mines on the bottom by the leisure, just needed to pack up the bracket a fraction to clear the side of the battery tray.
I've been on their website today. Service involves looking at the pressure gauge and condition of the tube that goes around the engine bay. When I get home I'll look at it in more detail.
Hey Birdy, take a look at my engine bay ( still not running..but fingers crossed ), do you think I can get one in upright in the corner as you prefer or would it be better attached to spare wheel well horizontally? ........ i'm hoping to get on the prototypeforum and join their group buy but i'm unsure of what set up I need...was just going for the foam and chafguard. any advice greatfully received cheers Lee
Bertie you should be able to but you'll need to move that relay box at the back to the right a little. Failing that where Matty has his on the spare wheel well works ok. The chafe guard is quite nice to have as it prevents you from putting to much of a bend on the pipe and kinking it. If you kink the pipe it's back to Firetec you go. It also allows you to run it near body parts knowing it won't chafe. Best to try not to but it isn't always preventable. Mine runs close to the O/S body around the fuel filler neck box section and spare wheel well. They do this because l wanted the batteries to have a bit of firetec going near them if that makes sense. I use to have my old powder filled one horizontal on the firewall. Worked well as it wasn't in the way of the service items. The only down side to this is you waste a good bit of length on the pipe as you double it up in the N/S corner. I haven't checked the lengths but I think the powder one from Heritage had a longer pipe. On the plus side the pipe came straight out of the top so you didn't have the initial bend that you need with the Firetec.
Another thread on firetec installs here: http://thelatebay.com/index.php?topic=8340.msg192045#msg192045 It would be great to have all the install pics in one place...
Someone asked if these works. All I can say is I accidentally set of the first one I had. Comes out with some force, probably would have blinded me if I wasnt wearing glasses! There are some youtube movies of similar systems. Try searching 'Rotarex Firetec'. Cheers s
Here's mine - I followed the fuel lines and the main electrics - though the restriction on the radius you can bend the hose to makes the routing fairly standard I think.
I wouldnt move the cylinder too much once its installed. It's possible to strees the connection at the bottle resulting in a face full of powder/foam (I did...)
I have done some research into the "shaking" the bottle. The only ones that need shaking are vertical mounted powder ones. I'll let the e mail reply do the talking. I also enquired about maintenance and full servicing. As with any fire system in a commercial premises they need to be serviced/replaced every so often so I don't see why your Volkswagen should be any different. This also applies to the one you carry under the dash or bed. Hi Stuart For foam (AFFF) systems maintenance comprises checking the pressure gauge every 2 months. Use a £1.00 telescopic dentist's mirror to do this if you have to. The system, is live if the needle is in the green or more than half way up the red, or anywhere within the upper red section. Also check that the cylinder is secure and can not turn within it's bracket + that the tube is still supported at max distances of 200mm, that the tube is not rubbing against a sharp edge etc. The cylinder wall should not be scored or cut. The pressure gauge can be checked to see that it is not jammed, by using a gauge tester, or even a paper clip. AFFF itself, does NOT 'go off'. However it can slowly erode the cylinder wall from within. We have some AFFF systems in our 'curiosity stock' that are now more than 15 years old and still OK. To be sure of things, I recommend that you send the entire unit back every 5 years for a complete re-build. That costs half new price and consists of new tube, new tube fittings, new cylinder if corroded, new AFFF, new O ring seals, new nitrogen, and tested to 20 bar, with new 12 months system warranty. For powder systems check the installation as for AFFF systems, but for vertically installed cylinders add 6 monthly or 10,000 miles interval, inversion and shake of cylinder to break up any forming compaction. For horizontal installed powder units, as above, but at 12 months intervals.
I thought I would share my experience of fitting a Firetec system. I installed mine in a similar position to Moons' has i.e. horizontally along the spare wheel tub - largely because I don't like drilling holes in my van and there were already holes there which fitted the bracket perfectly! The two bits that were tricky were ensuring that the first 10cm of tube out of the cylinder are not kinked (see Moons' photos to see what I mean). I positioned the bracket slightly further back than that so it just about clears the spare wheel tub and loops over the leisure battery. The other fiddly bit was the last 1 foot of the tube spiral by engine bay top hatch. As I didn't want to render the top hatch useless on the rare occasions I need to open it, I fixed the very end of the tube (in the middle of the spiral) so I can carefully detach it from a cable tie on the hatch door and then open the hatch without stressing the tube. Seemed a good solution. It's all compromises I guess. I will say that having fitted this Firetec system today I am reasonably happy with it (it is certainly better than it sitting in the box in a cupboard at home!). However, I just noticed with some interest the Fireboy system which does seem SO much easy to install!
Changed mind and did away with the loop by the hatch and instead routed back along the front firewall. Less chance of messing about with it then. If I were to do this again I'd mount the cylinder on the front firewall upright so when open the top hatch can check the gauge. Done now and better than in the box. Sorry no pics.
