has been mentioned in several recent posts being used in a questionable fashion. This is a good product, but it has limitations.
Use it over, or around, something that you want to keep functioning for a period of time during a fire. Fuel and oil lines are the perfect candidate, as it allows them to maintain integrity for a "less limited" period should a fire occur. This does not mean that it keeps heat off of a line or hose that is exposed to heat for an extended period, such as running a hose or engine control cable next to an exhaust pipe. Fire sleeve is simply an insulating blanket that keeps the heat gain below failure threshold for a while longer than the target would otherwise last.
If you absolutely have to place something close to a hot object, use a metal heat shield, which will reduce the radiant heat to something that is, hopefully, bearable. Otherwise, re-route that something somewhere else.
I have witnessed the point failure of an oil hose that had fire sleeve over it, but was too close to an exhaust stack. The fire sleeve did not appear distressed, but the hose cooked in a limited area and allowed all the oil to pour out, in flight. The pilot got it on the ground without further damage, but it was a close call!
Use it over, or around, something that you want to keep functioning for a period of time during a fire. Fuel and oil lines are the perfect candidate, as it allows them to maintain integrity for a "less limited" period should a fire occur. This does not mean that it keeps heat off of a line or hose that is exposed to heat for an extended period, such as running a hose or engine control cable next to an exhaust pipe. Fire sleeve is simply an insulating blanket that keeps the heat gain below failure threshold for a while longer than the target would otherwise last.
If you absolutely have to place something close to a hot object, use a metal heat shield, which will reduce the radiant heat to something that is, hopefully, bearable. Otherwise, re-route that something somewhere else.
I have witnessed the point failure of an oil hose that had fire sleeve over it, but was too close to an exhaust stack. The fire sleeve did not appear distressed, but the hose cooked in a limited area and allowed all the oil to pour out, in flight. The pilot got it on the ground without further damage, but it was a close call!
