Fire extinguishers

[Mr. Man]

Been contemplating a fire extinguisher for the MM's and DD's. Question is how difficult is it to remove the residue from an A/B/C extinguisher or can it even be cleaned off?

I am also looking at the Halon type which is B/C rated and will work in most car fires but they are expensive. I know Halon leaves no residue. Can Halon extinguishers be recharged?

What type do you all have in your cars?

[Marauderman]

Been contemplating a fire extinguisher for the MM's and DD's. Question is how difficult is it to remove the residue from an A/B/C extinguisher or can it even be cleaned off?

I am also looking at the Halon type which is B/C rated and will work in most car fires but they are expensive. I know Halon leaves no residue. Can Halon extinguishers be recharged?

What type do you all have in your cars?

A small 5#ABC is preferred due to storage-but a 10#ABC is best for any real fire. The powooder is corrosive if left over 12 hrs- but that what is not burnt can be saved-normally.Halon is way to expensive for this use- unless money is no problem.

[RF Overlord]

Can Halon extinguishers be recharged?They can, but you can't afford it. It's been illegal to produce since the late '90s, so everything today is done with recycled Halon and the price goes up exponentially on a daily basis.

In the facility were I work, it was less expensive to have the Halon system removed and an entire new FM-200 system designed and installed than it would have cost to recharge the Halon system if it triggered.

[Marauderman]

Als-powder is washed off what can be safed. Halon is expensive and not all can be recharged--If money is not a problem that is the way.

[CBT]

Been contemplating a fire extinguisher for the MM's and DD's. Question is how difficult is it to remove the residue from an A/B/C extinguisher or can it even be cleaned off?

I am also looking at the Halon type which is B/C rated and will work in most car fires but they are expensive. I know Halon leaves no residue. Can Halon extinguishers be recharged?

What type do you all have in your cars?

Halon is more of a blanket system. Unless your car is airtight, it is kind of pointless. And if your car was airtight, and you lit it off, it will make you goofy, like laughing gas, and you'll probably crash. It has no cooling effect, either. And if you spray it on a burning magnesium flare, be close to a burn unit because it will react extra extra violent. Like napalm bomb violent. It is amazing, tho. I used to tell people it worked via "PFM"; Pure ****ing Magic, lol. Pound for pound the best extinguisher I've ever used is good ol' PKP. Purple "K" Powder. The K is the atomic element symbol for Potassium. Stuff is about a million times finer than baby powder. You can spray PKP in front of you and run thru a burning room and not get singed, that's how fine the particals are, just puts up a wall. PKP bottles are charged by a smaller co2 cartridge. Bad part, you have a powder a million times finer than baby powder all over the damn place. Kiss electronics goodbye. Just carry a 10 pound co2 and make sure you react as fast as you can to whatever catches on fire. Smother and cool, and hope it stays out.

[whitey]

i seen this today on a mustang gt foxbody....fire extinguisher on the passenger pillar, and thought to myself.......how often, if ever, will you need that? it looks kinda cheesy cool, but if i needed one of those on my dd, i would get another dd. now if you have a "built for the track car", than go for it.

[Mr. Man]

So it seems Halon while no residue, is potentially costly, both upfront and to re-fill if ever used or leaks out.

I was reading a bit on the A/B/C and it is a powder, yellow in color and it basically melts and smothers a fire. Sounds messy and not sure if the melt would be removable.

Cheapest car extinguishers are the B/C type and use CO2. Basically cheap, refillable.

So I think a B/C might be the way to go in the car.

Anybody have one mounted in their MM? Where did you put it? Pics?

[Shaijack]

If you use a regular chemical on a fire the chemical will melt onto any surface. PKP or K is the best for engine fires because it will not melt on surfaces. ABC will be good. Remember that you will only have from 10-60 seconds of actual spraying time. You will just have to celan up the mess if you use it.

[fastblackmerc]

So it seems Halon while no residue, is potentially costly, both upfront and to re-fill if ever used or leaks out.

I was reading a bit on the A/B/C and it is a powder, yellow in color and it basically melts and smothers a fire. Sounds messy and not sure if the melt would be removable.

Cheapest car extinguishers are the B/C type and use CO2. Basically cheap, refillable.

So I think a B/C might be the way to go in the car.

Anybody have one mounted in their MM? Where did you put it? Pics?

Mine is mounted in the trunk.

[Paul T. Casey]

I keep a 10 pounder (ABC Dry chemical) in my trunk. It's mostly for other people's fires. While they say they can be re-filled, most will fail the hydro-testing which is done after use and prior to re-fill. The up side is they are cheap enough to replace after usage. As for the powder, I had one go off in the trunk once. Pretty much just Shop-Vacced away. Just do the vacuuming outside as the powder will go right through the filter in a shop vac. While you're at it, put a small first aid kit, some alcohol wipes, and some Latex gloves in with the fire bottle. I travel a lot, and have often been first on scene at many accidents.

[ctrlraven]

I have a small one in my glovebox and a larger one in my trunk along with my medic bag.

[Ms. Denmark]

I keep a 10 pounder (ABC Dry chemical) in my trunk. It's mostly for other people's fires. While they say they can be re-filled, most will fail the hydro-testing which is done after use and prior to re-fill. The up side is they are cheap enough to replace after usage. As for the powder, I had one go off in the trunk once. Pretty much just Shop-Vacced away. Just do the vacuuming outside as the powder will go right through the filter in a shop vac. While you're at it, put a small first aid kit, some alcohol wipes, and some Latex gloves in with the fire bottle. I travel a lot, and have often been first on scene at many accidents. You make a good point, Paul.