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Fire Extinguishers

Fire extinguishers are used in homes, schools, businesses and boats as a way to put out a small fire. Fire extinguishers come in many types for different purposes, including portable or fixed systems. This category relates to the science, origins, operation, selection and standards for fire extinguishers.

1,462 Questions

How is the maintenance of a fire extinguisher recorded?

It is recorded on a label on the unit itself, together with it being entered in to a log that the service company provides to the customer who either owns or leases the equipment. It can also be recorded in a fire log record book.
Monthly maintenance is typically noted on an annual tag attached to each fire extinguisher, with office notation that all of them were inspected, plus annual testing, as may be required, all of which is logged in the fire prevention files.

What are the side effects of inhaling halon fire extinguisher fumes?

Just about three hours ago I inhaled a good bit of halon while extinguishing an engine fire on an airplane. So far I felt very jittery and had a hightened heartbeat as if I was on way too much caffeine. I have a sliggt headache, irritated throat, cough. Immediately afterwards I wheezed for about half an hour. I also feel fatigued, this could be due to the halon displacing the oxygen in my body.

What is in antique fire extinguishers?

Much like modern ones, antique fire extinguishers used a range of extinguishing agents. Carbon tetrachloride, water, and carbon dioxide were most common.

Carbon tetrachloride is a liquid that was used in glass grenade-type extinguishers or pumped metal extinguishers. While it is quite effective at putting out fires, it is extremely poisonous, and should be disposed of by professionals. This material fights fires by disrupting the chemical chain reaction. When exposed to high temperatures, it can produce phosgene, an insidious poison gas used during both world wars. Halon extinguishers replaced this type, and have, in turn, been replaced by newer clean agents less harmful to the ozone layer.

Water extinguishers were either operated by a hand pump or propelled using a soda-acid system. In the latter, a glass vial containing sulfuric acid was suspended over baking soda. The vial was shattered, spilled, or unplugged by a plunger or other mechanism when the extinguisher was needed. Instructions on this type typically started by telling you to turn the extinguisher upside-down and strike the top against the floor. The sulfuric acid reacted with the baking soda much as vinegar would, only faster and more violently. The resulting carbon-dioxide gas would propel the water, typically 2.5 gallons, out through the hose. This type was removed from service by 1982 because the reaction would often not last long enough to expel all the water and the containers had an unfortunate tendency to explode when used. The similar air pressurized water extinguishers have replaced this type.

Carbon dioxide extinguishers remain in use and are easily identified by the horn used to direct the extinguishing agent and the lack of a pressure gauge. These extinguishers contain liquefied carbon dioxide. While carbon dioxide gas mixed with dry ice is what comes out when you use the extinguisher, internally, the agent is a liquid under those pressures. Because carbon dioxide extinguishers in service, it is possible to have tested and refilled an extinguisher of this type. While an extinguisher has an expected service life of 25 years, they are often overbuilt and underused. I recently had serviced two carbon dioxide extinguishers that were manufactured in 1960, and used from then until 1992. Interestingly, even though they were not entirely full, they retained significant pressure even after having been stored for 18 years.

Some fire extinguishers are simply filled with compressed Nitrogen, which choke out combustion because it cannot survive in a pure Nitrogen atmosphere. The Simplex-Grinnell UN 1066 is such an extinguisher.

Is there an all class ABCDK type extinguisher available?

Yes, the only such product available anywhere in the world is the FireStopper Portable Fire Extinguisher. For more info, try www.firestopperinc.com

Which fire extinguisher is best foam or powder?

Each one has its advantages and drawbacks, depending upon circumstances.

For example, dry powder residue may be very difficult to clean from the area surrounding its use (assuming it put the fire out), but it is often a general-purpose extinguishing agent that can be used on several types of fires.

A foam extinguisher may contain water that would not be safe near energized electrical fires (unlike dry chemical powders), but may cover a larger area of fire with a smothering blanket of foam.

Can you get electrocuted by using a water mist fire extinguisher for an electrical fire?

Yea the water conducts the electricity through the stream. The best way to put out an electrical fire is with a class c extinguisher.

However, fixed water mist extinguishers ARE used on high-voltage systems, with enough clearance to avoid arcing, where the safe design is done according to NFPA 750 Standard on Water Mist Fire Protection Systems.

What are fire extinguisher used for?

A fire extinguisher is a cylindrical metal container which is used to put out fires. It usually contains a foam or vaporizing liquid. The contents are pressurized in order to produce a powerful spray of water, foam or powder to put out a fire.

Have you ever realized how important fire extinguisher safety is for you and your family? When you are planning ahead and preparing for emergencies, you will want to purchase fire extinguishers for your home, and for each of your cars. The more you have the safer you are!

Do you have home fire extinguishers on hand and ready in case of a fire?

Fire extinguishers should be ready and available in several places throughout your home. The first place to have a fire extinguisher is near your stove. Make sure that your kitchen fire extinguisher is not too close to the stove, due to the fact that a fire may occur and you may not have access to the fire extinguisher because of the flames. The best location for your fire extinguisher will be between six and eight feet away from the stove.

