On 11 Jan 2004 09:48:36 -0800, jim rozen
wrote:
In article , Bruce L. Bergman
says...

Oh, and a VERY important note: Go get that Halon extinguisher you,
um, "inherited"... serviced by a professional shop at least every 6
years, even if you've never used it - they have found that the O-ring
seals on the discharge nozzle crack from age and leak out the charge,
so you need to get them replaced before your precious (and expensive)
gas escapes. "Save the Ozone Layer" and all that bilge... ;-)

OK, but I suspect that if I take it in for service, they cannot
legally remove the halon and re-install it. So I've been simply
weighing the extinguisher annually. Here I assume the pressure
gage on the unit is worse than useless, as the vapor pressure at
room temperature will be constant as long as there is any liquid
in the tank.

Balderdash! I The one I have in the office was just hydrotested and
refilled 4/17/2003, and they didn't ask any questions at all... I
even bought a new Halon for the Corvair a few years back, it was about
$50 but they sold it to me. They are discouraging Halon use, and
taxing it, but it isn't illegal yet...

If you don't believe me, call a local shop and ask them
"hypothetically" if they can service it for you. The only thing that
would stop them is if the previous owner engraved their name on it.

And Halon 1211 units have nitrogen for delivery pressurization over
the liquid Halon contents that has a low vapor pressure, so the tare
weight and cylinder pressure are both important.

When it no longer meets the spec, I will replace it with either co2
or dry powder.

You never mentioned a brand or model number... The only thing I
could see stopping them servicing it is if it is one of the
Plastic-head "Disposable" units the size of an aerosol can and sold as
a "kitchen extinguisher" that was made to be one time use only. In
that case, if it's 1201 inside they can capture the Halon in their big
tank and recycle it, and give you a credit for the contents. Unless
you get the fire really early, and inside a confined space like an
oven, one pound or less of Halon won't go very far.

The important part is to find an extinguisher service facility in
your area that is set up to work with Halon, they will usually also
have their own hydrotest cell so they can do it all there.

A lot of small shops and mobile services don't have the gear, they
farm it out and mark up the prices to cover the shipping.

If you are in Los Angeles, call Pioneer Fire Protection in Van Nuys,
they do it all in-house and will take good care of your service needs.
818/785-8571 I take quite a few odd units found at garage sales for
them to refill, including CO2-cartridge style, Purple-K, Army WWII
Surplus 2.5# CO2 - but that doesn't get me an exemption from any of
the safety rules. I've had to scrap a few units for dumb stuff like
the serial number on the belly band was illegible.

-- Bruce --
--
Bruce L. Bergman, Woodland Hills (Los Angeles) CA - Desktop
Electrician for Westend Electric - CA726700
5737 Kanan Rd. #359, Agoura CA 91301 (818) 889-9545
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