Holy crap OB1
Bummer deluxe.
I just came in to this thread, nevertheless I feel for you and wonder what we can do to help. I would like to make a small donation but money is not my strong suit. What Graydon wrote I think says it all. We have it all already.

Our house burned down on Christmas Eve in 1973, my sister, the ultimate hippie thought candles on the tree were cute. I know my story is tragic, but it was a long time ago.

My point, (if I have one) is maybe we should have a new section here on the forum specifically about fire safety. Do we have any firemen on this group? By the way OB1 I liked that statement "Always give to the volunteers man are they underpaid." I have a dear friend here that is fire chief maybe we can get him to give us a few tips fire hazards related to bio-diesel.
Sincerely,
Brian Rodgers

My mistake
I reread this all again because I was feeling badly. It was Graham not Graydon who gave these wonderful words of encouragement. Thanks,
Brian
"Look at what you've got ...

You have a community of friends and supporters worldwide who are now sharing your grief - people are clearly genuinely offering moral support. And that is powerful stuff. You are not alone in this. And don't be too hard on yourself, what you did , we've all done, we've just been darn lucky we haven't had the same happen.

You have an inventive streak which will be of great value in helping you to build a fresh future for yourself.

You have a style of humor which will help you take a wry look at what's happened and find a brighter side to anotherwise bad turn of fate.

You are now a wiser man, and so are we all, and we thank you for your open-ness.

You know, it could well be that by what you've done, and by sharing it with us, you've saved one or more of us perhaps from death or loss of a family member. I know I'll be doing things differently now - I thank you. I've got 2 little kids and a wife in the house. Could've been them.

Wishing you strength, optimism, success and a speedy return out of this bleak period. It can only get better - look forward to a bright new future.

Let us know how you get on.


Graham Laming"

Speaking of safety.....

We actually put an article together with the help of a fireman who had a lot of experience with hazardous chemicals and the like.

The article highlights a lot of the things you'd suggested.

Here's the link to it:
http://www.biodieselcommunity.org/storageconsiderations/

Also, RickDaTech of B100 Supply wrote up a really good article too on Safety with Biodiesel. He cover's a lot of stuff as well.

Here's the link to it:
http://www.biodieselcommunity.org/safety/

Oh yeah, be sure to get a really good fire extinguisher too and keep it handy.

-Graydon

That darn biodiesel community thing has everything eh? I guess that's what can happen when everyone gets together and contributes eh?
No Cult required...no censorship administered...and yet there it is,an in-depth website containing about everything the homebrewer could aspire to know.
Makes one validated just to be a part of it all.

Yeah, I wonder what kind of yokel's wrote that!
I mean, a common sense webpage with useful information sheerly to benefit the community?

What gives? Who do these guy's think they are anyway?
(for those of you not following this...go hit the site & look at the AUTHORS of some of the articles....the AHA moment will then hit you).

-Graydon

I just read this thread and am so sorry to hear about this. OB 1, I too have read so many of your posts and learned from them. The loss of your house is a terrible thing, but I feel indebted to you for telling us all about what happened. I have been making bio in my attatched garage, and was going to build a shed away from my house to use instead, but put it off. This has opened my eyes wide open to what can happen. Now my project for this spring is to get that shed built!

Afraid I don't have any insurance advice beyond what has already been given here. I'm just so glad that your safe and didn't get hurt worse.

quote:

Originally posted by Tilly:
But the electricity is still connected

It sure looks a lovely setting. Except for the snow!.
The main geographical feature of Paradise as far as the eye can see is Flat. The highest and lowest spot in Paradise (Both Man made) have a difference in elevation of around 10 metres.
A 1 speed Pushbike works fine here in Paradise.

Not flat here. that house sits at 800 ft above
sea level rise behind it tops off at 1200
and from there gradually rises to 3200
at the top of Fletcher Mtn.
looking down toward the main road there are some hills also i have a pic of my car that i used to burn biodiesel in somwhere here ...hmm oh yea here it is


Oh yea the elctricty line burnt right off the side of the place

Obi I have been thinking and you also need to be aware of ongoing duty of disclose. In this way insurance contracts are diferent in that you have an ongoing duty, throughout the life of the contract, to disclose anything reasonably significant to the insurer, that might affect their willingness to insure; otherwise thay can void the contract come claiming day... Now under old english common law the duty was strict in that even if it was something the insurance company would not normally knock you back for they could avoid your claim if you had not disclosed. Under present astralian law that is modified so that it is not so severe. I have no knowledge of the state of the duty in US. So they may be able to say that, because you didn't tell them of you heating large quantities of cooking oil they would have not insured if they had known and because you've breached your duty they don't have to pay... now in such a case they would have to show that they made you aware of that duty under AUS law but US? I don't have a clue.

