Fire Extinguishers

[Themuleous]

Just wondering of those people who use fire extinguishers on their tanks, especially the chubb ones, if they have been able to fill them up at chubb outlets? It would seem the ideal solution to the CO2 problems in the UK if thet are easy to refill and there are plenty for sale on ebay. Just wondered if Chubb were easy to work with when it came to refills? Anybody got any idea of cost for say a 2kg one?

Thanks

Sam

 

[flynn]

Sorry Themuleous but I don't know about Chubb, but I'd say any good fire extinguisher servicing company or welding supplier should be able to provide CO2 refills for any reasonably standard extinguisher.

I just got hold of a Fire Kwencher 2kg from Safelincs (£40+£4 delivery in vat). They do a 1kg for £35 (very neat!) and a 5kg for £73. Here's a pic of the valve (it comes with the horn disassembled and holes for locking open via the pin):

oh yeah and they deliver it filled to Ireland too, which is pretty rare!

 

[Themuleous]

Thanks for the picture and advice much appreciated. Interesting to see they have holes to lock it open, Zig suggested using duck tape!

Sam

 

[MoreCoffee]

Sam,

I've got a 2kg chubb extinguisher, although I've not had to have it filled yet.

I got it locally from a guy who supplies fire extinguishers.

He explained the regulations regarding filling extinguishers. Look for the date last tested.
At manufacture a date is stampped into the extinguisher, this is good for 10 years. After that they will need to be pressure tested, each retest is good for 5 years.

As long as it is in date for testing you should have no problem getting it filled. I won't even need to take it back to him to get it filled, however it's quite handy having him live around the corner and willing to do a 1 or 1 exchange (for £15)

The only thing to avoid is people selling the old black CO2 extinguishers cheap .... most places wont touch them.

Al

 

[Themuleous]

Interesting, thanks Mr G, I was looking at a black one as is happens!

Sam

 

[MoreCoffee]

Sam,

You may find this Ebay guide of some interest !

Fire extinguisher buying guide - Ebay

It seems to confirm what I was told and offers a worthy note of caution when buying extinguishers from Ebay. Probably worth a read by anybody looking to buy and extinguisher from Ebay.

Black extinguishers dont conform to BS EN-3 and are over 10 years old !
Probably why I was told places wont touch them (but I'm sure there are some who would !)

Buying from a local supplier would be much safer. Mine is good for another 6 years before testing, cost me £15 for the extinguisher and £15 for the gas (then £15 for each subsequent refill).

I could probably find cheaper, but the guy is local so I always know where to find him if I need him

Al

 

[zig]

Thanks for the picture and advice much appreciated. Interesting to see they have holes to lock it open, Zig suggested using duck tape!

Sam

Nothing wrong with duct tape, just ask bloo..............

Only one part of the handle has the holes for the pin, both sides dont, this is too stop you accidentally setting it off, but this is what we want, we want it in the open position, hence the tape or whatever you use to keep it open, but you can always drill the other part of the handle for the pin to keep it in the open position, thats easy, im just to lazy to do it!

@Flynn........i could have saved you a fortune, probably still can, on refills especially now that you have bought the cylinder, i can get 2 cylinders, a 2kg and a 5kg fire extinguisher (both full) for €15. PM me about refills or if you intend to buy another cylinder.

 

[Themuleous]

Ok cheers zig, wondered where you'd gone!

 

[flynn]

Nothing wrong with duct tape, just ask bloo..............

Absolutely, in fact I was wrong about the holes and I used electrical tape anyway...

i could have saved you a fortune, probably still can

Good man zig, I will PM you when I need to get a refill, I should have consulted you first of course!

 

[planter]

So can i just get a few things straight. If I get hold of a 2 kg chub Co2 extinguisher I can remove the horn or any other fitting on the brass thread and replace it with a JBL presssure regulator? clamp the red handle down and im away? is that correct?

 

[Themuleous]

As far as I understand it, yes! Im not to sure about the JBL reg thou, have heard funny things about JBL but other regs are supposed to work fine.

Sam

 

[BHornsey]

It certainly works OK with my Dennerle regulator.

Brian

 

[JamesC]

Im not to sure about the JBL reg thou, have heard funny things about JBL

Some JBL regs fit fine and some are very slightly too large to fit in the hole on the tank. This is fairly easily fixed with a file or course wet 'n' dry paper. I had to do this with mine so I know it works fine. Not quite sure why JBL made it oversized - probably to make you use their over priced bottles.

A word of caution using fire extinguisers. Make sure the safety pin is inserted when removing the horn and attaching the regulator. If the lever is squeezed without the horn attached you'll get liquid CO2 coming out very fast causing the extinguisher to jolt backwards. This is because fire extinguishers have a syphon tube inside so liquid CO2 comes out rather than the gas at the top. This also has consequences for your regulator as if you open it too fast you may get liquid CO2 inside it and a damaged regulator. Normal CO2 bottles and pub bottles don't have this syphon tube.

 

[Waterloo Kid]

James,
Can you elaborate on the JBL fixture for me please. I have a JBL regulator and am looking at changing to a 2kg Chubb CO2 extinguisher. Would I be trimming the regulator or the extinguisher? What part would I be trimming?

WK

 

[JamesC]

The JBL regulator is slightly oversize for a fire extinguisher (which has an international std neck on it). All you need to do is take the O-ring off the regulator and sand it down with some 120 Grit Wet & dry sandpaper or very carefully with a file. Get the fire extinguisher and try and fit the regulator. You'll see what I mean and which bit you need to file down. The threaded collar that you tighten up onto the extinguisher fits fine - its the bit inside this that doesn't go inside the neck properly.

Its the O-ring that makes the seal anyway ( a tiny smear of vaseline is a good idea on the rubber) so don't worry about filing it down as it will still work fine on a std JBL bottle. You'll take the chrome off the nose of the regulator obviously but this doesn't matter - underneath it's brass as would be expected and you don't see the bit you need to file down anyway.

Not all JBL regulators need to have this modification done. Mine is over 2 years old and needed the mod. It seems to what I can gather it's only the old ones that need the mod. You may be OK if yours is new, but I'm only guessing on this.

HTH
James