Well Caught Fire

[TractorGuy]

Looked out the kitchen window this morning and saw my well on fire. I had one non Kidde extinguisher on the wall and grabbed it. The plastic pin broke and wouldn't release the trigger. About that time I thought to turn off the breaker and the fire went out. Wasn't enough left of the pressure switch to determine the cause but a new switch and gauge got me back in business. I ended up cutting the pin out of that old fire extinguisher and hangin it back on the wall. Hate to throw anything away that might be useful. Won't take but a second to see if it will work next time I need one and another is always close by.

 

[Code54]

https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/safety/413615-kidde-fire-extinguisher-recall.html#post5449265
Check out this thread....

 

[Larry Caldwell]

I thought maybe it was a natural gas fire. I had a buddy who grew up in Oklahoma, and everyone in his area had to vent their water well to get rid of the methane. They pumped the water into an open cistern.

That's a good way to get rid of the hydrogen sulfide stink in some wells too. H2S is volatile, and will bubble off fairly quickly.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Bad connection = heat = fire.

Either the contacts or loose wires.

 

[Diggin It]

Bad connection = heat = fire.

Either the contacts or loose wires.

You looked at the 'after' picture too, eh?

 

[bunyip]

What where the likely consequences had you not been there?

 

[ArlyA]

You are not alone..... I know people who's pump house had exploded. Does that count? They reside among a nature gas field which seeps up and congregates in there pump house and there above the ground well pump kicks on. Boom!

 

[fried1765]

Looked out the kitchen window this morning and saw my well on fire. I had one non Kidde extinguisher on the wall and grabbed it. The plastic pin broke and wouldn't release the trigger. About that time I thought to turn off the breaker and the fire went out. Wasn't enough left of the pressure switch to determine the cause but a new switch and gauge got me back in business. I ended up cutting the pin out of that old fire extinguisher and hangin it back on the wall. Hate to throw anything away that might be useful. Won't take but a second to see if it will work next time I need one and another is always close by.

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Kidde extinguishers have a generally poor reputation.
I have been told that Amerex are much better.
In any case, you should avoid ALL extinguishers with plastic parts.

 

[TractorGuy]

Bad connection = heat = fire.

Either the contacts or loose wires.

Or lizards? We'll never know now cause it was too charred to tell. Last service was December 2010. Funny thing was the pump ran right up to the end. I still had 50 PSI on the tank and wife was in the shower.

 

[Industrial Toys]

That's pretty much the only cause of electrical fires. Unless you have a short or overload and your overcurrent protection does not work. A bad connection makes heat but does not trip overcurrent protection, hence the invention of ARC fault breakers.

With the vibration of the pump, I would guess a loose connection over bad contacts.