dollywobbler Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 If you do have one in the car, please make sure it's securely fastened! A fire extinguisher flying around in the event of an accident is unlikely to help matters. Same goes for steering wheel locks. I've become a bit wary about carrying one knowing it's a bloody heavy thing to have flying about if it all goes wrong... inconsistant and michael1703 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Furious Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 I think it's probably a good investment, I must admit I was meaning to get some last year for mine but...y'know. As far as cars are concerned a more worthwhile investment is in prevention methods, particularly on old cars which have ageing fuel lines that were not designed for unleaded petrol. Replacing those with decent quality R9 rated fuel pipes will probably do more to save your pride and joy from dying in a fire than attempting to fight it with a tiny fire extinguisher if it does happen. catsinthewelder 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wuvvum Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 I bought a small one years ago when I did my first track day - it normally lives in the shed so probably not a lot of use in the event of a fire in the house as by the time I got to the shed, picked my way over all the crap and then got it back inside, the fire would probably have grown too big for it to put out. The Movano came with two extinguishers, one in the cab and one in the back - the one in the cab at least looks reasonably new. The Transit had one as well, but PBK has that now. As above, I would probably be more inclined to GTFO if faced with anything resembling a serious fire, rather than try to be a hero. As long as me, the cat and the car keys all got out, the rest can burn as far as I'm concerned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catsinthewelder Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 I think it's probably a good investment, I must admit I was meaning to get some last year for mine but...y'know. As far as cars are concerned a more worthwhile investment is in prevention methods, particularly on old cars which have ageing fuel lines that were not designed for unleaded petrol. Replacing those with decent quality R9 rated fuel pipes will probably do more to save your pride and joy from dying in a fire than attempting to fight it with a tiny fire extinguisher if it does happen. I replaced all the fuel lines on the camper after many warnings so was a bit miffed when the brass pipe I had securely clipped the fuel line to vibrated out of the carburetter casting spraying petrol everywhere. How the sodding thing didn't catch light I don't know. After that I lockwired the fuel pipe clip onto the carb with fusewire. mat_the_cat and Asimo 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Jimmy Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 I keep two full size extinguishers in the workshop; working around old cars with petrol about is the main concern, so they are foam.More relevantly, I always use isolator switches on infrequently used cars and anything else electrical and elderly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiltox Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 I bought a little fire extinguisher from Lidl when it was on offer at the time for the house. No idea if it'll ever be useful in an emergency, but sure will be quicker than trying to fill a bucket up from the kitchen tap if something like a candle falls over.GR9 for when you set something on fire when heating a stuck bolt on a car with a blowtorch Ask me how I know SiC and Skizzer 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skizzer Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 Has anyone said 'World was much better before fire extinguishers were invented, bloody health and safety gone mad, bloody snowflakes, froth, rather be thrown clear, gnash gnash, we learned not to set fire to ourselves and anyway we put ourselves out with a shovel etc etc' yet? Ignore that, we already had that argument, I'm just grumpy this evening. Sorry. Carry on. dave21478 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMC Rebel Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 I carry one in the car - but it's not for my car - I heard a story once about a chap trapped in his truck cab who burned to death cos no-one had an extinguisher. No idea if it would work but better than nowt. If anything of mine catches light I'll be out and away. Have smoke alarms and CO alarms but no house or garage extinguisher - prolly should think aboot it. BTW heard a very funny tale on the train once - mother and (grown up) daughter were sitting opposite me recounting the time when the mother rang daughter to complain "this blasted alarm thing keeps going off, how do you turn it off - only I've got a cake baking in the oven and the noise is awful". Luckily the daughter suggested that rather than trying to silence the CO alarm, her Mum should turn off the oven and go outside immediately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robinmasters Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 Fire officer in my work is ex fire service (station officer) he reckons they can be dangerous as they can give people a false sense of security and higher expectations of what they are capable of then use them to tackle a fire that is way beyond the extinguishers scope. People who do stuff always believe nobody else can do that stuff without breaking everything/making it worse/killing someone. Generally they should be ignored; they're trying to make their contribution seem more valuable/important/brave. The problem Keith Lard was describing isn't due to fire extinguishers, it's due to stupidity. Little fire extinguishers aren't for putting out big fires. They're for getting away from big fires without getting too burnt. Use things sensibly, for their intended purpose, and you'll be fine even without an expert on hand. Nicola H, The Moog, AMC Rebel and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rave Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 I carry one in the car - but it's not for my car - I heard a story once about a chap trapped in his truck cab who burned to death cos no-one had an extinguisher. No idea if it would work but better than nowt. If anything of mine catches light I'll be out and away. Nothing like as serious, but I once watched a black taxi (something like a TX2 from memory) burn for several minutes at Marble Arch before the fire brigade turned up and put it out with a handheld extinguisher. It never really went up, but the duration of the fire must have pretty much written it off, whereas it probably would have been easily saveable had someone put it out within a minute. The extinguishers in our buses are all behind a piece of