Anyone tried this Fire Extinguisher yet?

[MotorSeven]

A few years ago I had a rear brake caliper seize on the motorhome. The 8.1 engine pulls like a Clydesdale, so no, I didn't even notice it. After melting the caliper and backing plate, it caught the inside dually tire on fire(It was a brand new tire). I did notice the billowing smoke, and pulled over. While traffic on the I whizzed by 3' away, I crawled under with my handy Kiddie fire extinguisher and hosed the tire down.....it went out, then a truck went by and fanned the flames back up. Fire extinguisher was empty, so I had the wife bring another one....."SHHHHHOOOHHHHHSSSSH" yay!, fire out, ........whizzwizz, nope it's back!

I then stood behind the MH signaling to traffic with two empty fire extinguishers and pointing at the growing smoke cloud. A trucker took mercy, puller over and ran back handing me a 20pounder extinguisher. It got the job done.

I never really thought about it before, but the discharge rate of the smaller fire extinguishers is about 8-10 seconds. Folks, that ain't much, and I have been a little gun shy ever since. I have two or three in the shop, and everytime I walk by, I just wonder if they will even get the job done if needed.

Then, over on a different forum, someone posted a link to the Element E50. Hmmmm, about 1/3rd the size of it's competitors, and wait for it.....a 50 second discharge rate. So I bought one for the van, along with a few extra mounting brackets. So, if I remember, I can grab it and take it with me on the boat, truck, tractor/etc.

Just curious if anyone has used the Element E50 in anger at a real world fire?

Element | E50

Our most popular model. Offering 50 seconds of fire fighting protection, E50 is recommended for professional use (automotive, power sports, garage, marine, etc). E50's extremely small and lightweight construction allow for storage almost anywhere. Internationally tested and certified. FEATURES...

elementfire.com

 

[hosspuller]

Site doesn't post the UL rating. That will give a good comparison.

 

[wmfamily]

Lots of Youtube videos where people test them out. They work OK as long as there isn't a lot of wind. I do not have any personal experience but based on what I saw I don't know that I would trust them for outside use.

 

[5030]

Tire fires are always hard to put out no matter what.

 

[LittleBill21]

watching this, it looks like a total failure

 

[groundcover]

Did some testing with EA-500 , pretty impressive !

ea500 encapsulating agent - Google Search

Took sone EA-500 , mixed it with a gallon of gas , 10 gallons of water and splashed that on three truck tires on fire. Promptly put the fire out, immediately stopped the smoke as well !

I has an APW ( air pressurized water) 2 1/2 gallon mixed with EA-500 in my Jeep and truck.

 

[MotorSeven]

Yikes...to be fair though, they should do the test head to head with a 10 second Kiddie.

 

[mrmikey]

They're certainly not cheap. But I'll say one thing, it's the first product I've came across that the US price is the same as Canadian once you convert it.

 

[5030]

Looks worthless to me.. I could pee on the fire and do better (other than pee stinks...)

 

[tractortroof]

I put out a grease fire with one of these the other day, ok it was an old gas grill that was never cleaned and we just lit it up, who knew you were supposed to clean those things? Almost burned my house down. This extinguisher put it out easily, glad I didn’t have one of those things in the video.

 

[LouNY]

watching this, it looks like a total failure

I just watched this one on u tube. While this might be a good extinguisher in a confined area with no breeze it is almost worthless outside in a breeze or a solids fuel or even a liquid fuel fire with hot spots trying to reignite.

 

[MotorSeven]

Hmmmm, it was windy during this successful test. Anyway, looks like I will still carry two, one traditional, one Element.

 

[Comancheria]

I was at a car show where a guys dodge charger Daytona 1969 caught fire.

Several people
Including the owner had smaller drag racer sized portable extinguishers to no avail.
My buddy grabbed his big service truck extinguisher and was able to put out the fire.
Needless to say the owner was forever grateful.
I think it was a 20# extinguisher.