Fire extinguisher regs

[R TOY]

Took our lifeline (fire marshall 2000) extinguisher into local company for recharge etc but they said they couldnt service it, not sure why?
Sent the extinguisher in to Lifeline for recharging and they have said that it cant be recharged as it is over 10years old and doesnt have a 2yearly service record.
The extinguisher came in the car (plumbed in system) when we bought it and has only seen trackdays so far so never been a problem.
Doesnt seem to be any mention of the age thing in the 'blue book'(circuit racing) so is this just Lifelines way of flogging over priced fire extinguishers.
Anyone know of a way around this problem or do we have to scrap a (seemingly)perfectly good extinguisher?
Bit pissed off with LL' as there was no mention of this rule when we sent it to them.
thanks Dave.

[integraleSte]

The only thing I can think of is that it could be an old Halon extinguisher which was banned a few years ago and replaced by either Lifelines Zero 2000 or SPA AFFF.

[R TOY]

Anyone know if i can get it recharged/serviced anywhere else.? It is the new type zero 2000 so meets MSA regs ok.
Just needs a recharge and a sticker.

Edited by R TOY on Sunday 13th February 20:07

[marshal_alan]

same thing was discussed on another forum and general opinion was to replace the bottle, all the rest of the kit will be okay. would add that for trackdays having a in built system is probably more needed than inn race as you might have to wait slightly longer due to lack of orange army, in a race situation you are never any more than 30 seconds away from a marshal, less usually as a lot of drivers will aim for the nearest gaggle of orange as they know we will be ready, pins pulled raedy to take aim and fire the powder

[R TOY]

Comforting to know, i'll be aiming for you guys then..
Looks like a new bottle then, bugger more expense.

[Graham]

marshal_alan said:

same thing was discussed on another forum and general opinion was to replace the bottle, all the rest of the kit will be okay. would add that for trackdays having a in built system is probably more needed than inn race as you might have to wait slightly longer due to lack of orange army, in a race situation you are never any more than 30 seconds away from a marshal, less usually as a lot of drivers will aim for the nearest gaggle of orange as they know we will be ready, pins pulled raedy to take aim and fire the powder

Its always worth remembering to do that, as the bottle in your car generally does Feck all... and 5 times out of 10 the nosels block up as soon as you pull the pin anyway..

That Dry powder is a ba**ard though, puts the fire out but is very corrosive..

[marshal_alan]

agree graham, powder is bad, my advice is as soon as you get home pressure wash any affected area. of course the flip side is that better to have corrosion than no car at all. we are trained to kill the fire with powder then cool the area with foam, it is possibly the foam after the powder that does the damage as it wets the area

would agree that a lot of inbuilt systems would struggle to put out a match, but if you cant see any orange running towards you pull the pin as it is better than nothing

although from experience fires are rare it is one of the things we prepare and train the most for, from firefighting itself but also fitness as a 15kg bottle is heavy when you are running 100 yards to a car, also if aany vehicle pulls off a marshal will always bring a bottle just in case

hope not to meet any of you lads during the season ;-)

[Graham]

IIRC when dry powder gets damp ( which it will do from the atmosphere) it turns acidic, which is what corrodes things.. Its also a bugger to gt off as it sticks..

best to vac or blow it off( wearing a resparator!!) then thouroughly degrease everything..

it gets into things like alternators, linkages, rose joints, bearings, caliper pistons.. but as you say better to have something to repair than nothing at all..

[R TOY]

New 4li bottle ordered from Lifeline, not as much as i'd expected and they gave us some discount so prehaps they're not so bad after all .
Just hope my mate now knows the difference between smoke and steam and doesnt pull the lever.
drenched him tho so quite amusing..

[thunderbelmont]

I wonder if the MSA/FIA will approve Monnex dry powder extinguishers? Mind you, looking at the price of their ordinary 9Kg units..... <cough> - but it is the most effective dry powder extinguisher.

Bloody tree huggers stopping us using proper extinguishers!