Fire Safety/ Fire extinguishers

[DSW]

Funny, I usually use the leaf blower to make the fire bigger!

[Equilibrium]

Nice thread.
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Barring the obvious of a fire extinguisher in the kitchen, by fireplaces & wood burning stoves, and a few in the garage… where else should they be?
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Every FE we have is an ABC. They’re all either Kidde or First Alert and are 15-20 years old. I went around, tipped them upside down and shook each one. They’re all reading 100% or close to 100%. I still take a mallet to them later on as suggested. Should they be replaced?
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WyoRoy> “One mounted on the welding table leg” Good suggestion.
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JD955SC> “Did you properly maintain that extinguisher? You have to take a rubber mallet, turn the extinguisher upside down, and smack it a few times to break up the clumps in the powder where it has settled. Do this about once a month…It's just the simple fact the powder settles and clumps up unless you come along and smack it with a mallet once in a while.” Did not know that.
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mad welder 4> “The air/water unit is easy to take care of, check the gauge for 100psi, make sure its heavy and keep it from freezing. So easy to use and recharge...” Sounds like a great fire extinguisher to have around a fire pit. Is this a decent brand, http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-2016-AME...oAAMXQVERSxydw
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Bent> “If you have a water extinguisher add about 2% liquid dish soap. That would be about 5 tablespoons per gallon...It cuts the surface tension of the water. It increases the effectiveness of the water, by several times in the right circumstances.” Would have never thought to do that if you hadn’t suggested it. Thank you.

[DSW]

Barring the obvious of a fire extinguisher in the kitchen, by fireplaces & wood burning stoves, and a few in the garage… where else should they be?

Vehicles and boats are two other places. The only times I've ever needed a fire extinguisher was around a vehicle. Once in a parking lot when an electrical short started a small fire under the dash, and a 2nd time when a back fire started the air cleaner / carb on fire.

A 3rd time a guy I know watched the Suburban he was driving burn to the ground after it blew a tranny line and shot oil on the manifold. That time there was an extinguisher in the vehicle on the floor between the front seats, but he was so rattled he forgot about it completely and ran for the one in the other truck he usually drives, while we were plowing.

[Equilibrium]

No boat but we do have older vehicles... most of which are so old we dropped comp & collision coverage. Might be a good idea if we started looking for FEs on sale since we'd take a total loss if one of them caught fire.

[FlaJoe]

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Every FE we have is an ABC. They’re all either Kidde or First Alert and are 15-20 years old. I went around, tipped them upside down and shook each one. They’re all reading 100% or close to 100%. I still take a mallet to them later on as suggested. Should they be replaced?

FWIW I never replace them I just add more. I have in almost every room in the house, on both porches, the car port, garage, two in my truck, etc. I recently picked up two wall mounted outdoor equipment cabinets. I gutted them and mounted outside near the AC unit and another by the back door and then stuck an FE in each of them. Overkill? Only if you never need one!

[Equilibrium]

I learned that Smart Meters were prone to catching on fire. Are A/C units prone to catching on fire? Why on both porches? Because they're transition areas between indoors and outdoors? Just curious.

[docwelder]

i have co2 and rechargeable water extinguishers in the shop. the powder type seems to stay around forever after it's discharged and the dust is very unpleasant to breathe. we have hundreds of them so filling/charging and inspecting the water type is a full time job for one person here at work.

[FlaJoe]

I learned that Smart Meters were prone to catching on fire. Are A/C units prone to catching on fire? Why on both porches? Because they're transition areas between indoors and outdoors? Just curious.

Yes, on porches because that's where I usually enter and exit the house at. That way if I see something happen outside I can just grab the extinguisher on the way out. It also provides a bit more protection for them from the weather. AC units aren't "fire prone" but I have seen relays and capacitors in them melt down. Besides it's just a convenient spot. My water pipes come into the house close by and water filter is located there so it keeps everything in the same area. The car port (with an extinguisher) is on the other end of the so this also locates one at the other end.

I frequently go to garage sales and I always pick up any decent extinguishers that I find so I keep plenty of them around. FWIW when I was a kid, we had three fires inside the house; once from an electrical short, one a kitchen grease fire and one when my young sister laid clothes on a gas heater. I also had a friend who's house burned down due to a lightning strike that came in via the power line. So I tend the threat of fire seriously. Enough so that I just bought a metal container to put out in a far corner of the yard so that I could get the solvents out of my garage.

[Equilibrium]

Gotcha. Makes sense to me. We haven't had any fires per se but I'm sure they're devastating. We did have one bonfire that was called in by a neighbor and the FD stopped in and admired the 20'+ flames then told them to knock it down to under 10' or so. I think a water extinguisher would be good to keep by the fire pit just in case my pyros get a little bit too into burning anything that's not nailed down again. Two minor explosions from kids screwing around with chemistry and science fair projects. One just made a big ear drum shattering kaboom sound and I didn't know what the other one was going to do when a crackling liquid started spreading all over my kitchen floor so I hit it with a fire extinguisher. The powder does go everywhere.
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Solvents scare me too. We have some but they're in a detached storage barn that contains no animals.
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Fire extinguishers do seem to have gone up considerably in price. I will hang onto the ones I have and check for more at garage and estate sales.

[anickode]

I keep plenty of fire extinguishers handy when doing any sort of hot work, especially in the garage. I also take precautions to help prevent fires. Pulling out equipment and sweeping under and behind it periodically can be the difference between a stray spark landing harmlessly on the concrete under your toolbox, or landing in a pile of cobwebs and dust and going poof. Keeping check on the direction you're sending your sparks, and using barriers to contain them is a huge step to preventing fires as well.

I've dealt with fires before (fortunately never in my shop or home). Dry chemical is devastating to everything, especially equipment. It destroys any hope of restoring something to working order. A small price to pay, compared to having your shop or house burn down, but frustrating nonetheless. I worked with a guy who destroyed his Miller Legend with a dry chem. The Carb must have started leaking a bit of gas, and caught fire. It wasn't a huge fire, but it was enough. He squirted (not emptied) a dry chemical extinguisher on it. Fire went out. The machine was ruined thanks to the dry chem. Never was able to get it clean and working again.

My first go-to is CO2. I have several 5 and 10 lb co2 extinguishers. Co2 is not technically type A rated. It was explained to me by the fire Marshall (I asked why) because if you have a burning trash can or pile of paper or something and the extinguisher is deployed too close, the force of the Co2 blasting out can blow cinders around and ignite secondary fires.

I also keep a couple charged water extinguishers nearby, especially when working outside. They are invaluable for knocking down grass fires, and even pre-wetting areas at risk like dry grass.