Emptying fire extinguishers

[AlanB]

Thought I would ask the helpful group here for a little out of the box thinking.

I have to empty hundreds, probably thousands of small fire extinguishers.

They have about a 200 PSI charge of nitrogen on them, and about 5 pounds of essentially talcum powder in them.

I can bleed off the pressure, and the tops unscrew, BUT, pouring the powder out the neck is a lengthy process. It does not want to go.

Brainstorming on how to get the powder which is about the consistency of talcum powder out of these cylinders without creating a huge dust cloud.

Current thought is too use a large pipe cutter, and cut them in half so the full dimension can be poured out of.

I have more thoughts, but will leave it open at the moment if someone has an idea they wish to share.

 

[mjfox6]

I assume you are scrapping them since you are considering cutting them in half. Why not try to sell them to someone to use for fire extinguisher training? Might be worth more and save a life.

 

[bigshovel]

I sell j/l brand extinguishers and if one becomes out of date I discharge into a tub of water to avoid the dust.

 

[tommu56]

Allan
The chemical if it's abc is like baking soda but it is corrosive if it gets wet.
Just think of how you are goingto get rid of by products
tommu56

 

[AlanB]

Yes, we are scrapping and shredding and recycling the steel and other components. Selling them would be more liablity then it would be worth.

Big Shovel, we have many come in that have lost their charge, and even when fully charged it does not get as empty as we would like prior to shredding, but I have never tried it into water, will have to try that once and see.

Thanks Tommu, yes, we are properly handling the materials.

In the FWIW and more background department, we try to overcome problems and obstacles encountered by Ft. Campbell especially in the Environmental field. I am breaking my arm here, but believe I am justifiably proud of what we have accomplished over the years.

Fort Campbell Environmental Division

I like the PPOC educational movie best.

We have been given the task of managing Fire Extinguishers and as with many things we do, the first issue is to clean up, and we are emptying on a scale most Fire extinguisher shops do not encounter.

 

[Blagadan]

My neighbor sells fire extinguishers.

He uses the out of date extinguishers for a schools fire training program he set up in at least 3 counties. The guy does some training himself but the bulk of the out of date stock is taken care of by a fire & safety company he formed somewhat of a partnership with. Every child gets to pull the trigger on an extinguisher and gets to put out a fire. (I'm sure theres quite the few school caretakers hate him for all the cleanup they have to do afterwards...lol)
Side line, he has a special offer on discount price fire extinguishers for the parents of the kids. Kids come home, mommy daddy we need an extinguisher NOW!!! Get my drift.....?

For the extinguishers that are not going to be refilled, they go for recycling making best money from the aluminum vessels..

Maybe you could contact your local schools board to see if this is of interest to them?

 

[Soundguy]

Wht about a fabric bag to contain the bulk of the dry chemical connected to a pipe, which the extinguishers can then be discharged thru?

soundguy

 

[AlanB]

Wht about a fabric bag to contain the bulk of the dry chemical connected to a pipe, which the extinguishers can then be discharged thru?

soundguy

That is what most shops do, but it is for a limited number. They actually make the bags commercialy, called a discharge bag. But if you have one flat, it is no help, and they do not fully discharge, so they still need some additional emptying, that is what we have been working along the lines of, but it is just not complete, quick, clean enough (yet)

Blag, the liability of handing an out of date extinguisher to a school kid and having them pull the trigger scares me, and I am normally on the more aggressive side of that.

We work closely with our FD so they have plenty of training aids.

 

[Blagadan]

LOL, You're looking at some kind of industrial vacuum cleaner then with a big capacity maybe? Maybe a large home central vac system would do, Something with very good filtering? You would need some sort of agitator to shake the filter every so often but perhaps something along these lines (if you havent contemplated this one already...?)

 

[bigshovel]

Alanb, your at the home of the 160th and nightstalkers, all of whom could use target practice. Line e'm up along the railroad tracks and fire away

Brad