I sent this around a while back.

Here is a re-run for thoes who missed it the first time...

file:///C:%5CDOCUME~1%5CRichard%5CLOCALS~1%5CTemp%5Cw623.h tm

cavelamb himself wrote:
I sent this around a while back.

Here is a re-run for thoes who missed it the first time...

file:///C:%5CDOCUME~1%5CRichard%5CLOCALS~1%5CTemp%5Cw623.h tm
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

Jon Elson wrote:
cavelamb himself wrote:
I sent this around a while back.

Here is a re-run for thoes who missed it the first time...

file:///C:%5CDOCUME~1%5CRichard%5CLOCALS~1%5CTemp%5Cw623.h tm
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.

Jon Elson wrote:
cavelamb himself wrote:

I sent this around a while back.

Here is a re-run for thoes who missed it the first time...

file:///C:%5CDOCUME~1%5CRichard%5CLOCALS~1%5CTemp%5Cw623.h tm

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

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

Richard

On Mon, 19 Nov 2007 18:53:43 +0000, David Billington
wrote:

Jon Elson wrote:
cavelamb himself wrote:
I sent this around a while back.

Here is a re-run for thoes who missed it the first time...

file:///C:%5CDOCUME~1%5CRichard%5CLOCALS~1%5CTemp%5Cw623.h tm
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.
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

On Mon, 19 Nov 2007 12:03:08 -0600, Jon Elson
wrote:

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.

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.

3. 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.

-- Bruce --

Gerald Miller wrote:
... I told her to move the stove out and pull the plug. ...

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

Bob

"Stormin Mormon" wrote:

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.


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

Bruce L. Bergman wrote:
On Mon, 19 Nov 2007 12:03:08 -0600, Jon Elson
wrote:


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.


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.

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.

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.

3. 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.
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

On Wed, 21 Nov 2007 15:59:21 -0600, Jon Elson wrote:
Bruce L. Bergman wrote:

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.

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.

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.

The old brass soda-acid crap from 40 years ago had a short life due to
the chemicals.

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.

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.

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 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!)

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 coughKiddecough 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.

-- Bruce --