would happen if you rolled the car, and it clouted you in the side of the head - Ouch !

 

proper tests saw a safety video at work , a std road atlas on parcel shelf in a 30mph impact will remove headrest from seal along with persons head and thats hitting a stationary object at 30 not another car coming the other way at 30 therefore doubling the impact speed to 60mph. sorry it wasnt 14kilos it was a std cantilever toolbox containing spanners etc 14pounds not kilos , the spanner went through the dashboard and the screwdriver straight through the passengers seal . after watching it i carry no crap in my car at all

 

typical health and safety video with no thought for scientific tests lmao There is no way a road atlas could remove a headrest from 30mph. Heavy items in the boot can break though the rear seats but we're losing ther plot now aren't we

 

interesting info on the fire extinguishers, but which type is best for a car fire?

 

Dry powder, may be a bugger to clean off afterwards, but it will effectively smother the fire with the least chance of reignition and will work on fuel and electrical fires

 

I spent 3 or 4 hours at Brands Hatch last year cleaning the engine bay out on the Zen TA car, after it chucked a rod and caught fire. The powder certainly did the job, but it didn't half leave a corroded mess on all the aluminium parts, even after it had been thoroughly rinsed off.

We still had a car at the end of it though

 

To keep it clean you need an inert gas and I've had that fitted to computer racks - the problem with open spaces such as engine bays is as soon as the gas dissipates if the components are there for reignition it will reignite. You can't use foam for electrical fires because of the water content.

 

The powder can cause untold problems especially if it gets INTO any engine parts, which it might. I recently saw a photo-montage of the result of an engine fire in a preserved diesel. The fire brigade put it out with foam/powder, but it needed a complete engine rebuild to get the affected engine to run again, after parts were badly affected by corrosion.

Still, as posted above, at least they still have a loco to put the engine INTO

 

If you have a car/engine fire and you manage to extinguish it, but the powder subsequently damages the engine, will the insurance pay out for the engine repair/replacement or just the fire damage??

Andy

 

Well I would say (and I'm sure any rational person would agree) that the damage would still be a result of the fire and so should be covered, but of course we all know insurance companies are anything but rational.

 

But consider that the cost of the replacement engine would be considerably less than a whole car, and for newer cars is less likely to result in a write-off.

 

where is the best place to buy these?

 

I made some billet ones back in 2006.

 

I have a monster great thing out of a Challenger 2 MBT in my boot

 

 

FIA approved, 2kg.



1kg is not really enough. 2kg should put out a fire that you are able to get close to with normal clothes on.

I carry mine mainly to be able to save a life, not a car. You need a much larger foam-type extinguisher to save a car. The powder gets in everywhere, and slowly errodes your wiring.

As above, leave the bonnet down, and spray in through the grille

 

Dunk, Setright - where did you get the crossbar and metal straps? Or did you make them yourselves?

 

I was about to remove the grill inbetween the boot and passenger compartment. Might leave it in place after reading this though. Especially when I carry tools etc.

We did see an injury from IKEA flatpack stuff involved in an RTC in A&E recently. He should have bought the novelty rubber ice tray...