Cheap Fire Extinguishers

Norman_E

Norman_E

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Just bought a 2KG powder fire extinguisher, the type with a CO2 cylinder inside it as a propellant. Class A B C fires.
£9.99 in LIDL, Hastings. Much cheaper than the Swindleries. About a dozen more seen in stock.
 
And at that cheap price it would be worth trying it on a controlled fire this weekend. Far better to find it doesnt work in the garden than on the boat when its needed!
 
Much of the LIDL stuff is very good. On the assumption that the extinguishers are made to the required standards there's no reason to believe they won't work.

Just because something is expensive doesn't necessarily mean it's better. Havn't BMW come in for some stick because of reliability recently?
 
Mmmm...

I've run Mercedes as private cars for 25 years, and BMWs as company cars for 20+ years. Never ever had a breakdown in a Merc, but I've been recovered at the roadside by BMW's excellent support service many times. BMW's warranty costs must be very high!
 
Re: Thread drift.

From fire extinguishers to the reliability of cars in three steps. Is this a record? /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I have a couple of Lidls fire extingiushers. I hope they are OK!
 
Re: Thread drift.

When I bought Jissel, one of the extinguisher's expiry dates was 1986. When I replaced it with Aldi extinguishers (like Lidl's but cheaper), I tested it. To my surprise, it worked. So I kept the two that expired in 1994 in case my Aldi jobs don't work.
 
If we stopped buying stuff that was soooooo cheap, we may still have some manufacturing left in the UK!

Sorry for this rant.

As it happens I buy mine from COSTCO, Kiddie about £14.99 for 2 1kg dry powder. I have needed to use one and was glad that it went off without question and extinguished immediately. You gets what you pay for. I will stick with a renowned brand personally.

I am usually one to hunt a bargain, but on stuff like this, I want to know it WILL work. Like flares, I will not buy the cheap unbranded ones. (Yes the kecks before some wag jumps in /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif)
 
Surprise surprise ....

Many "professional" extinguishers do not have expiry dates ... they have test dates ....

As an Ex Merchant Navy Officer - on many ships it was my responsibility to service and maintain the Fire-fighting gear. For Dry powder ext's - the routine was to basically check-weight the CO2 cylinder - that told you if it was full or not, the powder was stirred or shaken in the ext. to make sure it would not be all caked etc. Annually a bunch of Inspectors would visit the vessel and check the records / maybe check a few exts etc.

On my boat I have two types of Ext. The Dry powder has a pressure gauge showing CO2 pressure ... the ext is maybe 10 - 12 yrs old and is in good condition - I have no reservations about it. The other is a standard Dry-powder job also possibly similar age - again I do not have concern about it .... there is also a later ext. that complements these .... plus the Fire blanket.

Start of 2006 season - I plan to add a futher ext to the inventory - just to be sure ... and it will be a compact 1 - 2kg off-the shelf Car job. WHY ? Out here in Latvia etc. we HAVE to carry by law an ext and First Aid kit etc. I had a real cheap 0.5KG dry powder partly go off in back of my last car .... believe me - I am convinced a cheap one works !!!! Took ages to clean up the mess !!

Expiry dates are usually for non-servicable Extinguishers and those that can be serviced have Check Dates ......

/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
Re: Surprise surprise ....

Tis a good point Nigel, after reading on here and in the mags we picked our extinguishers up on the boat and gave them a shake, you really could feel the lump of powder break up again. Now part of routine maintenance on board!
 
I bought both 2kg and 6kg dry powder extinguishers from Lidl about three years ago and bought some more last year. They were criminally cheap!

The 6kg ones are made by www.gloria.de and do not carry an expiry date, but do have a notice to inspect regularily and to replace if the needle in the pressure gauge falls into the red.

The 2kg is made by www.delta.be/en/savoir.htm
This one carries a manufacture and an expiry date.

I have placed these extinguishers in my house, two holiday lets, my two cars and in my boat.

Today I decided to test one of the 2kg extinguishers.

Would anybody like to come and help clean up the mess in my garden. Bloody kids think its Christmas!
 
Dry powder ....

It has an agent in it to slow down caking / compacting - but eventually with vibration etc. it does and a vigorous shake as you found makes a world of difference.

Expiry dates IMHO are really a Manufacturers way to get you to buy again ... and trouble is Authorities have fallen for it and then passing into legislation / reccommendations etc.

Sensible maintenance of the ext's is what is called for - not fit and forget - buy a new one system........... as that has flaws ...

I bet most on the forum here have NEVER shaken their Dry Powder ext to make sure its fully functional ?? They fit bracket, clip Ext into it and thats it till replacement time ...
 
Re: Dry powder ....

Make sure that the extinguisher you buy has the British Standard kitemark on it if you are on the inland waters. If you get jumped by inspectors as I have they will give you a ticking off. Also the boat will fail any safety certificate inspection. ...................................That is when they make up their minds what is a safe boat. Seems like "jobs for the boys" to me. Then again I am very cynical towards any authority!
 
Re: Dry powder .... Agreed ... as I said ...

Authorities have jumoped on to the Manufacturers wagon and its now in stone for Inland Waterways boys .... Ins. Co's following suit offshore, coastal ....

I do not advocate unsafe practice and Ext's are an important part of sving our lives ... and cannot be scrimped on ...

But maintenance as I have pointed out can help ensure working capability of the item ....
 
Re: Dry powder .... Agreed ... as I said ...

As I have said, use BS extinguishers. If you have read all the changes in regards to safety certificates in the last few years as I have it looks as if there is a headless chicken in charge. Whilst I am in favour of safety, I had two friends seriously burned and have seen a boat go up in flames due to loose gas/petrol fumes, I do feel that the Boat Safety Certificate is going over the top. Seems like somebody is making a bit of work for their friends. Not all of us can afford it notwithstanding the fact our boats are safe.
 
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