What replaced Halon as a fire supression system?

[JEDI]

Halon found to be ozone depleting in the 90's

Back in the early 90's i interviewed at a company (forgot name). i toured their new building, and noticed that instead of sprinklers, they used Halon.

recently, i found out that Halon is bad for the environment. What's the latest in fire suppression systems nowdays?

 

[bctbct]

they still use halon, although there might be other products.

 

[MikeyIs4Dcats]

FM200

 

[d33pt]

CO2 is an alternative to Halon

 

[MikeyIs4Dcats]

Halon is now illegal. Any system was required to be depleted and replaced by the end of 2003 IIRC

 

[markgm]

Inergen.

Edit: At IBM we have sprinklers in the datacenters.

 

[bctbct]

Originally posted by: MikeyIs4Dcats
Halon is now illegal. Any system was required to be depleted and replaced by the end of 2003 IIRC

huh, could have sworn we had a sub install one at work a year or two ago. Must have been something else.

 

[biggestmuff]

How about reading the link you posted? 😉

 

[hx009]

Originally posted by: MikeyIs4Dcats
Halon is now illegal. Any system was required to be depleted and replaced by the end of 2003 IIRC

Link? We purchased and installed a Halon extinguisher in our server room not more than 10 months ago...

Edit: My employer is a manufacturer of Cyanide (amongst other things) that regularly gets inspected by the fire department and EPA. I doubt they'd overlook something like outlawed fire supression equipment.

 

[Lotheron]

Originally posted by: hx009

Originally posted by: MikeyIs4Dcats
Halon is now illegal. Any system was required to be depleted and replaced by the end of 2003 IIRC

Link? We purchased and installed a Halon extinguisher in our server room not more than 10 months ago...

Edit: My employer is a manufacturer of Cyanide (amongst other things) that regularly gets inspected by the fire department and EPA. I doubt they'd overlook something like outlawed fire supression equipment.

My company also still has Halon in their server room. In fact, they're taking half the system out (servers moved and building cubes in other area) I would have to assume someone would have told them they had to remove the system if it was illegal.

 

[Rastus]

You can still get Halon, it's just illegal to manufacture it. I've been involved in some conversion projects before and the Halon is recovered and resold by the fire protection company. Most used Halon goes into legacy systems or into portable fire extenguishers.

It wouldn't surprise me to find out one day that it is being made somewhere in the third world and sold black market everywhere.

 

[myusername]

Halon itslef is inert. It is the manufacture that generates CFC's, so existing systems are fine, but can't be recharged

IIRC


edit: doh a minute late

 

[Skunkwourk]

is that what cyberdyne systems used in their office in terminator 2?

 

[MikeyIs4Dcats]

Originally posted by: Slasher2k

Originally posted by: hx009

Originally posted by: MikeyIs4Dcats
Halon is now illegal. Any system was required to be depleted and replaced by the end of 2003 IIRC

Link? We purchased and installed a Halon extinguisher in our server room not more than 10 months ago...

Edit: My employer is a manufacturer of Cyanide (amongst other things) that regularly gets inspected by the fire department and EPA. I doubt they'd overlook something like outlawed fire supression equipment.

My company also still has Halon in their server room. In fact, they're taking half the system out (servers moved and building cubes in other area) I would have to assume someone would have told them they had to remove the system if it was illegal.

I stand partially corrected. Halon is illegal to possess or import into the EU, Canada, and Australia. It is illegal to manufacture and import into the US. Existing systems in the US are apparently not yet required to be depleted ans they have been in Canada and elsewhere. But I can say that you did not just purchase any Halon, as that is illegal.
Several companies we have done work for have removed Halon systems and replaced them with FM200. I assumed that was because it was made illegal to have an active system.

