Important fire extinguisher information

[rynosback]

I learned a few things from this video.
1. To pull it off the wall and turn it upside down and tap the bottom of it.
2. My DRV came with a BC rating not an ABC rating.

https://www.rvrepairclub.com/video/r...ck-tip-008192/

[ducksface]

There's a recall on kidde models.
Look them by serial number and model number, fill out a form, they send you a new one, you send the old one back in the same box.

It covers most all of them with plastic handles/actuators.

[Porthole]

Originally Posted by rynosback

turn it upside down and tap the bottom of it.

The dry chemicals used in an extinguisher are mixed with the appropriate products and do not require turning upside down and shaking tapping etc.

They do not pack down or 'cake'.

[rynosback]

Originally Posted by ducksface

There's a recall on kidde models.
Look them by serial number and model number, fill out a form, they send you a new one, you send the old one back in the same box.

It covers most all of them with plastic handles/actuators.

Thanks for the heads up, but mine is a First Alert.

[Orca]

Ok, there is two different opinions in this thread so i did some research on my own. It appears that the powder DOES pack in the bottom of an extinguisher! That is something that i never thought of and i will be shaking up all of my extinguishers regularly! Better to do it and never need to use it than not do it and have a failure!

[Travelin' Texans]

The typical rv fire extinguisher isn't designed to put out more a skillet or trash can fire, they are for escape use............if you HURRY out the door.
If you have a fire inside the rv grab the extinguisher, run while spraying behind you & get your butt out ASAP, it only takes about 10-15 minutes before an rv is a pile of smoldering rubble, DO NOT try to save it.
And the dry powder extinguisher WILL pack down with vibration!!!

[EA37TS]

Originally Posted by ducksface

There's a recall on kidde models.
Look them by serial number and model number, fill out a form, they send you a new one, you send the old one back in the same box.

It covers most all of them with plastic handles/actuators.

Doesn't cover all of them. Only certain models built during a certain time frame. When they recalled mine they did not want the old ones and it was a hassle to dispose of them. The Fire Department didn't want Andy thing to do with them and couldn't tell me to to take them to. I finally discharged them and then disposed of them with scrap metal.

As a note, the recall covered certain red and white bottle extinguishers. I had a total of five recalled about 4 years ago.

[Cummins12V98]

I learned the upside down whack it with a dead blow hammer several times from a Fire Extinguisher Servicing/Selling Company.

Annually I would take all our company extinguishers on the job sites and do the whack and then date and sign the tag. Good to go for any Fire Marshal Inspection.

[Bob Denman]

Originally Posted by Travelin' Texans

The typical rv fire extinguisher isn't designed to put out more a skillet or trash can fire, they are for escape use............if you HURRY out the door.
If you have a fire inside the rv grab the extinguisher, run while spraying behind you & get your butt out ASAP, it only takes about 10-15 minutes before an rv is a pile of smoldering rubble, DO NOT try to save it.
And the dry powder extinguisher WILL pack down with vibration!!!

https://www.thorforums.com/forums/at...1&d=1608051348

[Pete'sMH]

I had a very old extinguisher and during a fire preparedness drill at work the company that conducted the drills had us put out a fire with an extinguisher. They convinced me to replace my old one but said I could try it on their test fire before they disposed of it. It worked fine just like the ones they were using for their demonstration. Nevertheless I “stir” mine occasionally because it can’t hurt. It was interesting to actually use one.

[Porthole]

If you want to go through the trouble of periodically removing your portables and shaking them, and it makes you comfortable, by all means go ahead. But also consider snapping the cheap plastic bracket open each month and having it break or potentially dropping the extinguisher during the shake.
And like a peanut butter slathered slice of bread, odds are pretty good it will land on the valve.

The portable extinguishers we see and commonly use are dry chemical, not dry powder.

Ansul
Amerex
Badger
Ansi
Kiddee
NFPA
USCG

Pick one
Not one of the above manufacturers or the NFPA, ANSI or the USCG (CFR's C46) have any standard or recommendation that portable dry chemical fire extinguishers need to be periodically “shaken” to prevent packing.

NFPA 10 standards for fire extinguisher maintenance are thorough and have no mention of shaking or packing.

That is myth.
The roots of the myth? I don’t know for sure but if I had to guess it comes from seldom publicly seen cartridge style extinguishers that were subject to tampering or poor maintenance (you Navy types no doubt have seen plenty of them).

If shaking was required it would be on the instructions printed on the side of the extinguisher.

37+ years of firefighting and not once did I ever grab a 20-30 pound extinguisher from a compartment and stop to give it a good shake before use.

It would be interesting to see someone shake a 125-300 pound wheeled dry chem extinguisher.

Amerex is one of few manufacturers to actually put something out about this.

[ducksface]

They cake, there's no doubt.
But.
Due to the dryness inside(zero percent. Did you know a bag of concrete dry, in the store, is 6 percent?) and the formulation of the powder it's settling and tightening of blank space within the powder.
It has NO RESISTANCE to ANY force.

Let's make up some pressures :
85psi immediate release against a not compacted powder super fine, designed. Pllllaaahhheeez

Caking is not solidifying no matter how much your head tells you it is.

As above, if wrestling it every so often keeps the fear at bay, by all means. Wrestle it. All it will do is to introduce the propellent gas into it, you're not breaking up chunks.

Thought negates the testimony.

We are ruled by experts who say they're experts.
These times we live should be proof of that.

[Cummins12V98]

One a year is all it takes per the Professionals.

[Porthole]

Originally Posted by Cummins12V98

One a year is all it takes per the Professionals.

What professionals?

[Cummins12V98]

Originally Posted by Porthole

What professionals?

That is exactly what they do as long as the pressure is in the green. Whack, place a new tag and off they go. Annual service.


Fire Chief Equipment
14214 N. E. 21st Street
Bellevue, WA 98007
425-641-2127 (24 Hour)

[Porthole]

Must be a west coast thing.
That is not part of required FE inspections here on the east coast.

Back to my original point, the AHJ (agency having jurisdiction) ex NFPA, USCG etc do not have tap or smack in the list of requirements in the monthly inspection protocol.