What Extinguisher? Dry Powder? CO2?

CaptainBob

CaptainBob

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How easy is it to clean up after using a dry powder extinguisher?

CO2 obviously requires no cleanup - but doesn't get rated for as many types of fire... so is it best to have a CO2 on standby for small fires? And only resort to powder (or both) if it's a bad one?

Or is dry powder actually easy to clean up after?
 
I once used a Dry Powder to put out a fat fire in an oven (in a sailing club as it happens). Despite "saving the wooden clubhouse" I was not a popular bunny as the oven could not be cleaned & had to be scrapped. Powder & oils or grease make an evil paste.

I stick to CO2 now - so there is only the risk of suffocation.
 
Dry powder make a hell of a mess, but rate better, CO2 dont have much cooling effect and won't do much for electrical fires. Powder cools and insulates. I only have dry powder, but you are better off avoiding having a fire in the first place. Once you have one you don't care about much else other than putting it out!
 
Agreed, I had a fire many years ago, powder extg, hell of a mess, but I wasn,t upset about that! Powder more effective for most fires I think, Because they are more likely to stay extinguished.
 
There was a discussion about this on the Bristol Channel forum a few months ago.

A forumite who has been a firefighter for 30 years recommended dry powder as the most reliable means of putting out all the fires you are likely to have on a boat.

Sure it makes a mess but theres no carpark to stand in while you wait for the fire brigade.

Hopefully this will link to the post...

Fire Post
 
Last winter I tried out an old powder fire extinguisher - it was out of date. I sprayed it over a pile of old wood. What a mess - you have got to be seriously in danger to use one of these things. I can't see how you can escape breathing in the stuff - not a trifling matter I would think - never mind the cushions and the baked on crust after the event.

Went out and bought two CO2 cannisters, but still have a powder backup in case it's a question of survival!

PWG
 
AFFF, makes no mess and being water based cools the fire area and blankets fuel fires. Also OK on electricity as the foam consists of separate water molecules. Used it on the third rail (750 volts) on the railway!
 
I know halon is illegal and now obsolite but it is the best in my opinion, that's what we use.Also on board are Co2,foam & powder.I would always try the halon first.
 
When halon went 'illegal' as I already had a halon system, I phoned the insurance company, and asked them what situtation was. Their response was that as long as I had an auto system, they didn't care what type.
 
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Or is dry powder actually easy to clean up after?

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I don't doubt its effectiveness at putting out fires, but it does create one hell of a mess.

Years ago I was involved with a film club which showed films from a closed projection box behind the back row of an auditorium. To be able to see the screen, the projectionists sat on tall 'bar stool' type chairs, but there was nothing to rest your feet on.....












....except a small dry powder extinguisher, about the size of a 907 camping gaz cylinder.....













.....I wasn't in the box when it went off, but I helped clear up the mess. The dust got into EVERYTHING. There were locked cupboards where the dust got into the padlocks, the doors, and into everything inside the cupboard. It got behind suspended ceiling tiles, and into electrical sockets. We were still finding it in large quantities months later.

It is reckoned to be able to destroy an engine. (But despite this, It's still the only type of extinguisher I've got on board).

Andy
 
Umm, Tut, thrice Tut.

You risk the wrath of a lot of medical people if you tell them that you are still using halon. Let alone the lawyers, insurance companies....


Get rid of them and choose some other types, please...
 
I have used halon, dry powder and CO2 extinguishers in test conditions, for petrol and fabric fires. Halon was by far the most effective, but now 'illegal'. If I had a halon extinguisher I'd keep it. Dry powder reasonably effective, but the mess is unbelievable. CO2 put out fire too, but not as well as halon though better than powder.

I've fitted a new pyrotechnic discharge extinguisher to my engine compartment: said to be very effective and less damaging to engines than powder (which I am told wrecks diesels if inducted, which seems logical). It fires via a sort of detcord that you trail above the likely bits to catch fire. Chose this as there wasn't much space above engine for a big enough halon replacement extinguisher, and the pyrotechnic extinguishers are very compact.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Umm, Tut, thrice Tut.

You risk the wrath of a lot of medical people if you tell them that you are still using halon. Let alone the lawyers, insurance companies....


Get rid of them and choose some other types, please...

[/ QUOTE ]


Ooooooo, well let's all tremble with fear then eh? /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
If there was a fire i couldn't give a toss about if halon is legal or not or the environment (what would cause a bigger health and environmental impact, 32ft of GRP & diesel burning or a halon extinguisher)
 
Agree completely. As for the (boringly repetative) "no insurance" claim - I suspect you'll find that if you are confronted with a burning boat whilst holding a halon extinguisher - the insurance company will be more interested if you didn't do all you could to save the boat.

Rick
 
I can imagine that a dry extinguisher will make a spectacular mess in an enclosed space, fortunately I have no experience, but it is worth knowing that in many extinguishers the powder is simply sodium bicarbonate (baking powder!) which is reasonably soluble in water thus providing a sensible means of clearing it up. The sodium bicarbonate decomposes to sodium carbonate, carbon dioxide and water above 60 degrees C absorbing quite a lot of energy (heat) in the process. Above 200 degrees the sodium carbonate product also decomposes to sodium oxide and more carbon dioxide, thus absorbing more energy. All are water soluble. Not much use if the stuff has got into your engine, but helpful in general cabin clean-up.
 
I have an inspection 'hole' into the front of my engine cover. In the unlikely event that the engine should decide to burst into flames I have a 2KG CO2 extinguisher whos hose I would poke through the hole and discharge.

What sort of success am I likely to have? Or should I swap with a dry powder?
 
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