Fire Extingquisher - With Gauge - Accurate?

[keducation]

I have a fire extinquisher...hand held with a guage on it that reflects its in the "green" therefore I assume its still good...Am I being fooled by this guage??? I have had the unit for many years --- Like 10 maybe....

[DangerDan]

I have a fire extinquisher...hand held with a guage on it that reflects its in the "green" therefore I assume its still good...Am I being fooled by this guage??? I have had the unit for many years --- Like 10 maybe....

you can get a two pack of extinguishers for about $15. Give your old one a shake at least once a season to loosen the agent and follow the old addage "when in doubt, toss it out". During a fire is the wrong time to find out you have a faulty extiguisher.

[bklompy]

your extinguiser should be good yet dan is right to say shake them every year if you look into a new one check out the foam it clings real well to surfaces and can be a saftey measure for a fuel fire or spilt fuel it will float on top and keep it from evaporating and causing on explosion. downside is there more exspensive. and dont use it on electrical fires :SHOCKED: we "Zeeland" use faom on all are car fires.

[WAUB-MUKWA]

A friend told me to weight it if you are not sure if its still good, not sure what he meant?

[FishTales]

Last time I had my boat inspected I was told as long as the guage is in the green you have full pressure. You should shake it while holding upside down to make sure the powder is loose, because it will settle and get packed down over time. He also said "do not try to test it", as you will be out of the "green" and it will no longer be acceptable.
I look at it like a hand grenade, once you pull the pin, plan to get rid of it. :yikes: :lol: :lol:
Rich

[Jason Adam]

I had a saftey inspection from the coasties on Saturday, and they checked it and told me if its green, your good. I believe if this wasnt an accurate indicator, they would use another method.

[ScottC]

Depending on the extinguisher, there may or may not be a small hole in the center of the gauge. Sometimes it is covered by a small sticker. If you have one of these units you can take a paperclip, bend it open and push it in the hole. The purpose of it is to act like a reset button for the guage. If the arrow stays in the green, the extinguisher is OK....


....but as others have said: Shake it to loosen the dry chemical.;)