toughened glass that you have to smash to get at them (I guess to stop them getting nicked?) so I wasn't in a position to help without buggering up the bus service I was there to run. Given that they're apparently notorious for going up, I'm not sure why the cabbie didn't carry one, though I guess if he was hiring the cab like many of them do he just collected another one the next day. After this incident my former company got a huge kicking from the fire brigade inspectors (of the "shape up in 6 weeks or we shut you down" variety) and as part of that they hurriedly organised some fire safety training courses, which as I'd attended one then made me a 'fire warden', responsible for ensuring that any building I was working in was fully evacuated when the fire alarm went off. Whenever that happened I always used to grab a 2KG CO2 extinguisher to take with my while I did my rounds. I never saw another fire though. I was on duty at Brixton when the Tram Shed went up, and it was pretty spectacular, as the bus that went up had just been fully refuelled with 300-odd litres of diesel, and was parked right next to another one which was also fully fuelled. Both were completely destroyed, and the other two that were in there parked slightly further away were scorched and smoke damaged. Despite being an old death trap of a building (hence the inspector's concern) the sprinklers did apparently work as intended. I was alerted to the fact that something was wrong when the guy whose job it was to drive the buses up from the main garage and park them up for the night after they'd been fuelled came dashing in and grabbed the shift engineer, before they both took off in a car with a big fire extinguisher. By the time I got there 3-4 minuites later several fire engines were in attendance and the doorway to the tram shed looked like the entrance to hell. At the time it was supposed to have 49 buses parked up in it overnight, so it was if anything a stroke of luck that it was one of the first ones in that went up, rather than one of the last... Anyway, back to my earlier questions- are powder extinguishers prone to the powder packing up over time? And where's a cheap place to buy extinguishers? A couple of times in the last month I've found that my wife has left one of her poncy scented candles burning when she's gone to bed, so I should really get one for here (and tell her off, obviously). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chatsharris Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 I bought a powder extinguisher in Lidl for less than a tenner. It stays in the boot and whenever I grab anything out of the boxes in the back, I just grab it out and turn it upside down, and give it a shake. The powder compacting in the bottom has credence, however it also is a nudge towards the fact some people try refilling them on their own, the powder isn't the problem though, it's the air they use to recharge it with. Normal air is too moist, so it will definitely make the powder into a solid, you need Nitrogen to recharge it. Fun story time - When I was in the Falklands, I went down with the dreaded Falklands Flu. I got stood down and one of the RAF lot gave me a lift down in the office Landy. We were just pulling up to the accommodation, when I looked down and noticed that the dry powder extinguisher had it's pin out, anyone could have accidentally set it off! So being the helpful chap I was, I tried to put the pin back in the extinguisher. Unfortunately for me, I tried to put align the holes for the pin instead of having the handle over the main body hole, managed to get the pin in the first hole and set it off. Instead of just pulling the pin back out, I bailed out of the car leaving the driver scrabbling for the door and after 30 seconds, leaving the entire interior looking like a winter wonderland. The driver-turned-smurf called me a dick between laughter, and she had to deep clean the interior as I was poorly. The firefighters on camp also gave me the delightful information that because I inhaled a lot of it, I could expect some 'gastric distress' over the next couple of days! Rave, purplebargeken, somewhatfoolish and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chatsharris Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 Oh, and on the topic of extinguishers - CO2. Once you activate it, do not stop. Otherwise the remainder is likely to freeze in the bottom and you'll be in trouble. Also be careful using it in enclosed spaces, sounds obvious but when it's for real people can lose their heads and forget little things like air. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inconsistant Posted February 23, 2017 Author Share Posted February 23, 2017 Thanks all, some excellent replies and stories. Can anyone recommend specific extinguishers for car and for home or is it just a matter of picking a price and getting the biggest one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sal Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 I've been a full time fireman for the last 9 years so I've got a fair bit of experience to call on. My advice would be that unless you know the capabilities of the extinguisher then do not attempt to use it. It is far safer to exit the area on fire and call 999 than to tackle something you are unprepared or unequipped for. If you require to use an extinguisher to exit a building that you otherwise can't get out of then that is a different scenario where you obviously should use it. Take into account with a car fire under the bonnet that you will probably need to open the bonnet to apply the contents of the extinguisher and in doing so allow oxygen to potentially develop the fire rapidly. I'm not advising against the use of an extinguisher by inexperienced persons to make the fire brigade look better as suggested in a previous post. I'm doing it because I know the risks involved in controlling and extinguishing fires. AMC Rebel, UltraWomble, Skizzer and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Cade Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 Put 2 in the vito camper project, as there is gas ,and always have a few CO2 ones in the shed- not for fire putting out duties,but hooked up to my Mig for welding.... these are also very handy for stopping runaway DCi's..... Asimo, somewhatfoolish and Skizzer 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave21478 Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 Yes, the powder in extinguishers can definitely solidify and turn them useless. I had a few old ones lying around and decided the give them a try. Out of three, none worked. Well, one gave a few sputters, but nothing useful.Apparently you should give them a shake every now and then. From what I remember of my fire safety course, that type (about the size of two coke cans) are pretty much useless for anything but the early stages of a small