Firewall insulation

[GrayHawk]

Seems like there are 2 goals here:

1. Application of the right material to the forward (engine) side of the firewall , and inside surfaces of the cowling) as added protection of the firewall structure, cowling, and cockpit against an engine compartment fire.

2. Application of the right material to the aft side of the firewall & forward inside surfaces of the cockpit surfaces to reduce noise & vibration in the cockpit & provide minimal thermal insulation.

Probably no one product will meet both goals. Careful selection of both is needed because of the aircraft application. In the Navy, we used to say "every person on board ship was a firefighter". Definitely true in a plane as there is no where to go in case of fire.

[IowaRV9Dreamer]

Originally Posted by DanH

Ordinary high temp ceramic batting.

Cool Dan - where can one find this batting? Any idea what a square foot weighs? Your measurements certainly prove that it is a great insulator.... do you think it would have any sound reduction properties as well?

[SMO]

Originally Posted by IowaRV9Dreamer

where can one find this batting?

http://www.mcmaster.com/#ceramic-insulation/=9aegoe

[vfrazier]

The biggest problem I can see with the high temp ceramic batting is that WHEN it gets wet, it's gonna stay wet for a long time. Are you prepared to crawl under your dash to remove globs of wet insulation or will you leave it there and hope it doesn't corrode anything important?

For those who haven't experienced a thoroughly soaked RV, please spend a week at Oshkosh. You'll find out exactly where the MULTIPLE water leak points are on your normally hangared RV.

The high temp ceramic batting isn't very good at sound damping, but that's another thread for another day.

As we're seeing with this thread, there is no single perfect solution.

[kbehrent]

Which one did you go with? Too many to choose from on your referenced page.

Thanks
Kevin

Originally Posted by SMO

http://www.mcmaster.com/#ceramic-insulation/=9aegoe

[SMO]

Originally Posted by kbehrent

Which one did you go with?

I believe it was part number 93315K92.

Just in the middle of making these up and putting them on.

Vince has a good point about the potential of getting this stuff wet. Sandwiched between stainless foil, closed up with stainless tape, and some caulking with Fire Barrier 2000 I believe I will not have a problem with that but.............

[DanH]

For the cabin side, ceramic wool batting sealed in folded seam aluminum foil envelopes, with a mechanical attachment method. No glue please. Stainless foil is not necessary on the cabin side. All you need is HD Reynolds Wrap from the grocery store.

For the engine side, ordinary Fiberfrax felt (available Wicks, Spruce, etc) under stainless steel foil, attached with SS pop rivets and sealed around the perimeter with 3M Firebarrier 2000. Common 24" wide SS foil is fine, actually preferred. Overlap a mid-panel seam about 2 inches and cover it with one strip of aluminum foil sticky tape. In a fire the aluminum tape will melt away instantly and provide a directed escape path for the outgassing binder in the Fiberfrax.

The engine-side approach is much superior, but both are free of cabin smoke and insulate well enough to buy a lot of time without burns.

I'm not aware of any safe sound insulator for a firewall. The fire performance of some has been horrifying.

All firewall penetrations should be steel or insulated/protected.

Everyone is welcome to an opinion, but please, first read and understand the standards, then do some actual test work.

[Mike S]

Originally Posted by DanH

Everyone is welcome to an opinion, but please, first read and understand the standards, then do some actual test work.

Elegantly stated.

Thanks for your concern, and efforts to keep all of us safer while flying.

[MikeT]

DanH, do you have any experience with this?
http://www.aircraftextras.com/Contego.htm
The product looks good if it works as stated.

[Mike S]

Mike T, do a search for "intumescent"-----we discussed this a while back------set the search for any time, not within the last year.