Canter Fire

[gait]

on Feb 9th (in Nepal) we had a near dashboard fire. Saved by disconnecting battery. Sod of a job bypassing damaged wires to get us mobile. Yet to replace loom (but will do).

The cause of my almost fire was a short somewhere and a fuse that melted but didn't blow.

Yesterday just north of Narromine in NSW a couple in a canter based motorhome weren't so lucky. A "fire in the fusebox". They tried a fire extinguisher which may have been past its use by date. Total write off.

I suspect it could happen to any vehicle, its probably just coincidence it was another Canter but of course it caught my eye. Quite possibly the common factor is the blade fuses (known weakness) but the root cause could be anything.

Whatever. That brief "oh ****" moment of panic during which one visualises a roaring inferno along with the realisation the trip may be at an end, while feeling its desirable to methodically attempt something to change the outcome, in seconds not minutes, is not at all nice or comfortable. And there's only one chance at getting an answer that works. Perhaps it helped that I had a vague "what if" plan.

Maybe I really will fit the "kill switches" for vehicle and house batteries, and solar, now.

 

[Aussie Iron]

Not nice , that is why I have a master switch on my batteries. Already had to use it on 1 of my dozers to stop a fire.

Dan.

 

[Czechsix]

Yep, kill switches on every high amp source.

Oh, and CO2 extinguishers....I hate those dry powder style. You will too, if you ever have to use them for real.

 

[1aquaholic]

If you do have a dry chem extinguisher, turn it upside down a couple of times a year. The fine powder compacts especially after driving down the road for several thousand miles and forms a block that doesn't flow well when activated. Of course have the annual inspection done as well to be safe and to be extra safe have more that one extinguisher.

j

 

[blackduck]

Another handy hint is splurge and get split conduit for all you accessory runs
even wires cable tied will eventually wear the insulation bare id they get a chance to rub against anything metal

 

[moose2367]

Another handy hint is splurge and get split conduit for all you accessory runs
even wires cable tied will eventually wear the insulation bare id they get a chance to rub against anything metal

Dust still gets in the split tubing, i use solid tubing and heatshrink both ends. Time consuming and a little more expensive but well worth it. I also tape together any separate wires every 200mm or so before putting them in the tubing to help prevent them rubbing through each other

 

[Buckstopper]

My other car is a Porsche 914 converted to all electric.

http://evalbum.com/4059

I have a 350 amp Anderson disconnect that I can pull and kill the 300 volt DC main battery pack if something goes wrong. I had a motor terminal melt on that car and the disconnect stopped the fire. I never thought of using one of those disconnects on the Fuso but this has me thinking about it. These are heavy duty and are rated to disconnect under full load.



When the fire department showed up they were surprised to see relatively little damage. They said that most of the time a car fire is a total loss so they don't hurry too much to get to the scene.

Buckstopper

 

[Gatsma]

Never seen one of those; looks VERY positive-action, VERY heavy duty, VERY simple, and by your words here, I would say very necessary in preventing electrical fires, the toughest to fight otherwise.
Is this type available in different sizes and/or capacities?

 

[tibfibber]

nice design, haven't seen it before. there are also this style:

http://www.cloudelectric.com/product-p/sw-ed250b.htm
http://evmc2.wordpress.com/2011/01/20/emergency-cutoff-switches-via-diyelectriccar-com/

 

[Czechsix]

I haven't seen one of those either...but it's a great idea.

Did a search, here's a link to them, or something similar http://rechargecar.com/product/ev-ez-safe-disconnect

Looks like you can run a remote cable too, to actuate it. I'll have to look into these for future builds, might be a solution to several issues.

 

[LeishaShannon]

I have one of these on the house and starter battery banks :

https://www.bluesea.com/products/category/Remote_Battery_Switches/ML-Remote_Battery_Switches

They're rated at 500A and have a local manual switch or can be operated remotely either via a switch or a fire/crash detection alarm.

 

[blackduck]

of course the thing we are missing here is once you kill the power on an electrical fire (after all electricity is an ignition source, it doesnt burn) you normally have some kind of combustible fire to contend with
and in the case of all the plastic and garbage they put in vehicles these days theres a lot to ignite
kill the power sure
but if you dont have a good fire extinguisher you still get to watch your pride and joy go up in flames
and by good extinguisher i dont mean those pokey little dry powder jobs
most peoiple dont service them and after a few miles of vibration the powder can compact into a solid
pull the pin and nothing but air comes out
CO2 is the way to go
BCF is my pick but apparently it kills Colombian tree frogs so was banned

 

[Gatsma]

Wow. Must have been way too many flaming Colombian tree frogs....

 

[libarata]

Wow. Must have been way too many flaming Colombian tree frogs....

Stop attacking other things sexual choices!

Dry chemical suck, but remember that if you use the CO2 in a small camper, you could end up passing out!

 

[Flys Lo]

All great points brought up in this thread. Another one which I didn't see mentioned, is ensuring you have the right gauge wire for the current draw and length and being conservative by choosing larger gauge wherever you are close to the design limits.