fire, and as mentioned just above, opening a bonnet to get at a developing fire can give it a rush of oxygen and flare it right up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skizzer Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 very handy for stopping runaway DCi's..... ? Barry Cade 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asimo Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 Take into account with a car fire under the bonnet that you will probably need to open the bonnet to apply the contents of the extinguisher and in doing so allow oxygen to potentially develop the fire rapidly.This thought passed briefly through my mind when I opened the bonnet of a burning 2CV in Cheltenham High St. many moons ago. There were squeaking women all around this car which, handily, was parked outside a florists. Lots of smoke but not much flame from burning brake and heater ducts, which I put out easily with the water in buckets of daffodils. barefoot 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UltraWomble Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 Fire officer in my work is ex fire service (station officer) he reckons they can be dangerous as they can give people a false sense of security and higher expectations of what they are capable of then use them to tackle a fire that is way beyond the extinguishers scope. Ive tried using an extinguisher on a fire set by a mental patient and I may as well have been pissing in the wind. The misting fire hoses are better, but the red extinguishers that are empty in less than 30 secs? Shite. I have extinguishers dotted about ( couple in the caravan, one in the car, one in the shed, couple in the house including a big one) but if Im honest if it goes up I'd just get the fuck out. Only if its titchy titchy and just started would I bother using an extinguisher - certainly on something like the solar PV install we have if it went up I wouldnt bother even trying with an extinguisher. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rave Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 That's why I fancy a C02 one for engine fires; blow a load in through the grille, to cool the latch off, then slowly open the bonnet blasting away the whole time. Nicola H 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cort1977 Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 Because I am an idiot I once turned the gas on under a big tupperware box that I'd left on the stove, didn't notice for a couple of seconds by which time the flames were getting quite big. Powder extinguisher worked a treat but made a hell of a mess, took me literally four hours to clean up smoke marks, chip off melted plastic, hoover up all the dust. Definitely worth having one in the kitchen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squire_Dawson Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 Many car fires are electrical, when you have either damaged wiring, extra accessories fitted incorrectly or the wiring has simply been hacked about by an enthusiastic idiot. Not everybody considers low voltage car electrics to be a fire risk, but they are due to the current, not voltage. Many amps flowing through too small a size wire equals fire. I have had petrol pouring out of a float chamber onto the hot exhaust manifold without igniting, it just steamed and instantly evaporated. But still a situation to guard against of course. Craig the Princess 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drewd Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 I've got a small extinguisher in the car too, but it's so old it's probably knackered. I intend to get a small CO2 one and a fire blanket for the house to leave at the bottom of the stairs in the kitchen, but hope I would never have to use them. The extinguisher would only be used to get to a door and leave ASAP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
overrun Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 Eddie Honda 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Cade Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 IMG_7882.JPG ?Disel turbo's, usually Renner DCi,s which decide to run on their own oil.. They rev right up and stay there until they go bang. Usually on a manual you get it in gear and stall it-not possible on auto's so a good blast of CO2 down the air intake kills them dead. somewhatfoolish, Skizzer and Craig the Princess 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilA Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 My old man used to carry a big chrome CTC extinguisher that had the double action pump handle on the bottom. Apparently if the fire didn't kill you, the extinguisher would. Also, re home stuff, apparently unplugging things when not in use saves a lot of fires from happening in the first place, usually when people are either out or asleep. Alarms that wake you and give you a chance to get out are a good thing, and cheap too. Yes, bashing powder extinguishers annually with a rubber mallet seems to be protocol at work here. Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inconsistant Posted February 24, 2017 Author Share Posted February 24, 2017 Still looking for recommendations. What about this 2kg powder one for the kitchen and maybe another for upstairs or the shed as seems a good price (£16 inc delivery): https://www.amazon.co.uk/Powder-Extinguisher-OFFICE-Fully-Certified/dp/B008D3M0B8/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1487937448&sr=8-9&keywords=car+fire+extinguisher And this £9 600g powder one for the car: https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Fire-Safety/Eurax-NEX01201-Fire-extinguisher-600/B007T74X78/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1487937820&sr=8-14&keywords=car+fire+extinguisher Yes/no? Bigger/smaller? Cheaper/ more expensive? Powder or not powder? Sorry to keep asking, I want to get these while it's on my mind, otherwise I'll end up putting it off and intending to do it but not actually doing it, Squire_Dawson 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squire_Dawson Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 Would keep the top one in the car and the other in the kitchen plus fire-blanket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UltraWomble Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 I had two Halon extinguishers years ago - a green one and a yellow one.Wish I still had them as they could be used on anything.But:Illegal (since 2002ish) http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Jaguar-Fire-Extinguisher-Halon-1211-Circa-1987-Unused-still-charged-/182436993998?hash=item2a7a179bce:g:4a8AAOSwojRYSfODEDIT: Can still be found. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 I thought it was more like 1992. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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