Thread: Fire extinguishers

BCF are the yellow ones but they are banned in Australia because of the damage they do to the ozone layer. I found this fact sheet in the web with some info on different types

http://www.fpaa.com.au/information/d...inguishers.pdf

Cheers
Rob

Originally Posted by WilkoP38A

BCF are the yellow ones but they are banned in Australia because of the damage they do to the ozone layer.

Cheers
Rob

Unless its for specialised service i.e aviation. BCF isnt that good for outdoors use anyway if you only have average size bottle. It is easily dispersed in the breeze.

Fire extinguishers are a good thing and a Lot of us , including me, carry a small one in/on our vehicles. The real problem is , if a fire breaks out in your vehicle that requires extinguishing with an appropriate extinguisher, such as the one you carry, it really is too small to be effective. eg:the nice little extinguisher that fits unobtrusively in the back of grumble is a dry powder 500gm unit which would probably extinguish a runaway gas cooker while out camping but if an engine caught fire.....no hope. Now I've made myself feel guilty I'm going to have to find space for at least a 2.5kg or 5kg unit.

Originally Posted by ramblingboy42

I've made myself feel guilty I'm going to have to find space for at least a 2.5kg or 5kg unit.

Or two in different places. I carry two 1kg units. One in the cabin and one on the tray.

Originally Posted by strangy

Unless its for specialised service i.e aviation. BCF isnt that good for outdoors use anyway if you only have average size bottle. It is easily dispersed in the breeze.

I did know that the yellow ones are now illegal. Wasn't sure if these were BCF. I also know that they are still used in aviation and after reading a post on another thread(I put a link to it in post one of this thread) about magnesium and BCF being the best to extinguish it, my question and reason for this thread is;

Is there a lot of magnesium used in aircraft and is this the reason they are still allowed to have them.

I still have one my self kicking around in the shed somewhere.

Dave.

They yellow BCF (Halon) extinguishers have been illegal to possess in Australia for over a decade. If you are caught with one it is a $10,000 fine, no iffs or butts, why so high is because it is a breach of the EPA Act. They are a high level Ozone Depleter. The only exceptions to this is for international airlines, domestic have now changed and a lot of international airlines are changing also.
They are generally banned world wide as well.
If you have one it is advisable to hand it in to you local fire station or a company like Tyco/Wormald to dispose of asap.

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Older types of extinguishers may still be encountered. These 
include reversible soda acid and foam type extinguishers together 
with halon 1211 (BCF) type. Halon 1211 has been found to be an 
ozone depleting substance. Unless special exemptions have been 
obtained, BCF extinguishers have been banned and should be 
returned to a fire protection supplier or the fire brigade as soon as 
possible.

In reality it is hard to put any substantial car fire out with anything less than a 9kg and then it is still difficult unless you know what you are doing. Most of the smaller units are more designed to put out small fires in their initial stages and to all people to get out of a vehicle. Pretty much once a fire has engulfed say both front seats it is pretty much a lost cause with anything below a 9kg.
It is all a compromise on what you decide to get.
The DCP is the best compromise as it can be used on most fires (becarefull with A class Ordinary Combustible fires as it can push out items like paper and cardboard, you want to just drop the powder on top in these circumstances, They can be used on B class liquids, but you have to be carefull you dont displace the hot liquid if pooled, same drop on top).
Ideally for liquid fires foam is the choice, but useless and dangerous on electrical.
C02 is the best for electrical but not really efficient on much else.
BCF is ok on Magnesium, but the best is just dry clean sand, not always available. Do not use wet, damp or mixed sand. DCPs are ok. Do not use foam or water of any sort, it will explode and spread. I used to have a video of a lay down yard at a warehouse in the US where what should have been a 1 pump response, turned nasty. The firies were turned out to a magnesium fire on a small pallet, Skid Steer and sand were there, but they hit it full noise with hoses and spread the fire and kept trying to put it out with water. It turned into a 20 plus pump fire with over 100 fire fighters, completely gutted the yard warehouse and some surrounding businesses.

Originally Posted by ramblingboy42

Fire extinguishers are a good thing and a Lot of us , including me, carry a small one in/on our vehicles. The real problem is , if a fire breaks out in your vehicle that requires extinguishing with an appropriate extinguisher, such as the one you carry, it really is too small to be effective. eg:the nice little extinguisher that fits unobtrusively in the back of grumble is a dry powder 500gm unit which would probably extinguish a runaway gas cooker while out camping but if an engine caught fire.....no hope. Now I've made myself feel guilty I'm going to have to find space for at least a 2.5kg or 5kg unit.

I wish you luck with that...

If your cooker catches fire, chances are it is due to a leak at the hose due to a faulty O ring.

Best way to deal with it, is to simply turn off the gas at the bottle. Unless the neck of the valve has cracked, this will shut down the worst gas bottle fire. If, however, there is a crack & fire between the bottle & valve, then the most appropriate course of action is to set a land speed record on your feet at 90 degrees to the bottle.

Stay away from either end, which is tricky if it has fallen over & is spinning, and get as far away from it in the shortest possible time that you can.


But, while we are on the subject of extinguishers, remember to take yours out of your car, boat, kitchen, caravan, camper, tent or wherever it may be, and turn it upside down, and around & around until you can hear the loose powder moving inside. This is to ensure that the constant bumping or sitting doesn't allow the powder to compress at one end.

Try and make a habit of doing this once a month, or whenever you fill up, check your tyres or whatever.... (I was going to say oil, but they are Land Rovers, so that might be a bit excessive.)

Originally Posted by Basil135

I wish you luck with that...

If your cooker catches fire, chances are it is due to a leak at the hose due to a faulty O ring.

Best way to deal with it, is to simply turn off the gas at the bottle. Unless the neck of the valve has cracked, this will shut down the worst gas bottle fire. If, however, there is a crack & fire between the bottle & valve, then the most appropriate course of action is to set a land speed record on your feet at 90 degrees to the bottle.

Stay away from either end, which is tricky if it has fallen over & is spinning, and get as far away from it in the shortest possible time that you can.


But, while we are on the subject of extinguishers, remember to take yours out of your car, boat, kitchen, caravan, camper, tent or wherever it may be, and turn it upside down, and around & around until you can hear the loose powder moving inside. This is to ensure that the constant bumping or sitting doesn't allow the powder to compress at one end.

Try and make a habit of doing this once a month, or whenever you fill up, check your tyres or whatever.... (I was going to say oil, but they are Land Rovers, so that might be a bit excessive.)

Also a good idea to tap it as you upturn it with a rubber mallet. Part of our recertification process. Also check fro rust, cracks in hoses etc.
Remember also these things have a 5 year hydrostatic test date and after that are generally a throw away item, not worth the cost of testing.
Where room permits fit a 4.5kg DCP.