Date: Sun, 28 Sep 2003 20:09:44 +0100 From: Grunff <grunff232nopsam.com> Subject: Re: Fire Extinguishers (WAS: Re: [OT] Re: Belt and Pully system in newer saabs)
Paul Halliday wrote: > Hmmm. It's not an ideal location really, it is? It's handy, but does get > knocked about a bit. Has yours got battle scars and kinks yet? Just been to look at it - I only check the pressure gauge once a year or so. It's been in the pocket for about 4 years, and all it's suffered is a little paint scuffed off. Since 4 years is nearing the end of it's service life (5 years, then it gets replaced), it's not doing too badly. > I discharged an out of date one once to see how it handled and figured > exactly that - might as well sod the cleaning up job and make sure you've > got a car left to clean by spraying the lot, eh? When I was doing chem research, we had a day of fire fighting training. Got to play around with powder, co2, foam and water extinguishers on a range of fires. Good fun. Powder is by far the most effective on this type of fire, partly because of the powder's high thermal capacity. It soaks away a lot of the fire's energy. As you say, cleanup's a real bitch, but I figure it's a lot easier to clean up a well powdered car than a completely burnt out one ;-) > I know car fires can spread very rapidly, so I thought an extra, larger one > in the boot would be a good idea. At what point do you decide it's all over > and run away though? And there lies the danger. There's no doubt that a 10kg extiguisher would be far more effective, but are you going to empty out the 1kg extiguisher first, then get the 10? That wouldn't make much sense. You'd go for the 10kg first. But the 1kg is nearer. You've also got the extra cost of maintaining (refilling at regular intervals) the 10kg extiguisher, and the inherent danger of carrying a high pressure cylinder in the boot (you do have a green diamond pressurised gas sticker on the back of the car, don't you? You should ;-) I reckon if I have a fire and I can't out it out with the little extinguisher, it's not meant to be. -- Grunff
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