Should the answer come back no from the insurer you would be prudent to seek counsel of a competent solicitor... ahh hang on... you call them lawyers....

Yes i have already done so .
They have not come back with a denial of claim yet.
Hopefully a lawyer will not be necessary.
Thanks

I am currently working on an automated processor, and since it would be operating when I am not immediately there I want to have it fully enclosed in a small steel shack, like a storage shed, with lots of ventilation.

I came up with a quick fire shutdown system (see included drawing) that I will try to add to the system in addition to the PLC code to monitor the system.

In the event something goes very wrong it turns off the power and dumps halon into the shack.

OB1, you are likewise in my prayers, and I hope for the best in your claim.

simple_fire_system.gif (5 KB, 38 downloads)

Where can you buy Halon? I was under the impression that it was only legal for use in aircraft.

quote:

Originally posted by makenamicro:
I am currently working on an automated processor, and since it would be operating when I am not immediately there I want to have it fully enclosed in a small steel shack, like a storage shed, with lots of ventilation.

I came up with a quick fire shutdown system (see included drawing) that I will try to add to the system in addition to the PLC code to monitor the system.

In the event something goes very wrong it turns off the power and dumps halon into the shack.

OB1, you are likewise in my prayers, and I hope for the best in your claim.

Why not just use a fusible link, that way you know it will work at a given temp. It will cut out the guess work in the copper soldering. If you are able to get Halon, you will have no trouble with the link.

Just some food for thought,

HTH,

Ian

quote:

Originally posted by RickDaTech:
Where can you buy Halon? I was under the impression that it was only legal for use in aircraft.

Halon is used in most computer enviroments, where servers are kept. It is used because it does not produce any residue or vapors that can harm the sensitive components in the systems.

Ian

You may find it hard to get hold of in some places, as it is damaging to Ozone layer. Depends on your local environment agency rulings.

You also need to be careful about how and where you install it because it can suffocate you - it suffocates fire by excluding oxygen, and this works on living things too.

Normally a fume-tight cabinet will enclose the kit you want to extinguish. The cabinet is purged with halon when a fire is detected.

If your processor is in a room with free ventilation, halon may not be a good choice.

Consider CO2 - easy to find.

quote:

Originally posted by RickDaTech:
Where can you buy Halon? I was under the impression that it was only legal for use in aircraft.

Or in big, corporate data centers.

We have Halon Emergency button's in our big data centers where I work (during the day that is)...the fire alarm system will kick em off really quick too.

-Graydon

Obi:
This is my first post on this site as I have just discovered it and haven't started exploring it yet.

I suspect I will mostly lurk as I do on a few other sites.

But I felt that even a Little support is better than none.

I wish I were in a position to help beyond mere words but I suppose even positive thoughts help a person when things are bad.

I know that my daughters were sick last week and members of a forum I am on and members of my own supported us during a real bad weekend which involved my 3 year old in the hospital with an IV. The words meant a lot so I guess it's my turn.

I truly hope things are up and running again for you soon. it looks to me like you have a great community of support right here and hopefully one more voice helps a little.

God bless..

How are your injurys?

Regarding Halon. I do not believe it is limited to aircraft. In fact I believe it is the method of choice for race cars. At least as far as drag racing is concerned. I am planning on installing an extinguishing system on my car this season. I believe Halon is the best thing going. I'll see if I can find any more info on it in my travels on my racing sites.

Wayne

Apartfrom the environmental effects of Halon, thwere are hazards to people directly.

There is the suffocation hazard and I have been told there are also chemicals which are formed if oxygen and Halon are combined at high temperature (like in an unenclosed space where Halon is used as a fire extinguishing medium).
CO2 has a similar suffocation hazard, but none of the environmental hazard or chemical hazards and is significantly cheaper too.

I have not been able to find any online references to combustion products with Halon, so I may have been told an untruth.

Back in the late 80's and early 90's I worked for telecom compaines that were busy ripping out halon systems because at the time the Feds had limited new production of halon to the needs of the aircraft industry. I think the halon I was pulling out was being moved from less critical sites to more critical ones. It's good to hear that the regulations have loosened up. It is the best system around for putting out fires really fast without destroying everything electronic in the process. I have seen a few halon systems in place lately and when I asked, I was always told that they were grandfathered and that they would have a difficult time recharging it if there was a release.