Engine Failure Woe’s

[Phrancus]

Good work finding that thing!


next job would be for me to throw that thing overboard a.s.a.p. and install something to kill the fire instead of have you floating around in the middle of lots of water on a burning boat, not even using the last moments to get to shore.

really, who thinks up, gets approved and sells such a stupid product. At least have one engine to stay in control, at least make it clear that it is detecting trouble or is in trouble itself and at the very very least make it waterproof!


But what am I ranting about; you have different regulations over there and I have manual fire extuinguishers, diesels and a shore nearby to beach on.
Still, on the wide open waters in your countries I would not want a motorboat without power due to a too blunt interference by a system acting beyond my control.

I realise that this is probably (hopefully) a smarter system and part of other warning and extinguishing systems on board and that it's supposed function was hampered by water ingress to the control box. But even that should have been considered (it's a boat after all) and should not force a boat powerless.

[Viper]

Totally forgot to ask about whether your application had one of those. I agree, I'm not crazy about them either, I don't like the control taken out of my hands. Detection and alarm systems are preferable for me.

Thanks for keeping us in the loop.

[Midnightsun]

Hmmm, never knew these existed. Thanks for enlightening us all. Oddly I have never seen this box on my setup and believe me I have seen every square inch of her.

[Viper]

It should be noted that one of the reasons why they install automatic engine shutdown systems in diesel applications is because diesels ingest so much air that they can consume all of the fire extinguishing agent before it has a chance to put out a fire. While I'm not a fan of giving up that kind of control, it's the best way to give the extinguishing system a fighting chance to put out a fire. Running engines won't do you any good if there's a fire in the engine bay and will actually make things worse, especially if you're not aware there's a problem. At least a shut down will warn you that there's something wrong and also give you a chance to either take corrective measures or evacuate the vessel. I'd rather the engines shut down and the fire extinguished. It's the nuisance failures that are frustrating but a necessary evil if safety is top priority.