Wee fire extinguisher - one blast and it's done?

[Maker]

We still use Halon at work. Nothing yet capable of replacing it. It's eyewateringly expensive if we fire one and have to refill it. They only fill them from reclaimed gas.

So, you work in the channel tunnel then?

 

[Justme]

I have used a mig welding cylinder to put out a chimney fire before now.

I think it could be easy to make up an adapter to fit a cylinder with a Tee with one side having the standard regulator & the other feeding a suitable pipe & horn for use as a fire extinguisher. Might not be super mobile but as long as the pipe is long enough to reach the work area it should be ok.

 

[Maker]

I have used a mig welding cylinder to put out a chimney fire before now.

I think it could be easy to make up an adapter to fit a cylinder with a Tee with one side having the standard regulator & the other feeding a suitable pipe & horn for use as a fire extinguisher. Might not be super mobile but as long as the pipe is long enough to reach the work area it should be ok.

A mig cylinder isn't liquid withdrawal like a CO2 extinguisher but if you used it upside down with a hose then it would work exactly thee same.

 

[AndyStobbs]

Think your fingers would be quite numb once you had held an upturned co2 cylinder at full blast for any amount of time.

 

[brightspark]

just shell out and buy a decent size co2 not a crappy little one that runs out half way when u think u are winning the battle .then it starts up again and find u have lost it gives u false hope

 

[Justme]

A mig cylinder isn't liquid withdrawal like a CO2 extinguisher but if you used it upside down with a hose then it would work exactly thee same.

Do you need the liquid when you have the flow rate that a un regulated cylinder gives?

I know that a 1 second blast put the chimney fire out & a few seconds cooled it enough so that it did not re light. I guess you need to get quite close with the gas (I was releasing it into the damper flap of a Rayburn so straight to the heart) & the liquid could travel further as it expands.

 

[Tinbasherdan]

Empty a powder extinguisher into a car engine bay with the engine running and you end up with a lovely expensive paper weight

 

[Maker]

Do you need the liquid when you have the flow rate that a un regulated cylinder gives?

A real fire extinguisher is liquid withdrawal so it must be helpful in some way. I think it helps to cool the materials, CO₂ has a boiling point of -57°C which means it will cool the materials to somewhere in the region of that, it won't be reigniting at those temps .

 

[Mr shiney]

So, you work in the channel tunnel then?

LOL, no, I am a Commercial Pilot. Aircraft fire suppression on our Turbines is still Halon.

 

[brightspark]

i used to be a pilot learnt to fly a k13 glider and a motor glider with lessons . the microlite and hanglider i taught myself i didnt have a pilots licence but i had a car one them were the days , flying by the seat of your pants. u would get banged up for it now or heavily fined

 

[Browser]

InerGen systems use an inert gas but it's still a breathable atmosphere, becoming very popular in locations where personnel might be endangered by a discharge (server rooms, switchrooms etc).