Fess up, who doesn't have a Fire Extinguisher in there shop?

[NS Gearhead]

Those little 2 pounders are not going to get you too far

You got that right! I used to have a 3lber in my jeep... stopped to help a car on the side of the rd that was on fire... lasted about 5 seconds. JUST enough to get it out. Replaced it with a 5lber and later used it on my jeep when a tranny coolant line let go all over the manifold. 100km/ hr to pulled off the rd, extinguisher out, hood up, and fire out in no more then 15 sec. LOL Caught it so fast there was no damage.

I've got a 20lbs in my garage. When I cut open that old oil tank I had the door open and a clear route to drag it out if it caught. LOL

 

[Ed of all trades]

That's hilarious, Ed.:laughing: Did your friend accuse you of throwing it under his truck on purpose?

Nope he just thought I got scared and ran away.

 

[orezok]

Can you have too many? I currently have six 3A40BC extinguishers in my shop, at least one by each door. Plus a couple of the small 1A's scattered around for "small" fires. I also have a 6 liter liquid chemical extinguisher (Potassium Acetate) at my welding station. This is good for A, B, C and K fires with a 30 foot range. I have three 3A40BC's in my house. One in the walk in at the master bedroom and two at the rear entry. I have one on the tractor, a halon in each of my vehicles and two 1A's in the RV (one inside, one outside).

If you are wondering why, before retirement I was a Facilities Manager for a school district. When we modernized schools if an extinguisher was over 10 years old it was replaced with a new. Even though each extinguisher was discharged, pressure tested and refilled yearly, there was a concern about an age related failure. We took no chances with kids lives.

I've given away dozens of these to my friends because they need to be safe also. Incidentally, I've never had a fire!

 

[bandaidmd]

Wow some great replys glad i got this thread started.
My dad was an Asst fire chief during his time in the army and i remember doing some school project about fire extinguishers because he still tinkered with recharging them as a sideline.

The saying going around about "do you carry a gun because your expecting trouble? and the reply of no mam , i'm not expecting a fire either but i still have a fire extinguisher " was what got me thinking about this topic.

 

[bja105]

Ok, you have me convinced! What about freezing temperatures? Are all common fire extinguishers safe for outdoor storage in very old weather?

 

[k0ua]

OK. Order placed, should have in 3 days.. Thank You.

 

[dieselcrawler]

Wow some great replys glad i got this thread started.
My dad was an Asst fire chief during his time in the army and i remember doing some school project about fire extinguishers because he still tinkered with recharging them as a sideline.

The saying going around about "do you carry a gun because your expecting trouble? and the reply of no mam , i'm not expecting a fire either but i still have a fire extinguisher " was what got me thinking about this topic.

I have kept fire ext in every truck I have had for years... holder screwed to the floor under the front edge of the driver seat. Several around the barn mostly in the 'shop' area. Carry a gun too... not because I expext trouble but livin on a farm it gets used on critters more than the fire ext does on fires. But over the years I've used them too. Just a few weeks ago I had a carb backfire fire in an old oil bath air cleaner. But thats only the second time in about 20 adult years of likely to need them.

 

[buickanddeere]

You will get farther taking a wiz on a class A fire than using an ABC dry chem extinguisher . The only agent that really works wood, straw, rubber tires etc is water. Better yet water treated with AFFF.
Dry chem is for live high voltage electrical and flaming liquids.
I've often wondered how Farmer Brown could afford several hundred thousand $$$ on a combine. However he can't come up with a couple of 2-1/2 gallon pressurized water/AFFF extinguishers on the machine?

 

[woodlandfarms]

True story. Caught my tractor on fire welding on it last fall when hot slag fell into the engine compartment that was full of oil and dried grass. Calmly reached over and grabbed my extinguisher that I keep on my welding cart. Guage green. Pulled the pin, aimed, nothing. Realize this extinguisher is easily 15 years old. Semi calmly jog back into the shop for extinguisher 2. Jog back, smoke getting thicker. Pull the pin, depress. Nothing. Now I begin to panick. I run for the garden hose. Smoke us full bore and I now see flames. It was a Benny hill moment as the garden hose was wrapped around everything but the hose reel. I have no nozzle so the hose is spraying all over and my welder us still going full tilt. In the end deluged the fire with water and thankfully the grass and oil provided insulation so no damage other than to my nerves. Ran to my neighbor who is a fireman later that night. He has a bunch if refillables he will bring me when I get back home.

 

[Cat_Driver]

In the Kitchen, Garage, Every wall in the shop, plus near ever entry door, all vehicles ( I've used it several times to help others on the freeway ) Next to me when I do burn piles, and the gran finale - I put 1.5" hydrants on the property all with fire hose cabinets. All tested and refilled when called for.