Fire Extinguisher Expiry Dates?

[Talulah]

In my annual Fire Extinguisher inspection/service I had a fire extinguisher rejected on the basis it was now over 5 years old.
The guy said the extinguisher came with a 5 year warranty but was now outside of warranty so no longer passed.
Well most goods only come with a one year warranty but that doesn't make it obsolete.
So does a fire extinguisher have an expiry date?
(This was the Auto Engine room extinguisher at £150)

 

[theoldsalt]

Older engine room automatic extinguishers contained Halon which is now illegal. Did he reject the extinguisher for that reason perhaps.

 

[Lady Campanula]

I'm aware yours is a fine boat, Edward, but £150 for a replacement? That's surely gilding the lily....



clickonit

FWIW, I learned the other day that such devices need to be mounted vertically, and not horizontally.

 

[rickym]

I don't understand this. Last year I bought 4 new extinguishers from a supplier to the commercial marine trade. All had pressure gauges and a date of manufacture (2010). None of the new extinguishers had an expiry date.

These replaced the previous 20 year old ones! Two of the old ones had replacement dates and no gauges, the other 2 had gauges and were still showing good pressure but the engine room one was very rusty!

We test fired all the old ones after giving them a good shake. One of the extinguishers without the gauge failed to fire, the others all worked and created a huge mess in a skip!

Surely the idea of a gauge is to tell if the pressure is low so you can service or replace the unit?

My 10 year old lifejackets have had replacement firing mechanisms and bottles, but stay inflated for days (weeks in one I forgot in the wardrobe) without any problems. They are out of warranty but perfectly servicable.

Just because the warranty has expired doesn't make them unservicable or unsafe surely?

 

[theoldsalt]

Lady Campanula,

Those extinguishers are powder not Halon alternatives which I think are more expensive

 

[nigel1]

For commercial shipping, if the extinguisher is type approved, then a 10 yr pressure test is required, plus the normal annual examination which really just means does it look OK, if its one of those pressurised dry powder types, that the pressure gauge indicates correct pressure. If cartridge fired, weigh the cartridge, if a CO2 extinguisher, weigh the extinguisher to check for loss of CO2.

We do not have an expiry date on amy extinguisher on board, it expires when it fails a check.

 

[Talulah]

Older engine room automatic extinguishers contained Halon which is now illegal. Did he reject the extinguisher for that reason perhaps.

Rejected on age. It's not Halon. The gas is whatever replaced Halon. Can't remember off hand.
The reason it's so expensive is because it is this Halon replacement. Whilst it would be prefectly acceptable to fit the much cheaper automatic dry powder in the engine bay the dry powder could write off the engine if it triggered whilst the engine was running.

 

[rickym]

Surely if the extinguisher is mechanically sound, not badly corroded, and at the correct pressure or the CO2 cylinder is the correct weight then age is not relevent

 

[Talulah]

The only thing I can think of being an Automatic is that you can't do a discharge test.
You can still pressure test the guage works, weigh the bottle and visually inspect.

 

[prv]

I'm aware yours is a fine boat, Edward, but £150 for a replacement? That's surely gilding the lily....

Those ones you linked to are all powder, which is not good for engines. I'd rather have foam (in fact I do have foam) which is more expensive.

Gas sounds good but I'm not sure my engine compartment is sealed enough for it to work.

Pete

 

[Boathook]

2 of my extinguishes have gauges and a warranty date that is well past. The gauges are still in the 'green' so I have left them. Another has a CO cartridge that I weigh on a regular basis to ensure that it is still full. Fire extinguishers at work are inspected annually and if ok redated so if ok for a office the same routine should be ok for a boat. If new extinguishers don't have any date an annual 'inspection' should be adequate. If I had a pressure extinguisher and no gauge I would replace it once the 'expiry' date has been exceeded.

 

[theoldsalt]

Maybe it's the reliability (or rather lack of) of the auto mechanism that gives automatics a shorter shelf life than manual extinguishers. As previosly stated you can't test an automatic. (rather like a match)

 

[[70521]]

Gas sounds good but I'm not sure my engine compartment is sealed enough for it to work.

Hello

My fire extingusher training was given outdoors by the local Fire Service, we got to wear firefighters kit and everything! CO2 worked well on some pretty large fires. I am sure it would work well in an confined engine compartment. Just make sure it is well ventalated once the fire is out.

Both CO2 and Dry Powder are classified for Type B (fuel) fires, personally I'd prefer CO2 as it makes less mess.