Fire Extinguisher Maintenance Question

bcall2043

bcall2043

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Tony's earlier post about the garage fire made me stop and think about the fire extinguisher maintenace (or lack of) in my home shop. Most regulations for the work place and other commercial places require that fire extinguisher maintenance be performed by trained personnel and records kept. Those rules don't apply to "The Hobby Machinist" world so it falls on us to maintain our own safe shop conditions. So I thought I would check my fire extinguishers tomorrow. I use the dry chemical type and keep at least four of the larger sizes in the shop. One extinguisher at each door, and one floater which is usually kept on or near the welding table. I read or some one told me (can't remember exactly) that the dry chemical powder can "settle and cake" over time causing the extinguisher to not work properly when needed. I regularly notice the pressure gauges of the two near the doors where I come and go but have never checked them for the "caked chemical" condition. I decided to do a seach for additional information before inspecting them. I was surprised to not find this topic covered much in the available web information. Below is the only thing I found about the dry chemical settle/caking:

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"Keep the Chemicals Mixed Properly

At the heart of your fire extinguisher are the chemicals that will put out cooking fires, grease fires and other household hazards. In order to make sure those chemicals will operate as intended, be sure to give the fire extinguisher a good shake each time you inspect it. Shaking the fire extinguisher will help to ensure the chemicals are mixed properly, and that will help to ensure the fire extinguisher will work properly when you need it most."

Read more:
Maintenance Guidelines for Portable Fire Extinguishers | eHow.comhttp://www.ehow.com/way_5598143_maintenance-guidelines-portable-fire-extinguishers.html#ixzz27GIx08VM

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My question is does anyone have more information about how to avoid, check for, and correct this caked chemical condition?

Thanks, Benny
 
Benny,
When the fire service guys check my extinguishers they just hold em horizontal and whack em a few times with a rubber mallet. Thats on extinguishers fitted to boats. I asked the guys about the powder settling and they said it takes a while. Even the vibration and pounding in a boat doesnt pack it down too much.....they say. Here in Oz we have to get them tested every 6 months.

Cheers Phil
 
Yes,better do this,or you may just get a blast of nothing but gas when you need it in a heluva hurry!!!
 
The service company here do the same thing. Turn the bottle on its side to near upside down and whack it with rubber mallet. Check the pressure gauge and put it back on the hook. Every 5 yrs or so remove and empty and refill. After that replace the whole unit at 10 yrs, I think. The local hardware store acts as a depot for home owners to have their units serviced. Our landlord at the shop use Local Simplex Grinnel to service the bottles yearly.
Pierre
 
Thanks for the replys with the rubber hammer information. I just gave the extinguishers a good wacking and hope it worked. I did not notice any difference like loose powder moving around when the extinguisher was shaken. I guess it does not move like a liquid. I will do it again in a few weeks just to make sure.

Benny
 
When you shake your extinguisher, you should hear and feel the powder moving around. At least I can. The airport dry-chem truck rotates (flips vertically) the powder tank when they are getting ready to use it. This 'liquifies' the contents so it is ready to flow.

While on maintenance, once a dry-chem has been fired, even just a quick shot, it needs to be replaced or refilled. This is because grains of powder get stuck in the valve and allow the remaining gas to slowly leak out.
 
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