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Random Quote: You can make something foolproof, but you can't make it dam-fool proof.
I'm being told it's not very cost-effective to refill Halon bottles. By the time you ship them (as hazardous materials!), have the bottles re-certified, and so on and so on, I should just bite the bullet and buy new ones - at $3-400 each. Anybody have experience with these?
I just had mine done when it was down in FL. they checked both tanks including the alarm's and the emergency cables for $125.00. The company told me that if they needed to be filled they could do them back at the shop in a couple of days and didn't have to send them out. the cost wasn't that much more to do the refill.
I would look in the Yellow pages for a couple of companies that deal in commercial fire safety systems and make some phone calls. You should be able to find a local company that can do the service in house and save you alot of cash that could be put to better use,
like some new tackle.
I'm attending a boater safety course (to get the insurance premiums down - been boating for 26 yrs) and a couple that also attend are in the fire extinguisher business. According to them, Halon is not being used in new marine installations and there is a new fire extinguishing gas available. Forgot the name, sorry. They also indicated that Halon refills are discouraged in favor of the new gas.
I don't know if they were just trying to sell a new product or if they were on the level, just thought I'd pass along some info . . .
VikingDean - I plan on working through the yellow pages today.
Thom - good tip, but most all the items listed there are manual extinguishers. I need bottles that'll work with "Fireboy" automatic system.
work2fish - Thanks for the idea, I'm aware of the new gas, but the information I've gotten so far is that it's even more expensive. I'm told Halon's OK through 2005.
Spent some time on the net and the phone today, learned a good deal about automatic fire systems. Halon is being phased out due to it's impact on the ozone, probably part of the reason it's so expensive. Smaller size halon bottles, just like other smaller fire extinguishers, can't be re-filled - they're marked so right on the bottle. (VikingDean, that's probably why you were told yours could be re-filled, I'm guessing the bottles on your Viking's system are bigger than my 5# units) Good news is, many manufacturers, thankfully including mine (SeaFire, not Fireboy as I mistakenly posted earlier) will exchange discharged or leaky bottles for new (or refurbished) units for 1/2 the suggested retail of a new unit. AND, SeaFire is located in Baltimore where I just happen to owe one of my favorite cousins a visit soon, so I'll save the HazMat shipping costs (est $35 each) I'll get fresh halon bottles for about $85 less than the cost of equivalent new FE241 or FM200 units. I do have a tinge for not switching to the newer, more environmentally friendly chemical, but they require twice as much material for same cubic ft coverage, meaning significantly larger bottle and space is kind of tight for me, plus new SS mounting brackets probably aren't cheap.
Thom, thanks again for the Ebay tip, but the unit offered there would've only saved me $40 or so after shipping and the seller didn't know if it would work with my system or not. If I had to ship it back, there goes any savings; besides I need 2 of them and he only had one.
