Fire Extinguishers (1 Viewer)

Tootles

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Funny things, fire extinguishers. A bit like parachutes. Nicely packed, always look good, but will they work if you ever need them, God forbid.
A local firm had an offer on recently. 5 extinguishers checked/refilled if needed for £11.00, so I handed five over, (four from our boat, one from home), all dry powder, all showing 'green' on the gauges. Two, it turns out, had powder that had gone hard. Nothing would have come out if they had been activated.
Easy things to forget, until like I said, you really need them.
 

Vlad The Impaler

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Apr 22, 2012
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The extinguisher in my van had been there since 2004 and was many years out of date although still showing green.Last year whilst mulling over the thoughts of what would happier in a fire I decided to buy 2 new ones.I put the new ones in place and tried the old one,it still worked fine.
However in the event of a fire if it hadn't worked and anything had happened to my family,I wouldn't have been able to live with myself.





Vlad

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Aug 27, 2009
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Funny things, fire extinguishers. A bit like parachutes. Nicely packed, always look good, but will they work if you ever need them, God forbid.
A local firm had an offer on recently. 5 extinguishers checked/refilled if needed for £11.00, so I handed five over, (four from our boat, one from home), all dry powder, all showing 'green' on the gauges. Two, it turns out, had powder that had gone hard. Nothing would have come out if they had been activated.
Easy things to forget, until like I said, you really need them.
Once used a dry powder inside, put the fire out but made a hell of a mess.:Eeek:
 

mike mcglynn

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Hi, A tip I was given by the fire protection man who used to service the companys extinguishers was if you have a dry powder extinguisher shake it up vigorously to break up the settled powder :thumb:the powder used in many is common baking powder and does make a right mess as many used to be set off on our site by vandals :Doh:
 
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Tootles

Tootles

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I used to own a couple of BCF fire extinguishers.......Bromochlorodifluoromethane........in a word, Halon. However, they are now banned because they are not 'ozone friendly'. The thing is, there is nothing in this world that equals them for putting out fires, fuel, electrical or just, well, fire!
We used them in Northern Ireland, because they were the only thing you could put a burning man out with, (petrol bomb attack). The other great plus is that they leave no mess, powder or residue. The Army still use them on all their vehicles, and If I find any more for sale, I will buy a stack. Not much use having an ozone if your not around to breath in it.

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Tootles

Tootles

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Were any of the faulty ones still within their use by date? Were they all the same maker?

All different makes Graham, and all were within their use by date.
 

GJH

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All different makes Graham, and all were within their use by date.

Thanks Dave. I've used the shaking method mentioned by Mike in the past so think I'll continue to do so :Smile:

Like Vlad I've also known out of date ones still work. I replaced one in the van and one in the house earlier this year but the local tip wouldn't take the old ones as they hadn't been discharged. Took them home, discharged them into a bin lined with a bin liner and they worked fine.

I agree, though, better to be safe than sorry. Given they are so relatively cheap these days there's no reason not to replace them regularly.
 
Nov 18, 2011
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Hi, A tip I was given by the fire protection man who used to service the companys extinguishers was if you have a dry powder extinguisher shake it up vigorously to break up the settled powder :thumb:the powder used in many is common baking powder and does make a right mess as many used to be set off on our site by vandals :Doh:
bump
But in a motor home you should at leas every few months gust turn the upside down a few times you will fell the dry powder moving around them as motor homes are on the move the contents setill a lot more than one that is in a building for instance.
Moment and vibration setils the contents so strer them up regularly.
When i do my pre trip cheeks i just give them a shake only takes a second to do and it might stop your van burning to the ground.
And fit carbon monoxide detector i think carbon monoxide will kill you befor a fire FOR £12
might save your life we have two

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jb0371old

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Jul 8, 2011
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newer dry powder ext use a different free flowing powder so no need to shake up and down. If yours is athat old its prob out of date so worth spending a tenner on a new one
 
Nov 18, 2011
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newer dry powder ext use a different free flowing powder so no need to shake up and down. If yours is athat old its prob out of date so worth spending a tenner on a new one
the ones i have are new i used the old ones to teach the cadets how to use a fire extinguisher
but free flowing or not i personaly think its good practise and dues not do any harm :thumb:
 
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Tootles

Tootles

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Just noticed that SAFE halon extinguishers are now being sold on Fleabay, but only from the USA. Anything is better then powder. Will check that out. They are expensive, but one for the van would be OK.
Also, CO2 look pretty good, and a hell of a lot cheaper.

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