ok there is a serious side to this post.

Whilst sat in my shop saturday there was a quite big bang, anyway see pic.



fefailb

It was sat on the floor not on a wall bracket, turns out that it got damp and rusted through, untill it went bang, however just to show what damage this would cause in the garage.

it removed the sink from the wall leaving it hanging from the waste pipe, dented the radiator and put a hole in the stud wall.

so all you guys with a fire extinguisher in the garage check it for rust around the seams, and hang it on the wall to stop it rusting. this was an old one i just kept in the back just in case i needed it.



[Edited on 8/6/09 by graememk]

Lucky no-one was near it when it went off

bloody hell

[Edited on 8/6/09 by balidey]

Jesus... thats not good!


I guess thats why they insist on safety tests in industry!

well i know that the discharge time on that one was about 2seconds.....

i've only got a small one (fire extinguisher ) but always kept on the wall

you see fire extinguishers every day, you never thing about the pressure inside them.

wow, that could have been bad, if you were near it, i will check mine when i get home.

stuart

Looks like it has failed on a seam?

Ye gods! I suppose it's likely to happen, aren't they filled with weak sulphuric acid?!?!?

never heard of this before, all mine are aluminium cylinders so their fine

I think that would have killed someone quite easily

That really could have been nasty!

make you wonder though, if they can explode so violently, why haven't they found anything better instead?

think about a burning building with a few of them, getting really hot, surely they must explode?

Yes potentially very dangerous and if you are running a business and that had blown up in someones face you could probably be put out of business and end up in prison, most of these types of extinguisers are between 9 and 15 -16 bar pressure, lucky it wasn't Co2 with 170-200 bar pressure could blow your window or door down and kill someone aluminium ones would split but steel ones could shatter and cause a huge problem to anyone in the room.
That is why they are supposed to be off the floor and serviced every year and taken out of service betwwen 7-10 years.


http://www.fireprotectiononline.co.uk/news/6/Fire-Extinguisher-Maintenance-an-Essential-Part-of-Fire-Safety.html
See link

Could we get pics of the damage?

Is that rust we can see near the seam???

No sulphuric acid in them these days -soda acid extinguishers disappeared years ago (hopefully!)- if you've still got one with acid in change it!

quote:

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Originally posted by lsdweb
Is that rust we can see near the seam???

No sulphuric acid in them these days -soda acid extinguishers disappeared years ago (hopefully!)- if you've still got one with acid in change it!

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Most, if not all, are plastic lined to help prevent corrosion from the inside. That, however, doesnt cope with corrosion from the outside. Fortunately i get my trials car extinguisher checked when they visit work (and it dont cost me!!!)

Makes me think that maybe the £15 a year it costs for my two to be inspected is well worth it now.