"Would I trust a £3 fire extinguisher?" I bet you would grab it if there's a fire.
"Powder extinguishers are messy" I bet you would rather clean up powder, than redecorating charred room - if you still have a room.
"C02 extinguishers are better" it depends on useage, however I picked one up Buy It Now for £14 brand new as it was "out of date" which I use for homebrew, and C02 doesn't go out of date...
"Would you trust an out of date extinguisher?" You'll find there's regulations within a commercial environment that checks them over each year, its not out of date, it out of its service period. How overdue is your home PAT tested?
There' will probably be people who will be standing outside their flame engulfed home thinking "why didn't I trust a Hot Deals £3 fire extinguisher, but trust a Hot Deals £3 Kodi box from China"

would you really trust your family / house to a three quid fire extinguisher?

EliTom

True about the mess, but dry powder, used correctly, is hard to beat. Just remember to give the extinguisher a shake every so often otherwise the powder can settle into a near solid mass, and when you fire it, all you'll get is a puff of powder and a lot of gas.
The damage to electrical equipment is a drawback, but then so's being destroyed by fire. I'd imagine an insurance company would look favourably on a claim for damage incurred in extinguishing a fire.

I was fortunate enough to have chemistry and physics teachers who were totally inspirational. Both were great at putting on demonstrations, the most memorable of which from the chemistry teacher involved nitroglycerin!
And to think schoolkids would probably have to wear protective clothing and goggles to watch a video clip like your attachment nowadays.

when I was 13 I did this in a chemistry class https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyJ8N08igtg

being a bit dumb I had no idea that would happen so got quite a shock at the time & my chemistry teacher wasnt impressed to say the least

Ok. Let's have a recap.
In post #19, you said "Dry powder (powdered aluminium or talc)" which I challenged in post #39 with "If you think you can use powdered aluminium as an extinguishant, you might want to read this"
In post #40, you replied "Some of the cheap one do - or did, and I know what the issues are, as well as the health hazards." to which I responded in post #44 with "Not surprised you would have fire problems if you used powdered aluminium as an extinguishant. Did you pump petrol through the fire hoses and fill the CO2 extinguishers with CH4?"
You came back in post #46 with "I suggest you go research the subject, or talk to an older Fire Brigade technician - before you make too big an **** of yourself."
Ignoring the "****" comment for now, in post #47, I asked "So why would you fill a fire extinguisher with powdered aluminium?" to which you replied in post #48 "TBH, I don't know, cost perhaps? Or someone making a mistake that was perpetuated through the manufacturing process.
Much like that belief in spinach being extra rich in iron is still doing the rounds.
One thought is that talc IS a substitute dry powder filling, but some cheap "talc" is/was powdered alu; and someone thought that meant they could use it instead."

Going through your garbled ramblings, there's still nothing to justify your claims about aluminium, let alone talc which can be left for another day.
So please tell the assembled masses once and for all what type of exotic fire you would choose to use powdered aluminium on.

And if you still think powdered aluminium would be a good extinguishant, you might like to have a look at the thermite process.

TBH, I dont know, cost perhaps? Or someone making a mistake that was perpetuated through the manufacturing process.

Much like that belief in spinach being extra rich in iron is still doing the rounds.

One thought is that talc IS a substitute dry powder filling, but some cheap "talc" is/was powdered alu; and someone thought that meant they could use it instead.

All sorts of stupid stuff goes around; I remember one about "irradiated foods" from the late 1980's. The machine ACTUALLY used ultra violet, but because of the strength of the UV lamps used, had to have a "Radiation" warning label on it - so some plonker thought it meant nuclear radiation, started a panic, and all the food got taken back to the shops.

So why would you fill a fire extinguisher with powdered aluminium?

I suggest you go research the subject, or talk to an older Fire Brigade technician - before you make too big an **** of yourself.

On the last one; I did come across a batch of CO2 extinguishers in the mid 80's that had been miss-filled with O2; for some reason they didnt work very well.:confused:

Simple answer. You can't. You can only check a gauge by removing it and calibrating it. These gauges aren't normally removable and there's no means of servicing the extinguisher. The moral is to test fire the extinguisher before you get too close to the fire.

Not surprised you would have fire problems if you used powdered aluminium as an extinguishant. Did you pump petrol through the fire hoses and fill the CO2 extinguishers with CH4?

How can you tell a gauge is stuck if you don't mind me asking? I have one of these small powder extinguishers for my car.

i/ Not all of them have a gauge

ii/ The gauges stick.

Of the 30* or so 1KG extinguishers we used to run at our family business, I found the gauges were stuck on nearly 20% of them by the time they approached their EOL date.

*One in every room, 4 in the hall and stairwell, plus 2 in each vehicle.

The loss of CO2 pressure would be reported by the tiny little gauge on the handle. If its in the green you're okay, and in the red, its dead.

