BlazeCut - Automatic Fire Suppression System

You could say that have a car that is famous for catching on fire.  Why, there is even an incident at a local mall, one early October morning in 1985, where a DeLorean left flames in its track as it headed towards a crazed scientist and a teen-aged boy.  Of course, there are rumours that a dog was driving.

But besides that, there have been a handful of reports the past few years of DeLoreans engulfed in flames.  This is mainly due to old, cracking rubber fuel lines in the engine bay.  A few years ago, I had my fuel lines replaced with stainless steel lines.  Most recently, I got a new engine.  While everything is new and should run smooth, I figure it would be best to protect my investment.

Enter the BlazeCut Automatic Fire Suppression System.  The unit is a plastic tube filled with a extinguishing agent.  The system automatically triggers when excessive heat is detected.  Basically, the flames melt the plastic tube and the extinguishing agent is released.

BlazeCut Automatic Fire Suppression System

After seeing some videos of this thing in action, and reading about how many cars have been lost to fire, I purchased a set for my car.

What you get in the box

The system comes with the main unit, some zip ties, and a sticker.  The unit I got is the TV200FA, with 500g of HFC-236fa, tube length of 212 cm.

Installation is relatively simple.  I used the vents as anchor points to zip tie the tube to my engine cover.  The difficult part is fighting the curve of the tube.  It might have been smarter to undo the coiled tube and let it rest for a day or two before installation.

BlazeCut installed on engine cover

 I thought about mounting the tube along the inside of the engine bay.  Well, struggling with the coiled tube was hard enough.  Plus engine bay mounting would require installation of brackets to the walls.  It may also get in the way of the engine if and when maintenance needs to be performed.  The engine cover seems to be the better option for now.  Although, I might shift the 'C' opening towards the front of the car.

View from top, closed engine cover

Some say the vents on the engine cover may let the extinguishing agent escape.  I agree with those that say having this system gives you more time to get to a safe location in the event of a fire.

I hope this is the last time I have to write about fire and engine. 

UPDATE:  Dave Tavers of  DeLoreanDirectory.com and DeLoreanTalk.com has new information (via BlazeCut Owner, Josh Andersen), due to the DeLorean's vented engine cover, "Unfortunately that engine bay is too exposed to be a good application for BlazeCut.  You would require a larger bottle system from another company for your car."  Josh adds, "At the very minimum the TV400 (12’) would offer some protection, but with all of those vents the efficacy of the product would be severely reduced.  The BlazeCut C series would be appropriate but we have not gotten US approvals to import the system.  I do not have a competitive alternative to suggest but there are plenty of bottle systems out there and I would suggest having protection on an irreplaceable object you care about."

I will update if/when I have more information. Thank you.