The garage would be another good location for a fire extinguisher. There are many types of fires that can start in a garage so you would want to have your fire extinguisher easily accessible.

Knowing that you have fire extinguishers in several key places throughout your home will help you and your family to be better prepared for a fire emergency.

How to use a home fire extinguisher:

  • Remove the fire extinguisher from its mount.
  • Hold the fire extinguisher while pulling out the pin. (do not squeeze the trigger while pulling the pin)
  • Aim the fire extinguisher at the base of the fire.
  • Squeeze the trigger and spray back and forth over the fire.

Remember that there are different types of home fire extinguishers, some of them have a small hose to aim at the fire, while the smaller units have just a nozzle.

Another thing to remember is you should learn how to use a fire extinguisher before a fire occurs. It is not a good idea to try and read the instructions while you are in an emergency situation.

FOR MORE INFORMATION AND VIDEO GO TO:

http://www.emergencysuppliesinfo.com/home-fire-extinguishers.html

Is fire extinguisher example of Charles law?

No. Charles Law describes the relationship between a gas and temperature. (gases expand when heated)

You are thinking of "Boyle's Law" which is the relationship between a gas and volume and pressure. With the fire extinguisher example, a lot of the gas (even though its a mixture of chemicals, it behaves like a gas) is compressed into a small volume and so when you pull the handle, you give it room to expand and it shoots out until it reaches equilibrium.

Do fire extinguishers smell?

No. They emit no odor and of cause being inanimate object they can not smell things themselves.

Are portable fire extinguishers required in a fully sprinkled building?

Yes, sometimes if the fire is noticed by a person while it is small, that individual can grab an extinguisher before the sprinkler system is activated. There is a code on portable fire extinguishers published by IFSTA.

When should you not use a fire extinguisher and why?

When a fire has flames higher than your waist, or has dangerous fuel available to burn, or is more fire than your extinguisher is rated for, you need a trained firefighter with proper safety equipment and extinguishing agents.

Does a fire extinguisher on a boat need to be coast guard approved?

Yes, if the boat is under coast guard jurisdiction, or some other place that has adopted coast-guard regulations for fire extinguishers, then any REQUIRED fire extinguisher aboard must be coast-guard approved and labelled accordingly.

Why should CO2 fire extinguishers never be used on a person?

There are a few simple reasons: it is possible for the person that it is used to suffocate, and it is also possible that the person will suffer frostbite on top of burn (causing greater skin damage) due to the expansion of the gas.

What can not be used to fill a fire extinguisher?

You can fill a fire extinguisher with any substance you like. Whether it will work as a fire extinguisher afterwards is a different matter. The old pump-style water fire extinguishers in college dormitories have occasionally been found to contain beer (which at least still works for the intended purpose) or gasoline (which is not so effective), which is one reason you don't see that type so much anymore.

What other names are there for the fire extinguisher?

The five types of extinguishers are:

Class A -- flammable solids. Paper and wood are examples.

Class B -- flammable liquids, such as gasoline.

Class C -- is flamable gases such as LPG

Class D -- is metals such as magnesium1

Class (E)-- any fire with electricity with it

Class F-- fats and cooking oils etc

What type of extinguisher would you use for a paper fire?

A Class A (or ABC) extinguisher would be used to extinguish a paper fire.

Class A - Ordinary Combustibles

Class B - Flammable liquids

Class C - Electrical fires

Class D - Flammable metals

Class K - Kitchen fires (organic fats/grease)

What is the red fire extinguisher water foam or dry powder?

Depending upon where you are, there is no standard color of fire extinguisher to determine what is inside; that would normally be shown on the label. In the USA a red extinguisher could be foam, dry chemical or even special Class D powders.

On the label, various standards use different colors to indicate contents. Under British and Australian standards, solid red means "water" (Class A). Foam extinguishers would have either a blue stripe (AUS) or cream-colored panel above the instruction label (Brit).

What happens if you put hydrogen in a fire extinguisher?

Putting hydrogen into a fire extinguisher would create a very dangerous device. Compressed hydrogen gas burns very rapidly when mixed with oxygen and ignited.

This could cause an explosion resulting in damage and injury.

How often should fire extinguisher be checked?

Commercially speaking, in the UK they have to be checked annually, and signed.

Can fire be cold?

yes fire can be very cold. in fact its a trick used by Satan to confuse our inferior human minds. while god and the main stream media would like you to fall for this lie when on fire most people feel intense frost bite and go running for warmth. (cloth, blankets, ect). hail Satan. The only true beings that can feel the true intensity is our superior clone overlords. In 1789 it was proven by infamous Bron Michelle Warshousen who made this fantastic discovery that fire was cold. Unfortunately moments after the discovery the German SS units stormed his castle and brought him into the future to assist in there war efforts. That is why we believe fire is hot and BMW is a car.