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MG TD TF 1500 - TD-4834 near meltdown
I decided to take a drive in my TD out to the paint shop to check on dad’s TD/c progress. Sarah, my service dog, was riding shot gun. Suddenly, there was a plume of Lucas smoke billowing from under the dash. I began frantically shutting switches off and getting off the roadway as quickly as possible, I got Sarah and myself extricated from the cockpit and grabbed my Halon extinguisher. Thankfully no paint was burned but I don’t know the extent of the damage yet. I am glad I didn’t put the under-dash panel in place which was on my to do list. Most importantly Sarah and I didn’t get hurt. I managed to drive the car home with the fuel pumps and coil hot wired while most everything else was isolated.
Bill Chasser TD-4834 TD/c-8151 TD/c-16920 TD-19408 TD-24060 |
W A Chasser |
Glad you and Sarah are ok. Hopefully it is a single wire. |
Bruce Cunha |
Bummer Bill. Interested in the cause once you determine it. Cheers Peter TD 5801 |
P Hehir |
Halon extinguishers have been illegal in Australia since 1995---I thought they would be over there as well BIG fines for having them here Are you aware that 1Kg of halon eats 50 tonne of ozone With us down here living under the ozone hole I'm really disappointed that they're still out there Sorry about your smoke but fu** me that peees me off- willy |
William Revit |
Glad you and your dog are both safe and hope your car is not seriously damaged. BTW:Is Halon still legal? "Because Halon is a CFC, the production of Halon ceased on January 1, 1994, under the Clean Air Act. There is no cost-effective means of safely and effectively disposing of the Halon that has already been produced, therefore recycling and reusing the existing supply intelligently and responsibly to protect lives and property is the best solution. All Halon available now is recycled so it is an environmentally responsible choice." |
WHT |
Well now you guys made me look at my extinguisher. It says HalGuard not Halon. I stand corrected. |
W A Chasser |
EPA - Rule 40 CFR Part 82 Protection of Stratospheric Ozone
On March 5, 1998, the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a final rule covering the sale of Halon blends and the handling and disposal of Halon and Halon-containing equipment (63 FR 11084). The date on which this rule became effective is April 6, 1998. The major elements of the rule are summarized below: A ban on the manufacture of any Halon blend. An exemption is provided for Halon blends manufactured solely for the purpose of aviation fire protection. A prohibition on the intentional release or venting of Halons during testing, maintaining, servicing, repairing, or disposing of Halon-containing equipment or during the use of such equipment for technician training. A prohibition on Halon releases that occur as a result of owner failure to maintain Halon-containing equipment to relevant industry standards. A requirement that technician training relevant to Halon emissions be provided. Technicians should be trained using standard industry service practice guidelines, including NFPA, ISO and ASTM publications. A requirement that Halon and Halon-containing equipment must be properly disposed of at the end of its useful life. Proper disposal is defined as sending such equipment for Halon recovery or recycling by a facility operating in accordance with NFPA 10 and NFPA 12A standards or destruction using one of several processes identified in the rule. |
Timothy Burchfield |
Glad everything worked out OK. Looking for your forensic report on what shorted out. Not too many suspects except a loose power wire that shorted out on a grounded device. |
Christopher Couper |
That extinguisher caught some attention Bill All good though--cheers How are the wiring repairs going----- |
William Revit |
Haven’t pulled the car back out of the trailer yet. Went to Lincoln to check out the paint job progress on TD/c-8151. More pics and comments on the other thread Bill Chasser TD-4834 |
W A Chasser |
Bill, sorry to hear about your wiring fire but glad to hear that you and Sarah are OK and that the rest of the car is undamaged.
I'm in the process of redoing the wiring behind my dash and have some instruments reconditioned. Following Peter H's example I plan on using a multi-pin connector to facilitate connecting and disconnecting the wiring harness from the dash. Amazon 12 pin 12 ga. connector: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07H3N21MD/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Just thought it might be something for you to consider. Jud |
J. K. Chapin |
Halon is an extremely effective fire-preventative, coming out as a liquid and turning into a gas. It has the benefit of being "clean" - it leaves no residue and causes no corrosion. It is, however, a CFC, that damages the ozone layer, and new manufacture has been banned since 1994.
Here in the US, it is legal to own and use Halon, since there is no known way to safely and environmentally-responsibly dispose of it. No NEW Halon is produced. Commercial aircraft extinguishers can still be Halon. HalGuard is a Halon replacement, containing Halotron. Tom Lange MGT Repair |
t lange |
Yeah. I did the micro connectors with extended pigtails about 6 years ago when I built the car. Makes it painless when troubleshooting, servicing or removing the dash |
W A Chasser |
I found a good use for a CO2 extinguisher, other than cooling warm beer cans.
I fired one at the crotch of an unruly passenger once, aimed right at his crotch. When he bent over to grab his crotch the body of the extinguisher applied to his head subdued him. When he woke up he was handcuffed ready for the police upon arrival. Got a “mention in dispatches” for deescalating a dangerous situation. From memory most aircraft had CO2 on the left side, Halon on the right side. I have an extinguisher bolted to the floor in front of the passenger seat in my TF. |
P G Gilvarry |
Happy to hear that you and Sarah are ok. Must have been scary though. |
Keith Yarbrough(TD 1275) |
Bill: We are still waiting for the definitive diagnosis on what failed. :-) |
Christopher Couper |
Chris it’s going to be a while ...late March maybe. The car is in storage at a remote location until the weather improves. Currently, my priority is assembling dads car so I can get painted body panels out of my house. |
W A Chasser |
I brought TD-4834 home from remote storage today. Tomorrow will begin the assessment of the fire damage
|
W A Chasser |
The T Series electrics are inadequately fuse protected. First project undertaken on my TF after restoration processes were completed was to fit fuses in all wired circuits, if you value your asset its probably worth consideration. Graeme |
G Evans |
This thread was discussed between 14/01/2020 and 26/04/2020
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