Fire Extinguishers leave them on or remove for the winter?
- Thread starter Bob S
- Start date
Likewise.
I Googled this and found another thread on a different boat forum. Sounds like ABC extinguishers are okay
https://www.thehulltruth.com/boating-forum/204058-will-fire-extinguishers-freeze.html
I Googled this and found another thread on a different boat forum. Sounds like ABC extinguishers are okay
https://www.thehulltruth.com/boating-forum/204058-will-fire-extinguishers-freeze.html
We generally bring ours home every winter. One, there's no one there to use them. Two, it gives us a chance to look at the gauge. Three, they generally get tipped upside down once or twice during the trips from and back to the boat.
???
- Could be needed. You don't need them at home.
- You're supposed to do that every month.
- First, I believe that is a myth. Second, that didn't require taking them home.
We leave ours on board year 'round. I do take them down once a year, turn them over and thump them with a fist.
I have heard that more modern ones have a powder that does not cake, but have no way to know for sure, and if there has been a change, not sure when it happened.
I have heard that more modern ones have a powder that does not cake, but have no way to know for sure, and if there has been a change, not sure when it happened.
I take them home when boat is on the hard, closed up and covered for the winter. None one there anyway. Used to leave them, but back in the 80s the boat was vandalized and the sobs emptied them in the cabin ! What a mess ! Doesn't not happen when stored at home. I bring them back when I start working on the boat in springtime, as by then there is always someone at the club, minimizing risk of intrusion.
I have always left my dry chemical units on board over the winter. I bring home my halon units form my engine compartments (aux and genset) and have them weighed and tagged by a fellow sailor who owns a local fire safety and extinguisher company. Halons need to be weighed and tagged every 6 months, so I get them weighed in April and then they are good until October when I lay up for winter. All extinguishers need to have the gauges in the green.
BTW, according to my fire extinguisher expert, rotating and hitting the dry chemical units is fine, but doing this and shaking is not the best way to check if the contents are solidly packed and therefore not operational. The best way to check them is to hang them from the top with one hand (like they are in the bracket) and then using the flat palm of your other hand smack the bottom of the extinguisher soundly. You should feel the contents move and the feeling is a jiggle like they were filled with jello. If you don't feel a jiggle, and the whack on the bottom is more like a "thud", then you might have a bad one.
BTW, according to my fire extinguisher expert, rotating and hitting the dry chemical units is fine, but doing this and shaking is not the best way to check if the contents are solidly packed and therefore not operational. The best way to check them is to hang them from the top with one hand (like they are in the bracket) and then using the flat palm of your other hand smack the bottom of the extinguisher soundly. You should feel the contents move and the feeling is a jiggle like they were filled with jello. If you don't feel a jiggle, and the whack on the bottom is more like a "thud", then you might have a bad one.