An unofficial chapter of the popular Dull Men's Club.
1. Relevant commentary on your own dull life. Posts should be about your own dull, lived experience. This is our most important rule. Direct questions, random thoughts, comment baiting, advice seeking, many uses of "discuss" rarely comply with this rule.
2. Original, Fresh, Meaningful Content.
3. Avoid repetitive topics.
4. This is not a search engine
Use a search engine, a tradesperson, Reddit, friends, a specialist Facebook group, apps, Wikipedia, an AI chat, a reverse image search etc. to answer simple questions or identify objects. Also see rule 1, “comment baiting”.
There are a number of content specific communities with subject matter experts who can help you.
Some other communities to consider before posting:
5. Keep it dull. If it puts us to sleep, it’s on the right track. Examples of likely not dull: jokes, gross stuff (including toes), politics, religion, royalty, illness or injury, killing things for fun, or promotional content. Feel free to post these elsewhere.
6. No hate speech, sexism, or bullying No sexism, hate speech, degrading or excessively foul language, or other harmful language. No othering or dehumanizing of anyone or negativity towards any gender identity.
7. Proofread before posting. Use good grammar and punctuation. Avoid useless phrases. Some examples: - starting a post with "So" - starting a post with pointless phrases, like "I hope this is allowed" or “this is my first post” Only share good quality, cropped images. Do not share screenshots of images; share the original image.
.
The fire extinguisher in my garage is almost 20 years old now and the pressure gauge is right at the edge of the red zone. That means it's time to order a new one!
Decided to get two because it seems like a good idea to have one out by the grill (and they're a better deal that way) 👍
Very excited because this means I get to ~~play~~ teach the kids how to properly use a fire extinguisher with the old one! Been a while since we used the fire pit out back...
It’s very important to have fire extinguishers… I had to use mine yesterday! Lost a lot of good board games.
Luckily I caught the fire right when it started or I would have lost almost everything I own.
Oh shit! Glad you're safe. How did the fire start?
I was welding outside the shipping container, going to make a mount to hold solar panels.
I knew this was a possibility, but I didn’t think anything was behind where I was welding. I was wrong lol
Just check it if it's a foam one. If it is a 20 year old foam one don't discharge it in your garden - these almost certainly are full of PFAS(forever chemicals) that you really really don't want there.
You are not kiddeng around about your fire safety anymore.
Take CERT classes. I dare you NOT to run out afterward and buy multiple fire extinguishers.
I am a great fan of fire safety equipment. I keep one in every automobile that I periodically drive, and there's even a mini one that attaches to my motorbike.
I have thought of bringing fire extinguishers as a present when going to housewarming parties. After all, who else is going to bring that as a present? And the best part is that if their housewarming gets too warm, then suddenly my present becomes immediately useful haha
Great idea. I need to get more fire extinguishers and replace smoke detectors
Keep in mind that fire extinguishers have a safe storage temperature. It varies from type to type but is generally at the 120-130 F range. Ironic.
So your extinguisher in your car is potentially regularly reaching that if you live in a hot climate and park outdoors. Which means you potentially have degraded performance and could even see a pressure/leakage issue if it continues too much.
So probably not a catastrophic failure (I mean... it is a fire extinguisher) but nowhere near as safe as you think. External motorbike one is probably fine though.
I have one that I keep with my camping gear as "just in case" but don't see much of a reason to keep it in my car's emergency bag. I figure if my car catches on fire I am fucked anyway.
Ever since my family lost our VW Vanagon camper to an engine fire I keep one in my cars.
Step 1: light a fire
Step 2: place fire extinguisher in the middle of the fire.
Step 3: retreat a safe distance.
When you hear the bang, the fire should be extinguished.
Or scattered.
I'm completely sure that this would absolutely sort out the overheating problem, unless it makes it even worse.
I brought 6 smoke alarms today! Yay! Fire safety!
