First point - It is great to see people putting these in their cars. I remember as a kid something happened to our family car once and dad's quick action with a small extinguisher saved the engine bay. Still couldnt go anywhere afterwards, but it saved a more major fire.
They are an extremely useful tool in the right circumstance.
However. Please choose the right one. Most car shops will only sell the dry chem/powder ones (Red w/ White band - which is the only type you want in a car). The others have their uses, but on the whole, in a vehicle, dry chem is the only one you want.
Also - for those people attending motor sport events, this will be more important to you than the general public. They do require servicing and inspections to be 'legal' (for lack of a better word).
Out of the CAMS book:
2. SERVICE AND INSPECTION
2.1 Each hand-held extinguisher shall be inspected by a scrutineer at least once every six months, or otherwise prior to competition. This inspection shall involve visually checking the unit and its mountings for damage and corrosion, checking the pressure of the contents via an installed gauge, and inverting and shaking the container to check for settling of the extinguishant. Where practical, it is recommended the extinguisher be weighed (mandatory where no gauge is installed).
2.2 Each AS1841 standard fire extinguisher shall be serviced every three years. If the extinguisher is compliant with another acceptable standard, it shall be serviced every two years. This servicing shall be undertaken in accordance with the procedures laid out by the manufacturer and/or the relevant standard (eg, AS1851 for AS1841 extinguishers) and shall include a hydrostatic pressure test of the extinguisher body.
2.3 Each fire extinguisher which is homologated by the FIA shall be serviced either by the manufacturer or their agent no more than two years after either the date of filling or the date of the last service. This servicing shall be undertaken in accordance with the procedures laid out by the manufacturer and/or the relevant standard and shall include a hydrostatic pressure test of the extinguisher body.
2.4 Extinguisher service records must be made available to a scrutineer on demand. For an AS1841 fire extinguisher, an AS1851 service tag stamped by an authorised person/organisation is sufficient for this purpose.
While this is the letter of the law when it comes to motorsport, its generally how things work everywhere else too. The three year testing is not something that we can do ourselves, and generally, for the small 1kg extinguishers, it will be cheaper to buy another than it will be to have it emptied, tested and re-filled by a qualified fire tech.
Basically, for the everyday person, these rules will be disregarded. But for your own piece of mind, make sure you check the pressure and shake them around every 6 months. If you dont, you run the risk of needing it one day, and the damn thing doesn't work because you have let it settle for too long.
I know this is somewhat pedantic, but I doubt many of you have thought about their fire extinguisher, and will likely just expect it to work, even if its been sitting for several years.
Hope this makes people think.
Cheers,
Ben
right off.
