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Fire Light

To: "Albaugh, Neil" <albaugh_neil@ti.com>, <land-speed@autox.team.net>
Subject: Fire Light
From: Higginbotham Land Speed Racing <saltrat@pro-blend.com>
Date: Tue, 30 Oct 2001 11:20:42 -0600
Good ideas Neil. I think I understand the circuit but it would need to keep the
warning system "on" when the bottles are actuated....I think. Maybe a SPST
switch would work if the warning system turned on the rear bottle and all you
wanted to do was turn it (the bottle) off and on? 
Another question:
Do you know of any solenoid valves that will not get contaminated with Halon
and then start leaking?
I have used solenoid (servo) valves for three years now and have found that the
valves get contaminated with agent and fail too often. Once a valve turned
itself on when the car was just sitting there!!! I have tried simple Nitrous
valves and sophisticated air valves. They all seem to get contaminated and fail
(read LEAK!). I am about to go to manually controlled valves with handles in
the cockpit. Ball valves maybe with an over-center linkage of some sort to keep
it "on" in accordance with the rulebook. Not much room in the drivers area
however and I need 3 valves (bottles). One for front engine, one for cockpit
and one for rear engine(s).
Skip( 


At 10:37 AM 10/30/01 -0600, you wrote: 

>
> Skip; 
>
> You have good points. I agree with your assesment of the resistance wire
> problems. There is also the problem of delay time-- similar to the problems
> with fire sensing by thermostats, etc. I did see a couple of UV fire sensors
> sell on eBay recently for only about $30, so there are some bargains to be
> had if one is lucky enough to find them.
>
> I also agree with your wanting to be able to shut off the fire bottles
> manually. I'd suggest wiring a SPDT (ON- OFF- ON) switch in series with the
> solenoid valve so that in the center position, the system is "OFF".  Flip the
> switch to the "up" position to arm the automatic flame detector and in the
> "down" position the fire bottles are manually activated. I can give you more
> detail on how that would be wired if you're interested.
>
> Regards, Neil   Tucson, AZ 
>
>
> -----Original Message----- 
> From: Skip Higginbotham
> [<mailto:saltrat@pro-blend.com>mailto:saltrat@pro-blend.com] 
> Sent: Tuesday, October 30, 2001 9:09 AM 
> To: Albaugh, Neil; land-speed@autox.team.net 
> Subject: RE: Solid suspension and visibility comments 
>
> Neil, 
> The problem with resistance wire systems is false alarms.......not a good 
> idea at 300 MPH +. Too hard on the heart! And IR systems are a little 
> pricey for me. 
> Auto fire extinguishing is OK if you don't want to control the extinguisher 
> manually. I do. I feel like I can turn on the fire bottles until the fire 
> is out and if I'm not stopped yet, I can turn off the fire bottles and save 
> the agent for later in the shut-down if the fire relights or was not out to 
> begin with. Also manual control might let me breathe in the small 
> cockpit!!! Too subtile? 
> Hard to reason with a fire that is behind you though!!! Auto system might 
> be the best in the long run. I worry about false actuation....... 
> Skip 
>
>
> At 09:50 AM 10/30/01 -0600, you wrote: 
> >Skip; 
> > 
> >That's a good idea. You could probably wire that into a solenoid- operated 
> >valve to actuate the fire bottles automatically, too. 
> > 
> >I've seen some aircraft fire detection systems that are based on a wire
that 
> >changes resistance. Some of the newer flame detectors sense ultraviolet 
> >radiation so they aren't confused by IR heat radiation from the collectors 
> >or other hot spots. 
> > 
> >Regards, Neil  Tucson, AZ 
> > 
> > 
> >-----Original Message----- 
> >From: Skip Higginbotham
> [<mailto:saltrat@pro-blend.com>mailto:saltrat@pro-blend.com] 
> >Sent: Monday, October 29, 2001 5:54 PM 
> >To: Albaugh, Neil; land-speed@autox.team.net 
> >Subject: RE: Solid suspension and visibility comments 
> > 
> > 
> >Neil, 
> >I have a fire detection system in the liner/lakester. Turns a bright red 
> >light on in the cockpit. No false alarms yet. 
> >Skip 

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