After noticing a picture in another thread, I started to have a discussion about fire extinguishers and didn't want to derail the thread, so I decided to make another to keep things on topic.
Let me start by saying that I am impressed with the number of members who have taken the effort to install fire extinguishers in their rigs. It is easy to overlook them, so my hat is off to those who have taken this step already. To those who have not, my hope is that this discussion will help you decide which extinguisher to choose for your own rig.
Just a little background so that you know about the knowledge I'm trying to pass along - I'm a professional firefighter in Little Rock, Arkansas and on the days I'm not at the fire station I work for a fire extinguisher service company where I am a licensed technician. This will be long, but I will try to give you all as much knowledge as I can in a brief manner.
First thing on extinguishers - you need them. They can seem expensive, but in the grand scheme of things they are cheap. When your vehicle is worth thousands, or even tens of thousands of dollars, a $50 fire extinguisher is a drop in the bucket to help keep your rig from burning to the ground when it could have been stopped quickly.
Secondly, if you do ever find yourself in need of one, you will want a quality extinguisher. I see a lot of guys on here buying Kidde, First Alert, etc. from Home Depot, Walmart and other big box retailers. These are junk, to be frank. Look at the extinguishers the stores have hanging on their walls the next time you shop and you will see they don't have Kiddes or whatever else they stock on their shelves. They buy quality extinguishers. Don't even bother with Cold Fire or other aerosol products that claim to be extinguishers.
There are a lot of brands that make extinguishers, so here is a breakdown of brands to get and which ones to avoid:
Top of the line: Amerex, Ansul (Sentry)
Middle of the road: Badger, General
Waste of money: Kidde, First Alert, Buckeye, Pem All
Many of the last category leak within a year of their manufacture, even the "top of the line" metal head Kiddes. Gauges, O-rings and even the welds on the cylinders are often bad from the factory and they are worthless in no time. We have a junk pile of them at our shop where owners got fed up with their brand new extinguishers they bought from HD or Lowe's that are leaked down before they make it to a year old. If they don't leak before being used, many of the plastic handles tend to break when depressed, rendering them useless. They are good for scrap and that's about it.
A brand new 5lb. Amerex ABC extinguisher with a vehicle bracket can be had for less than $100. If size is important, you can get a 2.5lb. extinguisher, or even a tiny 1lb. unit designed for airplanes. If you don't think you have that in the budget, you can also look for a used extinguisher. A call or visit to your local fire extinguisher company is all it takes to get a quality used extinguisher for half the price of a new unit ($35 for a used 5lb. ABC extinguisher to give you an idea of prices). If even that doesn't seem like it will fit your budget, or you just want a disposable extinguisher, look for an extinguisher made before 1984. NFPA 10 no longer allows these extinguishers for be serviced, so they are dirt cheap or even free. They cannot be used by businesses any longer, but you can use them in your home or vehicle. They can be found at flea markets, on Craigslist, extinguisher companies and even some fire departments. they will have the older A B C labels instead of the newer picture labels showing the different classes of fires they will extinguish.
Many older extinguishers are higher quality than new extinguishers. Brass and aluminum heads and steel or aluminum handles are the norm, not cheap plastic like you will find on many newer extinguishers. Parts are still readily available for older Amerex, Ansul, and some other brands of extinguishers dating back to the 1970s. I personally have several of these old Amerex, Ansul and even some American LaFrance (rebadged Badger) extinguishers in my home, garage an vehicles.
Some people don't see any problem with running a $20 plastic head extinguisher from Walmart. To me it is a no brainer to spend a few dollars more to have a reliable extinguisher that you can count on to work when you need it and have it for years to come.
One last thing - don't try to recharge extinguishers at home. It requires specialized equipment in most cases and can be dangerous and extremely messy if you don't know what you are doing. Plus, you probably will have a leaked down extinguisher before long if you attempt to do it on your own. They require folks like me who rebuild them for a living to be licensed to work on these things for a reason.
Sorry for the length of the post, just trying to pass along some friendly information to everybody. If you have any questions about extinguishers or fire safety in general for your vehicle, shop or garage, please ask and I'll answer to the best of my ability. I'm not getting paid by anybody to endorse their brand, only passing along my personal experience from working on thousands of extinguishers over the years.
Stay safe out there.
