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Thread: This could save your life

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Oak Harbor, Whidbey Island, WA
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    2,550

    This could save your life

    I was advised by the people that service our fire extinguishers here at the apartment complexes not to ever purchase cheap plastic valved extinguishers because they will fail to hold pressure & about the time you need them they won't work. The person that told me this explained that as plastic breaks down it shrinks & he showed me some older plastic valved extinguishers that had leaked down & we examined them along side metal valved extinguishers & you could clearly see why they had leaked down.
    I usually find it much easier to be wrong once in while than to try to be perfect.

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  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Harrisburg, NC
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    2,255
    Thanks for the heads up Bart.

    Richard

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    In the foothills of the Sandia Mountains
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    16,621
    Bart, I change out my extinguishers every few years, but the pressure gage on them still always reads a full charge. I buy the KIDDE brand that has the UL stamp of approval. It seems to me that if your service people are telling the truth, Underwriters Lab would never allow their name on it.
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  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Oak Harbor, Whidbey Island, WA
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    Bruce I wonder if the Underwriters Lab are aware of this problem because it happens with age & may be something they have never seen or been made aware of maybe they spend to much time testing new products & not enough time testing old or aged products.

    You & I have both seen how plastic ages because it is made from oil & will break down over time. Having a fire extinguisher like yours & being the smart person you are & trading it out every few years is a very wise thing to do.

    I have an old one that failed. I had already replaced it & just put the old one in a closet & one day I noticed it had lost pressure but the safety band was still in place so I knew it had not been discharged & this is how I found out about plastic fire extinguisher valves when I showed it to our fire extinguisher service people & they explained what had happened. They told me they see this quite often & only recommend quality manufactured fire extinguishers with metal valves.

    I always have to remind myself of the below statement.

    One thing my Grandfather used to say was, "The book of what you don't know will always be bigger than the book of what you do know."

    I figure this statement fit Underwriters Lab just as well as it does me or anyone else.
    Last edited by Bart Leetch; 11-01-2005 at 10:24 PM.
    I usually find it much easier to be wrong once in while than to try to be perfect.

    My web page has a pop up. It is a free site, just close the pop up on the right side of the screen

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