Fire Extinguishers

[Caleb Long]

Thank you.

 

[upcountry]

Dry chemical, I do shake it up about every month to keep it from packing. I used to carry a halon but they aren't very effecient except in closed spaces. That is what we had in Navy ship engine rooms, but the spaces could be completley closed off and flooded with halon. Besides halon turns into a poison when exposed to flame!

Wouldnt it get routinely shaken up enough just driving around?

 

[bfdiesel]

No it gets packed down.

 

[Chi-Town]

4wd Hardware has a pretty decent selection of extinguishers and mounts.

 

[highdesertranger]

the extinguishers with plastic valves are non refilable according to the guys that refill them, also the fire department will not count them in inspections if they are inspecting your bussiness at least here in so cal. for this reason i only use the metal valve ones. highdesertranger

 

[off-roader]

Anyone have experience with a product called cold fire?
http://www.coldfire.biz/
http://www.coldfire.biz/Cold-Fire-Availability.htm

or better yet an article comparing the various fire extinguisher options and their pros/cons?

i did find this... http://www.pirate4x4.com/tech/2010-fire/index.php but am unsure how current it is and what newer technologies exists.

 

[craig333]

Thats actually a very good article and not at all out of date. Coldfire and Fireade 2000 are both very similar to AFFF (or aqueous film forming foam, say that three times fast Similar, not identical.

 

[off-roader]

A tripple F, A tripple F, A tripple... LOL...

Yeah, I've been looking at replacing the home fire extinguishers in my rig with something made to put out car fires instead.

 

[Arclight]

This is my experience as well. Buy the ones that your local fire extinguisher company services. Here in SoCal, the local place will service and recert the Amerex brand for something like $10. I bought a nice new 10lb for the shop, and have since found several more at garage sales.

I just get them serviced, and they're good as new.

Arclight

the extinguishers with plastic valves are non refilable according to the guys that refill them, also the fire department will not count them in inspections if they are inspecting your bussiness at least here in so cal. for this reason i only use the metal valve ones. highdesertranger

 

[fourstringfletch]

Anyone wise to extinguisher ratings?

I have a cluster of kitchen extinguishers and I'm curious if anyone knows why or why not this would work in a vehicle. They are rated for B (flammable liquids) and C (electrical) but not A (paper/wood/cloth). They aren't commercial quality though so not rated for K (fats/oils)

This is what I carry, but I'm sure one of you knows something I don't.

 

[spunky2268]

I sat down to write a response to the above poster, but it was WAY too long winded. There are so many factors in fighting fire with extinguishers. For instance, and this is blasphemy, I know, but water extinguishers can be used to put down oil-based fires :Wow1: given certain conditions. ABC extinguishers may seem like the best bet, but using one on a small fire can ruin the vehicle's electronics. Consider what you want to do with the extinguisher. If you want to put a good sized engine compartment fire or fuel fire down, a larger commercial ABC extinguisher is great, but they won't fit under the seat of your truck or in the cab where you can get to them if you are trapped and the fire is impinging on the passenger compartment. When looking to buy an extinguisher, my suggestion is to go talk to someone who services them. One of my old buddies that I fought fire with used to service extinguishers on the side as a business (our captain gave me my nickname, Spunky, and my buddy made it stick). I got to help him out from time to time and learned so much about fire extinguishers, and even more about fighting fires, from those days. Feel free to PM me, anyone, and I'll try and explain the nuances of extinguishers.

 

[fourstringfletch]

Spunky - Great words but too concise. I appreciate you keeping this readable for the masses. When someone like who rarely posts anything finds obscure info, I realize why I asked the question. Please elaborate and post it here for all to read if they dare. Better than just sending it to me in a PM if you are willing to type it up anyway.

Thanks for confirming my suspicion that someone has wisdom to share....

 

[craig333]

Keep in mind while an abc extinguisher is rated for class A fires, it won't be very good at it. If your engine fire escapes into the wild its going to be pretty useless. While saving electronics is nice I'm usually of the opinion that extinguishing the fire is paramount. If your halon extinguisher fails to put out the fire your electronics will be a molten puddle along with the rest of your vehicle.

 

[86tuning]

What about those 20 lb powertank bottles of co2 can you use that in a pinch?

 

[Vinman]

What about those 20 lb powertank bottles of co2 can you use that in a pinch?

Wouldn't that just feed the fire?