REFLECTOR: [Fwd: [FlyRotary] UV-Tron Fire Detection System]

[Jim Sower]

Thought this might be of interest ...

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 	[FlyRotary] UV-Tron Fire Detection System
Date: 	Tue, 30 Aug 2005 08:04:25 -0500
From: 	Mark R Steitle <mark.steitle at austin.utexas.edu>
Reply-To: 	Rotary motors in aircraft <flyrotary at lancaironline.net>
To: 	Rotary motors in aircraft <flyrotary at lancaironline.net>



Last week we were discussing various methods of dealing with fire 
dangers in our aircraft. I decided to try out the Hamamatsu UV Tron 
flame sensor, and promised to report my findings to the Fly Rotary group.

I located a pre-assembled circuit board from Superdroid Robots, a 
company that supplies a variety of parts for robots. They were the only 
place I could find that carried the Hamamatsu C3704 flame detector and 
driver card. So, I ordered both along with a relay board. (Attached is a 
picture of the boards.) The UV Tron sensor is the clear glass “bulb” in 
the foreground. The small board on the left is a voltage converter, 
allowing it to be connected directly to 14v.

I hooked it up to a 12v cordless drill battery and tested it using a 
propane fire starter. It could easily “see” a flame from 6’ away (maybe 
more, but I didn’t test it beyond 6’) and up to 90* right or left. I 
didn’t test up/down, but the spec sheet indicates that it is about the 
same in the vertical and horizontal planes. I could not get it to false 
trip by using a fluorescent or a halogen light. There is about a .5 
second delay before it trips the relay. The tech rep at Superdroid 
Robots indicated that the UV Tron sensor could be remotely mounted up to 
3’ away from the board. I plan on mounting it in a small box on the 
firewall with the leads running though the firewall to the circuit 
boards inside the cabin, wired to a big red flashing LED on the panel. 
Everything in the picture (including s&h) ran $150. I look at it as 
cheap insurance. Hopefully, I will never need it.

Mark S.

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