content-marketing Fireboy-Xintex has been around since 1973. They are a marine fire safety equipment manufacturer. In 2017 Fireboy-Xintex was acquired by the Darley Corporation. The Darley Corp. has been in the fire safety and protection equipment industry since 1908. Its headquarters are in Chicago, Illinois and its manufacturing plants are in Iowa, Wisconsin, and abroad.
Fireboy-Xintex provides marine fire suppression and extinguishing technologies in the United States and abroad. They have proved their expertise over the past 50 years. Their products are approved by:
Fireboy-Xintex products meet or exceed the needs of the recreational vessel owner. Their engineered and pre-engineered fire suppression systems meet a wide range of vessel fire safety needs from smaller vessels to large pleasure yachts with galleys. Fireboy-Xintex even makes their own line of marine fire extinguishers. You can have all of your marine fire protection needs met with the Fireboy-Xintex product line.
Photograph used with permission of Fireboy-Xintex.
Fireboy-Xintex offers two types of marine fire suppression systems: engineered and pre-engineered. The overall fire protection offered is very similar. There are some differences. The engineered systems are designed to suppress fires in enclosed spaces up to 17,500 ft. They use the clean agent HFC-227ea, also known as FM-200. This clean agent suppresses the fire by reducing the heat to a point the fire can no longer burn. Generally, engineered systems are installed as new vessels are manufactured.
The similarities between engineered and pre-engineered systems are the operation of the system. According to the Fireboy-Xintex website:
“The system consists of extinguishing agents stored in high-strength steel cylinders. Manual or automatic actuators release the agent into the protected space. The agent is distributed and discharged into the protected space through fixed piping and nozzles.
Each nozzle is designed to deliver a uniform discharge of agent into the protected area. For large protected spaces, cylinders can be manifolded together. The cylinders are connected to the manifold by means of a flexible discharge bend and check valve.”
Pre-engineered systems from Fireboy-Xintex use similar methods to achieve the same outcome. They are generally installed after a vessel has been manufactured and rely on an accurate measure of the engine room volume.
Fireboy-Xintex offers one of the only automatic marine fire suppression systems on the market, the CG series. It protects engine spaces of up to 1,000 ft. They also offer two automatic/manual systems the MA series and GA series. This series offer fire suppression for spaces ranging from 1,800 to 4,000 ft. The difference is that users can discharge the auto/manual systems via a pull station if they want to manually activate them, instead of waiting for the heat sensor to activate the system.
In addition, Fireboy-Xintex offers all of the bells and whistles to make their marine fire suppression systems successful. Their accessories include sensors that connect to the system and alert the user the system has discharged, or the engine room is heating up, relay systems that shut off the engine, blowers, and exhaust in the case of the fire to make the system effective. It can’t smother a contained space fire when oxygen is constantly being added or the clean agent is being removed.
Surprisingly, Fireboy-Xintex also offers a line of marine-rated fire extinguishers. They have clean agent extinguishers and dry chemical extinguishers. There are benefits to both and the consumer has options to choose which type would be the best fit for your vessel. They also offer important mounting brackets and hooks to accompany these extinguishers.
Consumers can contact Fireboy-Xintex directly. Or consumers can contact an authorized dealer and installer. They often can be present in the installation process and receive proper education on the use of the system. Nothing replaces reading the manual, but consumers benefit from being present during installation and being able to ask questions. You wouldn’t want to be stranded after suppressing a fire just because you didn’t know how to reset your system and turn on the engines again, right?
