Fire Extinguisher Mounting

[hrbib21]

Its like having a Ruger (or whatever your favorite it) - better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it!

S&W.

 

[Jon Burns]

A brick (We can't be trusted with handguns)

 

[Spas]

Lol @ Jon Burns

'Rat, I meant just to cover the base-sheesh, I'm not dumb enough to cover the whole thing
Can the bottle be lightly painted or is that too dangerous?

 

[Alec]

Mine is pictured below.

The mount is very sturdy. One of the mounting screws is into steel below the plastic panel just to be sure. Shaking the extinguisher shakes the truck, so I think it's secure enough. It hasn't moved at all in the 4 years I've had it mounted there; think about all the bumps and jolts it's taken in that time.

 

[dogfriend]

I can tell you where you shouldn't mount one...

On the drivers side A-pillar about 6" away from your face. I saw a kid in a Honda Civic who had one mounted like this last week. Besides blocking his vision, if he was in an accident, he had about a 75% chance of bashing his head into it.

 

[GJarrett]

Think About This!

If you're going to do this mount it like Alec's and make sure the screws go into hard steel and not just the plastic. If you ever get in a frontal collision with the fire extinguisher mounted where most of you are talking, inertia will rip it right out of the mount and it will go straight through your head like a cannonball.

Alec says his has one screw going into the frame, and I'm not too confident that is enough either. The inertial energy stored in a heavy object like that is enormous if you hit a sudden stop at speed.

Just something to think about.

 

[Alec]

I agree Gerald, one has to make sure the mount is secure.

Whacking my mount with a 3 pound sledge didn't move it at all.

 

[Alto]

I had a friend who's 66' Chevelle caught fire. He could only watch it burn.

If he had one it would only have cost him a $100 or so without it he said as the seconds went by it was like burning $20's. He watched his entire dream burn right before his eyes. Thats enough for me.

You could...
put a fire out in your X
put a fire out on someone else car
put out someone
use it in a house fire (how many actually have one in there House?)
Garage fire
what about a car accident?
I friend said he used one to stop a dog fight!

I've even be thinking of adding another one opposite my air tank thats mounted to my cargo box.

Here is where I have mine mounted.

 

[Hokie]

I like Alec/Digger's mounting spot... If you're worried about it pulling out, just buy some steel strips that run the full lenght of the exstinguisher and have the mounting screws go through the plastic and the steel (I highly doubt the inertia of something like that could rip a 6-10" strip of steel through the plastic trim). Or some big A washers. But definately have some sort of large backing for the mounting bolts.

 

[TAS98xlt]

Question: Do we have to get the fire extinguishers serviced or checked yearly even though it reads full? The reason I ask is cause when I used to work at a restaurant, the fire extinguisher guy used to come in and change/service them yearly. They were labeled and dated.

Ted

 

[hrbib21]

Originally posted by TAS98xlt
Question: Do we have to get the fire extinguishers serviced or checked yearly even though it reads full? The reason I ask is cause when I used to work at a restaurant, the fire extinguisher guy used to come in and change/service them yearly. They were labeled and dated.

Ted

That's because they have to be checked yearly by law.

 

[PghBill]

Here's My Mounting

I even put the inspection tag on!

 

[TAS98xlt]

Originally posted by hrbib21
That's because they have to be checked yearly by law.

Where do we take it to get inspected? The fire dept?

Ted

 

[dogfriend]

I'm not completely sure of this, but I think the yearly inspection only applies when they are in a commercial building. We call a company that specializes in this service, they come out on site and service all of our (8) fire extinguishers.

Its not a bad idea to have them checked on a yearly basis, regardless of where they are. If you look in the phone book yellow pages, you should be able to find a company that will do this for you.

 

[shevais]

most fire departments don't do service work on extinguishers... there are specialized companies that you can look up in your phone book (like the poster above said). Fire extinguishers that are mounted in commercial buildings, foster homes, etc... are required by a state law which follows NFPA 10's recommendation on servicing and inspecting fire extinguishers.

It is a good idea to get it inspected once a year, or at least take it out of the mount and shake it up every so often so that the dry chemical doesn't settle and cake in the bottom, rendering it useless.... also even if exposed to high heat they will not "blow up" because they are filled with nitrogen, which holds a constant pressure no matter what temperature it is.


Also the most common extinguisher is considered a "ABC" extinguisher which is good for class a, b, and c fires which is the best kind to keep around. If you are serious about having a quality extinguisher you can purchase a refillable one from a local extinguisher company. this will allow you to just refill the power and have it recharged for cheaper then buying a new one. Also the small "disposable" ones that you find in hardware stores, etc... are usually only good for one maybe two short bursts.. while the larger ones can supress a bit more fire.

just fyi

 

[aldive]

Originally posted by hrbib21
That's because they have to be checked yearly by law.

Only for commercial use.