I was considering installing a fire extinguisher on the Edson pedestal and am looking for suggestions for brackets others have used. I am sure I have missed an obvious source so I need suggestions
Mark Nerenhausen
Penguin, Nonsuch 26C, #174
Washington Island, WI
I’m pretty sure you could find something at a local hardware store. I looked on-line at Lowes.com and found eight candidates ranging in price from about $16 USD up. To fasten them on, you could screw them in (or one even came with the sticky backing that 3M sells for removable wall hooks). Alternatively, if you don’t like holes in your pedestal, a pair of long hose clamps would work just as well.
Another alternative might be to make your own. You could by some hooks or bend some flat aluminum bars (1/8" will work) to make inverted hooks or U’s, hose clamp those to the extinguisher, then get a couple plastic stanchion clamps for one of the pedestal rails, and secure eyestraps to the clamps to catch the inverted hooks.
The one concern I’d have for putting an extinguisher on the pedestal is whether or not it’s made with enough metal to throw a compass off. I don’t know the answer to that one.
-- Bob
It will rust. Mount it in the locker… still close at hand and protected from the elements.
RonB.
I keep one in the propane locker, on on the companionway and one one the shelf in the quarter berth.
One thing to keep in mind is that chemical powder extinguishers are very corrosive to copper wire so bi carbonate, halon and co2 are better options
I had a dead short on my starter in the second year I had the boat. I was cleaning up baking powder for several years LOL
On both my N26’s, I’ve had a fire port in the engine room cover, allowing you to insert the nozzle and spray through to the compartment.
I moved the companionway extinguisher near there next to the steps. That put it near the fire port. But the real reason was that a guest going down the companionway somehow managed to dislodge the locking pin and squeeze the extinguisher handle instead of the teak grab rail. After cleaning up that mess, I wasn’t in the mood to have that ever happen again.
Usually I agree with anything Thor says. But, I’d be nervous about putting a metal fire extinguisher in my propane locker. I know plenty of people do, but… If something started burning in there, i wouldn’t want to reach in for it. And, if it scraped while moving and a spark started a propane fire, it’d be really embarrassing to have to tell people my fire was caused by my fire extinguisher.
Bob
I have attached the bracket the fire extinguisher came with to the pedestal with large plastic zip ties because I didn’t want to go drilling into the post. On the NS 30 my extinguisher is on the engine cover next to the companionway and in the forward hanging locker with a label outside it.
Food for thought regarding a fire extinguisher port into the engine compartment on our boats - I believe all of us have a very large engine compartment. (I was 5’11" when we bought our boat and laid down in the compartment - my wife declared it my dog-house.) In case of a fire- that is a big compartment and shooting in through the port may be futile. How are you going to know where the fire is if you just have a 2" port?
And regarding halogen - I believe that works by displacing the O2 at the fire. Perfect through a port since you don’t need to see the fire. But . . . with a large engine compartment, any handheld unit will probably be just wishful thinking.
Has anyone boxed in their engine? I am always surprised that our carriers do not make us box our engines in. It is something I think about doing - would also make the boat quieter by adding some sound-proofing and would make the resulting lockers more useful. One problem with boxing it in is access to the thru-hull valves. Compromises, compromises.
If I do the job, I will probably use Button-fix attachments to install the necessary panels: Button-fix | Hidden fixings, visible impact . I used these to install a new surround for the propane hot water heater - can easily pop the cover on/off for changing the battery.
Mine is boxed and sound-proofed. Well, sound-reduced. I think it’s wearing out. It’s possible to converse in the cockpit without yelling, but I can’t hear what they are saying on the VHF.
It doesn’t cause any extra problem with access to through-hull valves, though my boat is a different model than yours. (My starboard cockpit drain would be a reach from about anywhere back there.) But it makes things tight for engine maintenance.
It does give me a large, very usable locker beneath the port cockpit seat and a smaller one to starboard where I keep lines and cleaning stuff.
Brian
Do you have any pictures of the engine boxed in?
Brian Cayer
Lloyd,
There seems to be something wrong with that link. When I click on it, I get some very large very simple graphical icons, and can’t make sense of it.
Is there another link you could post?
Thanks,
-- Bob
Wow, boxing in the engine with all the hoses, wires, and control cables must be a challenge. Could constrict air flow, cooling, and access to engine. Not sure its worth the effort.
As for the Edson pedestal fire extinguisher, I think the extinguisher would be subject to corrosion. And if this was a good idea, you’d see them mounted this way on other sailboats, I have not.
I can look when I get home, but probably nothing useful. I’ll think about how to take a useful photo.
I think mine was built boxed and insulated from the beginning. Yeah, it would be a real pain to retrofit, though I imagine you could take some shortcuts and get most of the advantages. But then I’ve only ever looked beneath the cockpits of two 33 Nonsuches, so I’m not the last word on it.
Like Hillary I have cable tied the EPRB to the pedestal for easy access thow bag and portable vhf are there as well. The cable ties work well.