Fire extinguisher service?

[bitbaltic]

On page 65 of November's YM, Graham Snook notes that fire extinguishers on board should be "serviced or replaced every five years". Google suggests various different periods but it seems a fair enough interval. My extinguishers (all dry powder) are now five years old and are serviceable.

Has anyone had their extinguishers serviced in the South Wales area, and who did you use? most websites seem to want to do contract servicing of hundreds of extinguishers in office blocks etc, and perhaps not have a scruffy yottie turn up with half a dozen of them to do.

 

[Talulah]

Our fire extinguishers are serviced every year. (Coded vessel.) What you are meant to do every 5 years is a discharge test. Briefly press the trigger. (Outdoors obviously.)

 

[sailorman]

On page 65 of November's YM, Graham Snook notes that fire extinguishers on board should be "serviced or replaced every five years". Google suggests various different periods but it seems a fair enough interval. My extinguishers (all dry powder) are now five years old and are serviceable.

Has anyone had their extinguishers serviced in the South Wales area, and who did you use? most websites seem to want to do contract servicing of hundreds of extinguishers in office blocks etc, and perhaps not have a scruffy yottie turn up with half a dozen of them to do.

Best give them a good shake now n then as the powder settles into a lump.
i have dumped all my DP in favour of 2 lts Foam from http://www.nationwidefireextinguishers.co.uk/2ltr-foam-fire-extinguisher-450-p.asp

 

[fisherman]

Just had mine done by Ace fire for the MCA cert. The DP is replaced at time expiry, foam is OK, plus new smoke alarm £80. I considered having a large CO2 with a delivery pipe to the engine room, since there is not room for me and a fire down there at the same time. £90 for a 2kg.

 

[Bilge Rat]

This came up on our insurance survey in the spring. I took ours (3 X dry powder and 1 auto clean agent) to Pembrokeshire Fire & Safety in Milford Haven. They were very helpful and cost was reasonable. No connection etc...

 

[sailorman]

This came up on our insurance survey in the spring. I took ours (3 X dry powder and 1 auto clean agent) to Pembrokeshire Fire & Safety in Milford Haven. They were very helpful and cost was reasonable. No connection etc...

What did they do for your £s apart from a new service date label

 

[bitbaltic]

This came up on our insurance survey in the spring. I took ours (3 X dry powder and 1 auto clean agent) to Pembrokeshire Fire & Safety in Milford Haven. They were very helpful and cost was reasonable. No connection etc...

Thank you that is useful. Was it same-day service or did you have to drop off and collect?

 

[Bilge Rat]

I dropped them off as i was going away for a week and collected them on my return. I think I could have collected them next day if I'd been around...

 

[Bilge Rat]

What did they do for your £s apart from a new service date label

Firstly, allowed me to prove to the Insurance Co that I'd acted on the surveyor's recommendation and secondly and much more importantly, given me the peace of mind that they might actually work if I was ever unfortunate enough to have to use them in anger.

 

[sailorman]

But, no guarantee is it.Just a "paper waving" exercise

 

[Bilge Rat]

But, no guarantee is it.Just a "paper waving" exercise

I think the only thing that's guaranteed is that the insurance company would reject any claim for fire damage if i hadn't complied with the surveor's recommendation.

 

[fisherman]

+1, my insurance insists on sight of documents.

 

[Hadenough]

But, no guarantee is it.Just a "paper waving" exercise

So what are you saying?

 

[sailorman]

So what are you saying?

There is nothing to service in a powder extinguisher.
just weigh & give it a good shake to loosed any compacted powder then add a new date label,date & initial it.

i changed to foam 2 yrs ago due to the mess the powder makes

 

[sailorman]

With water and AFFF foam, they can be refilled on site. Powder will be too messy for this and CO2 extinguishers require specialist hydraulic testing in a workshop. The technician will usually exchange these for ones that have been factory tested rather than discharge in-situ.
Please note that we tend to replace these with new as our price for new products is usually less than the price to refill or test. Plus, as that extinguisher is already 5 years old, it is possible to pay for the test and refill this year and for it to fail the service and need replacing next year.
[h=4]Refill Prices[/h][TABLE="width: 80%, align: center"]
[TR]
[TD]Type of extinguisher[/TD]
[TD]Size[/TD]
[TD]Price ex vat[/TD]
[TD]Price inc vat[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Water refill[/TD]
[TD]6 litre and 9 litre[/TD]
[TD]£16.77 + vat[/TD]
[TD]£20.12 inc vat[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Water-additive refill[/TD]
[TD]3 litre to 6 litre[/TD]
[TD]£31.47 + vat[/TD]
[TD]£37.76 inc vat[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Foam refill[/TD]
[TD]2 litre to 9 litre[/TD]
[TD]£30.44 + vat[/TD]
[TD]£36.53 inc vat[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Powder refill[/TD]
[TD]1kg to 9kg[/TD]
[TD]replace with new[/TD]
[TD]----[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]CO2 refill[/TD]
[TD]2kg to 5kg[/TD]
[TD]replace with new[/TD]
[TD]----[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Wet chemical refill[/TD]
[TD]2 litre[/TD]
[TD]replace with new[/TD]
[TD]----[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Wet chemical refill[/TD]
[TD]3 litre[/TD]
[TD]£61.62 + vat[/TD]
[TD]£74.30 inc vat[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Wet chemical refill[/TD]
[TD]6 litre[/TD]
[TD]£82.92 + vat[/TD]
[TD]£99.50 inc vat

[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
https://www.fireprotectiononline.co.uk/extinguisher-servicing/

 

[bitbaltic]

There's no marked target weight on my powder extinguishers. They are 2kg/1kg but that's surely nominal when you buy them and I presume refers to the weight of supressant inside them. How much did the rest of the extinguisher weigh in the first place? No idea, so how much should it weigh now, no idea. Anyway I would have noticed had it lost contents, there would have been a powder leak, so I know they will not be underweight. If the powder is getting damp (and so likely to fail to flow when used) the weight will only increase- above the unknown value that it was in the first place.

 

[bitbaltic]

Please note that we tend to replace these with new as our price for new products is usually less than the price to refill or test. Plus, as that extinguisher is already 5 years old, it is possible to pay for the test and refill this year and for it to fail the service and need replacing next year.

Yes, that is a good point. I was interested in the price difference between service and replace which might well be very small.

 

[chrishelen]

This thread brought home to me how easy a fire can start. My alternator burnt out yesterday, and took a battery with it when I was on a trip. Didn't actually catch fire but a lot of smoke. good job my extinguishers are in date although I didn't need them. Got a bit of work to do once the rain eases.

 

[sailorman]

I buy from http://www.nationwidefireextinguishers.co.uk/

 

[fisherman]

We were talking about this yesterday, local FV had an engine room fire, the electrics went off, ally hatch was too hot to touch, but he kept the engine going and got in to the lifeboat station at Kilcobben. Battery leads rubbing against the engine, all melted including the batteries. Another had a bizarre accident, 18ft open boat, his oilers, laying across the engine box, suddenly disappeared through a crack in the deck boards, then the battery came through the locker door in the stern. The oiler sleeve had picked up in the prop shaft, then tangled the battery leads.