Some of the cheap one do - or did, and I know what the issues are, as well as the health hazards.

A firm I worked for ran their own internal fire brigade, and some of us had extensive training in extinguishers, types and fillings; including the several different types of foam extinguishers used on site; as well as regular live fire exercises* - there were a number of process's onsite that needed special precautions in the event of a fire.

One of the alu filled ones was used on a particular fire, to demonstrate what could go wrong (this was early 1980's).

It all came in very handy when I worked for Cosworth, as we had a fairly major fire about every 6-8 weeks, but the management wouldnt change the process that caused it - or allow us to call the Fire brigade. 80+ large extinguishers would get used on average, although I remember one where we were down to the last couple in the building; they still wouldnt let us call 999, even though there was a brand new fire engine being demonstrated for the local press no more than 100m from the factory doors..

*The failure rate on the water filled extinguishers was very high, even though the ones on site were checked EVERY year by the "real" Fire Brigade engineer.

Dry powder (powdered aluminium or talc), has the widest range of fire applications; hence the majority of cheap extinguishers being Dry Powder.

There is the potential to damage electrical/electronic gear IF IT IS SWITCHED ON.

A simple vacuum cleaner will remove it, unlike water/foam - which will also damage electrical/electronic gear - and nearly everything else.

CO2 is best for electrical fires, but has its own limitations (and dangers).

None of these types will put out a lithium battery fire, if the fire is well established.

Whilst there are abuses of the system they are fairly rare in the case of established high street retailers.

I know what CE marking means - I work in H&S, including Product Safety. And in this case it's not printed on paper but metal, so probably worth a lot more. ;-)

"Would I trust a £3 fire extinguisher?" I bet you would grab it if there's a fire.
"Powder extinguishers are messy" I bet you would rather clean up powder, than redecorating charred room - if you still have a room.
"C02 extinguishers are better" it depends on useage, however I picked one up Buy It Now for £14 brand new as it was "out of date" which I use for homebrew, and C02 doesn't go out of date...
"Would you trust an out of date extinguisher?" You'll find there's regulations within a commercial environment that checks them over each year, its not out of date, it out of its service period. How overdue is your home PAT tested?
There' will probably be people who will be standing outside their flame engulfed home thinking "why didn't I trust a Hot Deals £3 fire extinguisher, but trust a Hot Deals £3 Kodi box from China"

I thought mine was out of date but on closer inspection it has a manufacturing date but no expiry or anything on it saying chuck away after x years, i assume the expiry is when that gage on the top goes from the green to the red?

The type of neighbour you sound like you best tape your letterbox up then.

Suitable for ambushing your friend with as a prank?

would you really trust your family / house to a three quid fire extinguisher?

EliTom

Not sure I would trust a £2.99 poundland extinguisher plus u will need to get it commissioned b4 u can use it

Cheers.

Suitable for kitchen fires?

Doubt that very much :smiley:

Dry powder are 5 years lasting so unless been sat on shelves for 4 years and 11 months then should be ok

Does anyone need the PLU code or the barcode?

OP you need one of these to put out the fire from this deal! Heat.

Is this national

bah
if they was Co2 I could use them for homebrew

Yes

Wow it's hot in here!...anyone got a fire extinguisher?

for that price buy 2 and test 1 simples

ave done many a fire course and power still best for what ave seen
ok you will have some dust no biggie
better than a fire any day of the week

Whenever possible avoid using powder fire extinguishers. Most fires can be treated with alternative types of extinguishers. Use a powder one to deal with a small paper bin or electric fire or set it off accidentally and you'll spend next month cleaning up. The fine dust is also known to damage electronics when it gets inside.

CE mark isnt worth the paper it is sometimes printed on.

If you dont believe me, go look up what it actually means.

£3 is cheap, they may well be close to the end of their shelf life, as the usual price for this size is around £9-£16; however they will probably still work for several years after that date; I had a bunch of expired ones I decided to save and let the staff try out (they had been expired for a couple of years by the time we tried them out); every single one still worked, and had enough propellant to push out all of the powder.

1KG doesnt put out much of a fire though, so buy several; I keep two in the car.

There have been a number of cases of fake fire blankets and extinguishers being sold in this country which have the CE mark printed on them illegally. The local Trading Standards Office should be able to advise if this is likely to be one.

I think people should chill, it's been reduced as people are more conscious about safety esp around fire incidents and most retailers are doing their bit by selling it for cheap, it's always good to have one in the kitchen, car etc

should be CE marked - by law !

but maybe short dated - Fire Extingusiher do have an expiry date you know !

EliTom

better than nowt....ive got similar in my kitchen never used thank god prob out of date

It is CE marked, so should be fine but if you're that concerned send one to your local Trading Standards/Environmental Health Department for testing.

Yeah I know what you're saying. Hopefully it won't ever get used to find out. (nerd)

Water, Foam, CO2 or Dry powder??