Here's a link about the issues

 

[destrekor]

Originally posted by: myusername
Halon itslef is inert. It is the manufacture that generates CFC's, so existing systems are fine, but can't be recharged

IIRC


edit: doh a minute late

QFT. Halon = safe

 

[MikeyIs4Dcats]

Originally posted by: destrekor

Originally posted by: myusername
Halon itslef is inert. It is the manufacture that generates CFC's, so existing systems are fine, but can't be recharged

IIRC


edit: doh a minute late

QFT. Halon = noble gas = safe

Halon is extremely dangerous. The gas is inert, but it forces all oxygen from a space, including your lungs. Anyone exposed to Halon will become very ill and quickly die if not removed from the area.

 

[spidey07]

wha?

I thought halon is still used extensively.

 

[Rastus]

Halon = Liquid Teflon

 

[Steve]

My office's datacenter uses Halon.

 

[myusername]

Originally posted by: MikeyIs4Dcats

Originally posted by: destrekor

Originally posted by: myusername
Halon itslef is inert. It is the manufacture that generates CFC's, so existing systems are fine, but can't be recharged
IIRC
edit: doh a minute late

QFT. Halon = noble gas = safe

Halon is extremely dangerous. The gas is inert, but it forces all oxygen from a space, including your lungs. Anyone exposed to Halon will become very ill and quickly die if not removed from the area.

Well that makes it as dangerous as nitrogen or carbon dioxide and less dangerous that carbon monixide or even oxygen .. just means that it's doing what it's supposed to 😉

 

[MikeyIs4Dcats]

Originally posted by: myusername

Originally posted by: MikeyIs4Dcats

Originally posted by: destrekor

Originally posted by: myusername
Halon itslef is inert. It is the manufacture that generates CFC's, so existing systems are fine, but can't be recharged
IIRC
edit: doh a minute late

QFT. Halon = noble gas = safe

Halon is extremely dangerous. The gas is inert, but it forces all oxygen from a space, including your lungs. Anyone exposed to Halon will become very ill and quickly die if not removed from the area.

Well that makes it as dangerous as nitrogen or carbon dioxide and less dangerous that carbon monixide or even oxygen .. just means that it's doing what it's supposed to 😉

ture, but those gases are typically not dumped into a large room in sufficient quantity to kill someone in 15 seconds. The datacenter at a large facility I have worked in used to be Halon. We were warned in training that when the alarm sounded and the halon started, we had 10 to 15 seconds to get out of the datacenter before we would be overcome.

 

[destrekor]

Originally posted by: MikeyIs4Dcats

Originally posted by: destrekor

Originally posted by: myusername
Halon itslef is inert. It is the manufacture that generates CFC's, so existing systems are fine, but can't be recharged

IIRC


edit: doh a minute late

QFT. Halon = noble gas = safe

Halon is extremely dangerous. The gas is inert, but it forces all oxygen from a space, including your lungs. Anyone exposed to Halon will become very ill and quickly die if not removed from the area.

safe for environment. and read edit, its not a noble gas i was wrong 😉
but still... wait... googling seems to say it is safe at ground level, but in the atmosphere the radiation breaks it up and releases the bromine in the compound (brominated compound, not a CFC).. and thats where it starts eating the ozone
but yea, i remembered something about it pulling ozone out of a room effectively using the method of choking the fire from its lifeblood.... so yea, guess its not the best stuff for the atmosphere.. oh well, we got other things to worry about.. such as, when we will all freeze 🙂

 

[newParadigm]

Originally posted by: myusername
Halon itslef is inert. It is the manufacture that generates CFC's, so existing systems are fine, but can't be recharged

IIRC


edit: doh a minute late

Also, its hazardous to human health.

 

[Steve]

We're supposed to be watching a safety+training video about the Halon system next week, which debunks some popular myths about it or so I hear. If I remember I'll post back what I learn.

 

[destrekor]

Originally posted by: Rastus
Halon = Liquid Teflon

lol
so wrong.. liquid teflon would require destroying teflon since its not a gas at room temperature, its a polymer.
teflon = polytetrafluoroethylene
halon 1211 = Bromochlorodifluoromethane