Do they go bad even if they are still pressurized? I’m thinking they are nearly 20 years old now…
Yup. And you’re supposed to have a professional inspect them annually. You’re supposed to inspect them every month.
Good question.
Yes the dry powder type which is most common, can go “bad” usually from excessive moisture in the pressurization gas. This causes the powder to clump and no longer come out.
This can be prevented by inverting the extinguisher a few times a year to make sure the powder is still “fluid” and to break up any clumped up powder.
One in the kitchen. One in living room next to the fireplace.
I’ve never had to directly deal with a fire, but after an incident where a roommate took the only extinguisher in the house when he moved out and an electrical short from an old crappy dimmer switch, I’m big on having a couple on-hand.
I also have way too many hobbies involving stuff that can easily catch fire and they’re so cheap that I have multiple on each floor. 2 on the upper floor where my sim-rig, 3D printers, reloading supplies, and electronics soldering bench are. One in the kitchen and one in the master bedroom. 2 in the garage (excluding the one that’s mounted in my old MG), and finally one in the basement since there’s basically nothing down there.
We only have the one, but it’s in the laundry room, close to, and roughly equidistant from, the garage with the woodshop and laser engraver, the office with the 3D printers, and the kitchen.
I take the “Two is one, and one is none” mindset on it. I don’t think most people need to have 2 on every floor like I do, but I still would be very concerned about having any sort of shop and it not having its own dedicated extinguisher. I’ve got the little 2.5lb guys in the house, but I want a 10lb’er anywhere with fuel sources. They’re so cheap and take up so little space, I really don’t get why you wouldn’t want more than one.
I’ve never really had anything more than some brake cleaner residue catch fire or a flare up in the kitchen, but it’s just such a cheap form of insurance that I’d rather have “too many” than too few.
Yeah, three. One in the kitchen, one at the bottom of my basement stairs, and one in my laundry room.
Yes. Also have a fire blanket in the kitchen in case of grease fire.
Yup. We had one but after we had a smouldering fire in our outdoor trash can we got several for different points in the house. We also have escape ladders in the bedrooms.
After being directly adjacent to three separate apartment fires, we also have several fire extinguishers and escape ladders stashed around the apartment.
no, because my family insists it’s not worth it.
Yes and yes, bought it for PCB rework but in general we should all have them.
Yes, 4 easily accessible in various locations in the house and 1 in the garage. I check them all when I change out the batteries on my smoke alarms, which I do all at once when one starts to chirp.
Thanks for the reminder.
No problem, gotta live up to my name a look out for people.
Yes, and yes, that’s what maintainence is for.
Those years of safety training finally paying off:
Do you know what types of fires your fire extinguisher is rated for? There are several different types. Most modern home fire extinguishers are rated for A (wood/paper), B (liquids like oil fires), and C (electrical), but you may have an older fire extinguisher or landlord who cheaped out on one that only works on some of those types.
If you have a fire that’s based on metals (like fireworks) or exothermic chemical reactions, have a different fire extinguisher or call the fire department with special instructions.
Always remember the acronym PASS when using a fire extinguisher:
- Pull the pin
- Aim at the base of the fire
- Squeeze the trigger
- Sweep the fire extinguisher side to side to cover all of the fire till the fire is extinguished
My extensive training has left me with the impression that yelling “SHORT BURST” and pointing at any red LEDs is equally important
If you have a fire that’s based on metals (like fireworks) or exothermic chemical reactions, have a different fire extinguisher or call the fire department with special instructions.
It ought to go without saying, but maybe not for some, so it’s worth pointing out that there’s a difference between a fire started by fireworks and one fueled by fireworks.
Great point! So if you have a firework that sparks some dry grass or brush, your home fire extinguisher will likely be fine as long as the fire doesn’t get too big before you can grab it.
However, if you have a hoard of fireworks that catch fire, you’re better off running and calling the fire department than trying to quickly put that out with your home fire extinguisher as it likely won’t work.
I have 3. 2 are still pressurized. One was used last night.
A note to everyone…do your welding before you paint and undercoat, or at least wait for it to dry fully first.
Maybe I am just projecting here, but I believe the average Lemmy user to be too much of a nerd to be welding in their free time. Is it possible to be both Bonehead?
You’re projecting. I weld because I’m a nerd. This job is just helping out a buddy, but before that I was welding a new mount for my trailer hitch snow plow that I built a few years ago. And this summer I want to build a remote control lawnmower which is going to involve a lot of welding, plus some code to reprogram the hoverboards that I bought for that project. The real challenge there will be adding basic intelligence with a Raspberry Pi so that it will mow the lawn itself. But that’s a few years away, since I still need to build it first. And that starts with welding the frame.
It’s not really possible to be both, since one is merely a tool that satisfies the needs of the other. Nerd always takes precedence…
Hope it all turned out ok! You’re posting so clearly you survived
Everything is fine. I was welding in the outer rocker when it ignited. It was a brief flash and then it went out. I only used the fire extinguisher because I saw smoke coming from the seatbelt hole near the top of the door. I figured better safe than sorry. Of course now the inside of the rocker that I can’t get to anymore is covered in white powder, but at least it’s kinda fireproof now.
Nope, don’t even have a fire alarm.
I am sure the insurance company loves you.
Falls asleep with a cigarette in his mouth every night
Got to make sure you put a lit candle down on top of your oil soaked news papers. Otherwise they’ll blow away.
I don’t remember them even asking for either one.
That tends to be covered by code.
if ANYTHING happens in your home and they either send someone out or a responder makes a note of it, you get dropped and they laugh.
Yup, but neither is required by code where I live.
Some insuraners offer a small discount for having a fire alarm, but they can’t drop you for not having one.
So it’s not my business but I’m curious… You can get smoke detectors for like $10/each, you seen to acknowledge that having 0 smoke detectors is kinda dangerous… why not install a couple smoke detectors? I always thought they were annoying until a Chinese cheap battery self ignited in the next room while I was sleeping, it would’ve burned my apartment building down if there wasn’t a smoke detector in the room.
I used to live in Germany where smoke detectors where mandatory at some point. It was also the landlords responsibility. So what you had was a some company coming into your home once a year to check all the smoke detectors. I found that to be very intrusive.
Not sure of this process has been digitised since (in Germany probably not), but I don’t really miss it. (I live in Switzerland now, and here smoke detectors are not required by anyone (might depend on Canton)).
You don’t need anyone to come inspect anything. It’s literally a small plastic device you can buy online or at a store, put a battery in, and forget it exists until it tells you it needs a new battery or it saves your life.
When it’s required and the landlord’s responsibility, they’re liable if a fire happens and the detectors don’t do their job. So they’re gonna send someone out periodically to make sure it’s still functioning properly. There’s nobody there to check yours if you just buy your own.
Seriously, if that’s your only hold up, please get some smoke detectors in your house. Having smoke detectors isn’t something that you “miss”, it’s something that you hope you never have to have needed but the one time you do need it, it can save your life, your loved one’s lives, everything you own.
Yes, one in the basement and one in the kitchen
