About time I bought a fire extinguisher for the workshop...

[Tangledfeet]

I'm a bit behind on fire extinguisher types and technology so could do with some advice. I've been looking at previous discussion on the different tyes; last one was a couple of years ago.

Workshop is hobby woodwork/woodturning and light fabrication; do have good dust extraction and filtration when sanding on the lathe and good ventilation. Electrical fire might, I suppose, be the most likely.

From previous discussion(s) I gather that dry powder can leave a right mess. Suppose I should start off with getting a reasonably sized fire blanket...

 

[johnik]

for wood i would say water, dry powder for everything else tho it does make a mess, CO2 dont make the mess but no idea about how it mixes with electrickery...i had a couple of each at my garage

 

[barking mat]

Co2 is recommended on electrical installations I believe.

Fact check please @The_Yellow_Ardvark .

 

[Other Daniel]

Hi,
Just would like to add a point, re CO2.
As it works by starving the fire of oxygen, when a door or window is opened,
there is a high risk that the fire rekindles, due to the influx of fresh air (oxygen).
The only real issue, at that important moment, is that you have just emptied
your one extinguisher on the first fire
The lesson being, if a fire has recently been extinguished, don't let any fresh air
in for a safe amount of time.
I discovered this unforeseen flaw while out sailing

ATB,
Daniel

 

[Other Daniel]

.... Or have two extinguishers

 

[CompoSimmonite]

Most important always ensure you have an "escape route" ie don't trap yourself in a corner etc.

 

[Tangledfeet]

.... Or have two extinguishers

Yup - makes sense!

Most important always ensure you have an "escape route" ie don't trap yourself in a corner etc.

Quite fortunate in that respect; door is in middle of longer side; woodwork on one side and metal on the other.


Thanks all! Two litre C02 and six litre AFFF on the way.

 

[Maker]

I got a powder before I heard of the mess they produce, still less mess than a fire I suppose but I'll try to avoid using it. I've also got an out of date AFFF and a bucket of sand. Never needed them yet, touch wood.

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

I'm a bit behind on fire extinguisher types and technology so could do with some advice. I've been looking at previous discussion on the different tyes; last one was a couple of years ago.

Workshop is hobby woodwork/woodturning and light fabrication; do have good dust extraction and filtration when sanding on the lathe and good ventilation. Electrical fire might, I suppose, be the most likely.

From previous discussion(s) I gather that dry powder can leave a right mess. Suppose I should start off with getting a reasonably sized fire blanket...

Drop me a pm and I tell you.

 

[awemawson]

When I got my Chinese laser cutter I decided that it would be sensible to put a CO2 extinguisher next to it. I’m mighty glad that I did. Some while back I was sandblasting with my diesel road compressor, stopped to check fuel level and when I opened the canopy it burst into flames.. a small fuel leak was spraying on the exhaust. I’ve never moved so fast. Snatched the extinguisher and saved the day.

since then I’ve installed seven more 5 kg CO2 extinguishers. One by each door, two by the big generator and two in the foundry. Hopefully never to be used but the first already proved it’s worth. Most are second hand but I have a digital ‘fish scale’ that I use to check their gas content.

 

[daleyd]

Drop me a pm and I tell you.

Just tell him, unless it’s a secret

 

[Screwdriver]

Drop me a pm and I tell you.

Is it a secret?

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

Just tell him, unless it’s a secret

Not a secret.
But I am not going to do it in public. In case we get:
Another keyboard expert telling me how to do my job.
Or some one takes the information the wrong way and gets it wrong.

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

When I got my Chinese laser cutter I decided that it would be sensible to put a CO2 extinguisher next to it. I’m mighty glad that I did. Some while back I was sandblasting with my diesel road compressor, stopped to check fuel level and when I opened the canopy it burst into flames.. a small fuel leak was spraying on the exhaust. I’ve never moved so fast. Snatched the extinguisher and saved the day.

since then I’ve installed seven more 5 kg CO2 extinguishers. One by each door, two by the big generator and two in the foundry. Hopefully never to be used but the first already proved it’s worth. Most are second hand but I have a digital ‘fish scale’ that I use to check their gas content.

For fuel you will need Foam and Dry powder units.

 

[awemawson]

No thanks. CO2 did the job fine and no mess to clean up. No doubt you are correct for large fires.

 

[Screwdriver]

Not a secret.
But I am not going to do it in public. In case we get:
Another keyboard expert telling me how to do my job.
Or some one takes the information the wrong way and gets it wrong.

 

[evobilly666]

Another consideration for co2 is that due to the fact it reduces the percentage oxygen in the air, asphyxiation can then occur in smaller, unventilated areas. Same as Halon (now banned for most uses). I keep co2 and dry powder. Dry powder is a last resort as it can destroy electronic equipment.

 

[brightspark]

that used to be the best fire extinguishers filled with carbon tetrachloride yea it put the fire out goodstyle but the gasses it gave off was lethal and cancerogenic its banned now it was used as a paint thinner as well as used in parts washers ,

 

[awemawson]

Carbon Tet was sold in a little screw bottle with a cotton pad in the neck under the name Dab-It-Off for d-i-y clothes cleaning and was the normal dry cleaning fluid until banned, when it was replaced by perchlorethylene. That is also nasty stuff that made everything rust!

I inherited gallons of the stuff when I bought some launderettes with coin op dry cleaning machines, but I scrapped them as they were lethal !

 

[Seadog]

that used to be the best fire extinguishers filled with carbon tetrachloride yea it put the fire out goodstyle but the gasses it gave off was lethal and cancerogenic its banned

Unless you happen to be a military user, or so I believe.