Kitchen Fire

That URL only works on YOUR computer.

Anyway, we had an oven fire some time ago, when the kids tried to cook a pizza in an oven that had a lake of turkey grease on the bottom. Some time before that I had bought a bunch of expired water-air extinguishers on eBay, they were going for about $25 each. These things have 2.5 or 5 gallons of water in them (I forget), and are charged with an air chuck through a standard Schraeder valve. It sure worked well. I think they might work better with a garden hose nozzle that makes a finer spray, but it sure did the job.

Jon

Baking soda is also very handy for putting out small fires. That was told me by a local volunteer fireman back in the US.

Yeah, I noticed. Musta had (another) senior moment...

Richard

30+ years ago, SWMBO called me at work in a panic "The oven is on fire and backing soda didn't put it out." She explained that it wasn't something in the oven that was burning, actually it was the bake element itself that was burning; so I told her to move the stove out and pull the plug. Somehow an arc had developed between the resistance wire and the outer casing of the element and the only way to extinguish it was to disconnect the power as the arc wasn't strong enough to blow the fuse which IIRC was 30 Amp. That year I roasted the Christmas turkey in an old stove we had been using in the soils lab. Gerry :-)} London, Canada

1. You want a fine spray, put your finger over the nozzle. ;-)
2. You can recharge them yourself for free after use, but you do need to take them in every 12 years for a Hydrotest of the cylinder.

It's cheaper to Hydro than to buy new, they must not have wanted to bother with it. Or the Safety Folks decided that Water was not proper to use at work anymore if they have a lot of electrical or flammable liquids, and they switched to something else.

1. And if the old ones were in bad enough shape that they wouldn't pass Hydro you don't take them home, you destroy and scrap them. Even at "only" 100 PSI it's still a pressure vessel that can rupture.

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I guess they make B-rated fire extinguishers for a reason? For grease fires, turn off the heat. Smother if possible. Use a dry chemical extinguisher.

For my water can extinguishers, I always add a drop of diswashing soap. The water soaks in better, for fires in solids. One time years ago, I put out a couple smouldering railroad ties, left after a brush fire. The water soaked into the glowing area, and foamed up. So, I knew where the hot spots were.

That'll work. So would flipping the breaker, in case your SWMBO is not up moving the stove 8-)

Bob

I tried out my brand new MSR Whisperlight 500 on the kitchen counter w/o reading the instructions. Oh chit, counter on fire, flames, flames spreading across counter, damn, hey, fire extinguisher on top of fridge. Yellow powder all around but fire is out.

There is a replacement on top of the fridge and I just checked the charge gage.

Wes

These are expired, I suspect there's no point to do a hydro, as they will NOT certify them. They sit pressurized to 100 PSI all the time,

8760 Hrs/year, so if they "fail the hydro", I'll have a big puddle on the floor.

The old brass soda-acid crap from 40 years ago had a short life due to the chemicals. These units are filled with plain tap water and compressed air, and are made of stainless steel. They are retired due to regulations, but I have serious doubts they really need to be retired. I inspected the inside before refilling them, they were bright and shiny inside and looked like they were brand new. (They may actually HAVE been brand-new, as they had all the locking tabs, one-time plastic ties and fill date tags in a plastic bag.) I am not a commercial shop, do not have any special fire insurance that requires certified extinguishers or a maintenance program on them. This is all in my house and home shop. But, I think these things are WAY better than the crap they sell at home depot. (I had a Bernzomatic dry powder extinguisher blow up in my car, the interior of the can was MASSIVELY corroded from the agent. Glad I wasn't in the car when it went!)

Jon

They most certainly will hydrotest the cylinders and recertify them for another 12 years, for around $12 - unless the company that made them has gone out of business. Who made yours? General Fire Protection was the last major I know of that recently went under, and the company that bought them out of bankruptcy will no longer support the old units.

The service companies won't touch orphaned units because they have to get and use "replacement parts" like O-rings and gaskets and booster hoses from the OEM, no generic parts from McMaster. If they use generic parts and the extinguisher fails to operate properly, then the extinguisher service company that did it can be on the hook for a big liability payout. Stupid, but that's the product liability laws.

Oh. and you want to go to the service shop that actually owns and operates their own hydrotest tank on site. If you go to any service shop in the Yellow Pages they'll just batch yours up with theirs that need a recert and take them over to the guy who does have the tank, and charge you more for the handling.

Those units have all been decertified because once they are turned over and activated they keep going - people would grab them off the wall and inevitably activate them in the hallway without thinking, by the time they got back to the fire the tank was empty...

No reputable service company will touch them. Drill a hole in the bottom and make it into a table lamp.

Well then, as long as they look like they're in good shape, keep them. They'll work practically forever, and if you replace a leaky O-ring yourself with a generic part, you only have yourself to blame if it fails. As if it really would.

This is why ABC Ammonium Phosphate is not your first choice if you have a choice - and why they still sell BC Bicarbonate of Soda (Baking Soda) units for commercial kitchens, it's a heck of a lot easier to clean up and doesn't corrode everything. And why I have BC, Halon, Purple-K, CO2 and Pressurized Water in my arsenal.

This is also why you only buy good metal head commercial grade units from Amerex Badger Kidde or Sentry, they tend not to blow their tops.

Avoid the plastic head or "Disposable" units at all costs. They may not work when needed, and false security is NOT what you want. If you have to pull the pin, it has to work.

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I talked to a guy at an extinguisher recharge shop. He says you can see the corrosion if they are going bad. Usually under the metal name band, where it holds moisture. Sounds like your clean ones will be useful for many years.

When I refil a water extinguisher, I add a couple drops of dish detergent, so the water will soak into my target, not bead and run off.

The turn bottom up extinguishers were dangerous cause they were under zero pressure until they were activated. Like you say, if yours go bad they either leak out the air, or you get water on the floor.