Fire Extinguishers
 

Just wondering what size and type most guys use. The difference in cost of a 5lb or 10lb CO2 is not much. Anyone ever empty a 5lb one trying to put out a plane fire? Also is CO2 just as good for our purposes as the Halotron extinguishers? Thanks.

Marty

RE: Fire Extinguishers
 

I'd go for the 5lb extinguisher. If you only cared about fires at start-up then a big 10lb one is fine, but when you need to grab that puppy and run like the clappers to get to an airplane that's burning some distance away from you, you'll wish you had the smaller & lighter one !!

5lb is also enough to put out the majority of fires I've seen. (not counting massive grass fires etc - but for those you need your water extinguisher anyway, not CO2)

CO2 is probably a better bet than Halon - I have both ; CO2 is easy to get a refill for, but Halon is becoming ever harder to get.

Gordon

RE: Fire Extinguishers
 

I keep a small halon one for startup fires. And a 5 lber for the run if necessary. Plus a water fire extinguisher like this one:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Nice-2-5-gallon-...QQcmdZViewItem

RE: Fire Extinguishers
 

Shopped aorund and this is the best price I could find.

http://www.smokesign.com/5lbco2fiex.html

RE: Fire Extinguishers
 

You can get a used one at your local refill station for about 60 bucks filled and ready to go

RE: Fire Extinguishers
 

Thanks for all the good info guys. This should be the last item on the "what I need" list. At least for now.

Marty

RE: Fire Extinguishers
 

I bought one on ebay a couple years ago. Fresh test and charge, and it cost me $50 shipped. I couldn't find one locally. Mine was used, but they all look used after hauling to the field a few times. Bob

RE: Fire Extinguishers
 

If you work for a large company, check with your facilities / security people ... in our company the extinguishers get replaced on a regular basis, and the old ones get refurbished by the vendor and sold off for around $50 each. I think I've supplied about half of the California turbine guys with used extinguishers in this way !

RE: Fire Extinguishers
 

Yep, as Sean said check your local refillers. Make sure they know it is for model airplane use cause otherwise they will want to charge you more to "certify" it....meaning its legal for use in businesses and such by the fire marshall. Our purpose is different and does not require that certification...just the hydro test on the container which is good for 5 years if I remember right.

Good luck with Halon as in most cases it is illegal except for full scale aircraft use.

Mark

RE: Fire Extinguishers
 

Ditto to what Gordon, Sean and mark just mention, so true.

RE: Fire Extinguishers
 

I called a few guys from the yellow pages but was not getting much help on refurbished stuff. I just ordered a 5lb CO2 new from where Meesh found which was the cheapest I could find also. I do have an old 16 lb Halon 1211 and will take both to the field as like Gordon said, you don't want to be running out to a downed plane with a 10pounder let alone the 16 I have. The other type that I was asking about wasn't Halon. It's supposed to replace the Halon because it's "environmentally friendly". It's call Halotron and is more expensive than the CO2. Just wondering if it was any better than the CO2 for our needs. Thanks for all the good info.

Marty

RE: Fire Extinguishers
 

Marty, if you're gonna blast someone in the face cause their face is on fire, you're gonna want halotron or halon. Both CO2 and Halon and Halotron displace oxygen to put the fire out.

CO2 is in such a heavy extinguisher cause it is under so much pressure to keep it in liquid form, the tank is steel and heavy duty.

Halon and halotron can be kept in aluminum, much less pressure to keep it in a liquid.

All of them when you release the pressure and shoot it, turn the liquid to a gas. Becuase less pressure difference there is less cold on the halon and halotron.

The C02, you can litterlly point it at the ground and create dry ice with a full shoot off. It is really really cold.

For our purposes, none of them are any better or worse than the other. Halon and halotron are less cold so it changes the cooling of the engine a little bit, but in the short bursts you will use the CO2, man, it just aint a big deal.

Now one thing for everyone to keep in mind, almost every startup fire I have ever seen blown out with a fire ext, they could have easily been blown out with a battery operated leaf blower. Not that it hurts anything to blow them out with co2 or halon, but it is expensive that way.

I only pull the extinguisher out now if I think the airplane is gonna catch. Otherwise I just blow them out.

When I start engines in my garage, I pull down my compressed air line and blow the engnines with compressed air.

FWIW.

Sean

RE: Fire Extinguishers
 

Okay Sean..who you trying to snuff out...that stuff will also pull the O2 out of their lungs...thats a tactic taught as improvised weapons. and then when its empty bash them over the head. SO remember that next time someone is hogging your channel:D

You must have an older extinguisher. Many 5lb CO2 are available in aluminum containers. The aluminum is about 5 pounds lighter than the heavier steel ones.

As for expensive?? Its only $7.50 to refill here I found. Shop around and look more for a place that services CO2 for beverage dispensers (soda fountains) the fire supply places were quoted upwards of $25+ and a weeks service time...I found a place that does both and refilled on the spot for $7.50.
bMark

RE: Fire Extinguishers
 

Ai'nt Halon fire extinguishers Illegal ..?..

RE: Fire Extinguishers
 

Halon is not illegal, just real expensive.