Mine has "expired" in 2016 but the needle is still in the green zone. At times I spin the bottle around a bit and then put it back to keep it active.
get a new on, those gauges are wrong way too often for a piece of safety equipment
I ws trained in the use of extinguishers while in the Army. We used expired extinguishers from a maintenance company. They explained that they had to be maintained every 3 years, not because loss of pressure, but because seals and mechanisms could get stuck. Don't be in a sense of false security
Just want to point out.
Kidde does not have good running with extinguishers.
Get a badger or Amerex, and get it from an actual supplier, they’ll know the good ones and keep it serviced for you too.
and get it from an actual supplier.
Unfortunately, that creates friction for [what I suspect is] the majority of folks who aren't used to shopping at places other than big-box department or grocery stores. I, for one, have no idea where any actual suppliers near me even are. I mean, sure, I could do a maps search for "fire extinguisher stores" or something, but even then I have no good way of knowing which ones are open to the public (as opposed to doing B2B stuff).
Buying a two-pack of First Alert extinguishers when I happen to notice it on sale at Costco is way less hassle. (Speaking of which, do you have opinions about that brand?)
Kidde and first alert are kinda on par with each other, why they are sold at the big box stores.
Anything with a metal head that’s serviceable, I have a strike first in my home, one of the cheaper “commercial” call them brands.
If you don’t know any, condos and stores have them, look at one of their service tags and give them a call, most shouldn’t have an issue making a sale and potentially repeat service business.
Fire code requires their service, so most commercial places should be following along, but that depends on also how much your FD and jurisdictions cares to enforce the rules.
That service part is key. It makes it essentially a one time purchase. You spend more upfront but then you only need them inspected and charged periodically.
Reuse reduce baby.
Every 6 years it needs a 6-year service and every 12 years a hydro test. Other than that it can sit up off the floor anywhere you want.
Good work! (am firefighter) - a great chance to practice with the old one too! Reminds me I need to replace the one on my jeep.
Upvote because I respect firefighters. I don't respect cops. I don't care about our military.
But firefighters, and EMS/everyone in a hospital, are people I respect a lot.
Now, the people who set the pricing scheme for the medical industry can go fuck off into a volcano. It shouldn't BE an industry. You never hear people say "the firefighting industry". Which is good. I've never heard anyone badmouth the concept of fire fighters services.
In all my life I’ve never seen a fire extinguisher in a home setting.
Really? I've always had 1 in the kitchen. Never had to use it but it's nice that it's right there, accessible.
Yeah, I don’t think they’re common here in Australia for residential needs.
Now you have, in our pantry corner.
The extinguishers I bought came with a little piece of plastic to mount them on the wall. So I did that. They stick out like a sore thumb, which I want. If there's a fire, I don't want anyone scratching their head saying "now where do we keep the fire extinguisher?"
Mine are just always kept under the sink
What's the plan in the event of a fire?
Say it's an electrical fire. Gonna throw water on it?
Awesome, congrats!
Costco and Sam's Club both sell 2-packs for the price most places charge for a single extinguisher.
Get a couple more - we keep one by the door of every room now.
I've had to use an extinguisher a few times in my life - fires are much harder to extinguish than most people realize, even with a good size extinguisher.
An extinguisher is only effective in the early stages of a fire, so having them close by makes a difference.
Username does not check out >.>
I only bought two!
bought mine 14 years ago, maybe i need to replace 🤔
You definitely need to at least recharge it and have it inspected if it hasent been in 14 years, if it's a serviceable one. Take it to your local fire department, they'll usually be able to tell you if it's serviceable and do the care needed to make sure it's still functional like recharging
Many firehalls (at least the ones in Canada) will recharge your fire extinguisher for free if you bring it by.
Iirc, there are different types of fire extinguishers, and only some are rechargable. Good point though!
From the sound of it, as long as you can take it apart, it is in good condition, and the head and valve aren't made of plastic, you can refill the suppressing agent (water, foam, CO2 or powder) and repressurize it. If it doesn't leak, you should be good to go. Plastic working parts seem to indicate the disposable models. I guess take it in and see what they say -- one site said they may even refill a disposable if it's fairly new and holds up well to the process. I see there are some local guidelines that say you should replace anything after x years, regardless of condition, so results may vary.
Good to know!
Hell yeah!