Fire extinguisher upgrade

[Keith in Co]

Until recently I hadn’t paid much attention to the fire extinguisher in my Alaskan camper, other than verifying the gauge was still registering in the charged section. Upon closer inspection, I saw that the General Fire Extinguisher Corp model I had, although well made, was ancient. How ancient you ask? An internet search revealed that the company had gone bankrupt in the 1970s, and that my extinguisher should have been retired long ago. Also, I noticed that the handle was date-stamped 1966. I’ve never known when my camper was made, but this may be a clue - not sure.
My quest now was to determine what new extinguisher I should buy. To my surprise, several RV websites recommended various B/C extinguishers (for liquid, gas, and electrical fires), but not A/B/C, which also is designed to fight wood, paper and trash fires. Now, I’m no fireman, but since the interior of my Alaskan is mostly wood, I thought it may be good to get an extinguisher which will put out wood fires too.
Over the years, I’ve bought several extinguishers for my garages, etc, and would often go with whatever was on the shelf at the store, including Kidde and First Alert. However, those are mostly plastic from the tank up, and compared with my General, they seemed cheap and fragile. Also, I’ve always thought the plastic bracket mounts were lame.
Since having a camper fire while camped in a remote location could be a really bad situation, I decided to step up my game and get a quality extinguisher. From what I can tell, two of the higher quality extinguishers are made by Amerex and Buckeye. I settled on a Buckeye model 13315 ABC. The quality is impressive and obvious, with all steel bracket, and billet aluminum head and metal handles. It installed perfectly in the original location, and now I am confident I have that issue covered.

 

[Kolockum]

That sir is a vintage fire extinguisher! Did you try to use your old one? I am curious if it still has a charge.

I carry a 10lb fire extinguisher in the truck and a 5lb in the camper. Unfortunately I have had to use them a few times over the years (luckily not on my vehicles) and these have been more than enough. On thing I like about all metal fire extinguishers is you can refill them for a fraction of the cost. I recently refilled my 10 pounder for less than 20 dollars. The plastic topped ones have to have all the plastic replaced if they are even serviceable.

 

[Keith in Co]

No, I haven’t tried to use it because I’m under the impression it can’t be refilled when parts are no longer available. Not sure if that is right or not. If it could be refilled, I would like to discharge it just to see how and whether it still works. It is clean and appears to be in excellent condition.

Because it’s still charged, I’ve hung it in my woodworking area as a backup to another extinguisher.

Another cool feature is there is a metal tang on the bracket that blocks the handle from being accidentally depressed when mounted in the bracket, and in the event the pin has fallen out. I’ve never seen this feature in any extinguisher.

 

[Kolockum]

Just food for thought. I have tried to discharge an old and expired fire extinguisher ~15 years and even though the dial was in the green nothing came out. I personally wouldn't rely on it.

 

[PaulT]

it is possible that the extinguishing material has caked together. Try turning it upside down to see if it feels like it shifts position. If not ask your local fire fighter for his opinion before relying on it.

In case of a fire, try using it first. Or just start a fire in a safe location and use it for training yourself in PASS (Pull, Aim, Squeeze, Sweep).

Paul

 

[JaSAn]

I was taught that dry chemical fire extinguishers need to be agitated periodically to keep the chemical from compacting, rendering the fire extinguisher useless. This happens fast in a mobile environment where vibration accelerates the compacting.

I invert, tap with a rubber mallet, shake. Repeat until I cannot feel any clumps moving around while shaking.

 

[thisoldcamper]

Now would be a good time to check your fire extinguishers to see if they are on the recall list. There's a thread about it here: https://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/topic/15434-kidde-fire-extinguisher-recall/?hl=kidde
I had a bunch of old extinguishers laying around from previous camper projects and got at least 3 replaced with new ones through the recall... and they weren't all labeled as "Kidde".
I also bought an Amerex Halotron, because it leaves no residue.

 

[craig333]

If you can free up the powder I'd think about using it for practice. If it has pressure and free flowing powder it should still work. Likely refillable too expect after this much time you'll probably have to get it recertified. May not be worth it.

 

[Kolockum]

Likely refillable too expect after this much time you'll probably have to get it recertified. May not be worth it.

At least in my neck of the woods there is a difference with refilled and recertified. A recertified tag is for fire extinguishers used in commercial setting and has requirements such as the canister can't be over 10 years old or it needs to be hydro tested which is normally cost prohibitive.

Since my fire extinguishers are for non-commercial they don't need to be certified and can be over 10 years old. I just don't get the fancy tag on it that says recertified. I also think it is a few bucks cheaper.

 

[craig333]

You can always do it yourself. Its like propane tanks around here. Out of date and they won't touch it until its recertified.