Any advice for the best fire extinguisher to carry in the car? I witnessed a one-vehicle accident (flipped over on its side) and a guy stopped and asked who had a fire extinguisher - car didn't catch fire - but made me think. Thanks
Element E50...its an ABCK extinguisher, lasts 50 seconds but only 1.5" round for easy storage
Total weight of those is .5lb. That's pretty much useless for anything more than a trash can, and probably not one that's really burning. Real fire extinguishers are marketed by the weight of the powder inside. I carry a 2.5# abc in my truck, most common size for vehicles. I'd rather have a cheapo conventional fire extinguisher than one of the sticks. Probably 1/4 of the price of the sticks too.
ETA: I've seen these before but this post made me look into the element50 a little closer. My opinion has gone from "meh, probably not worth the price" to "these are garbage and dangerous".
Plenty of other videos of these in action. A small 2.5# abc would have put out all 3 oil fires and the wood fire no problem. Source: I serviced fire equipment and did fire training demos for about 7 years. I've put out hundreds of fires like those in the video. ABC knocks them out in 2-3 seconds. Added bonus: you don't have to stick your hand 1' away from the fire with the conventional fire extinguisher. It's wild seeing these in action and knowing you have to be close enough to singe your eyebrows to get the chemical to work. IMO a wet blanket, a shovel and dirt, large bucket of water, medium sized box of baking soda would all do better at putting out fires then the element. Throw them in the trash.
I was hesitant to believe: "these are garbage and dangerous", until I watched the video. Wow, he would have been better off just using his foot on the wood fire.
I'm generally not a fan of government intervention in the market but I truly feel like these things shouldn't be allowed to be legally marketed as fire extinguishers. Even the crappiest plastic headed fire extinguisher at Wal-Mart would handle the fires in those videos, and all while the user is 5-10' away from the flames. A device that requires you to be 12" from the flame/fuel source in order to be effective(lol) should never be accepted as a fire extinguisher. My grandpa and dad both owned fire equipment businesses and collected old/unique fire extinguishers. They used to make ones that were simply metal tubes full of powder that hung on the wall. You'd grab it from the wall and swing it towards a fire to jettison the powder. I'm pretty sure that 100+ year old tech is safer and probably more effective than these dumb little fire flares.
Is there any issue with keeping a fire extinguisher in a hot car for months on end? I know it might be a dumb question but in San Antonio I would be interested to hear that they can withstand hot storage for extended periods of time. I realize it is for fighting fires-- I just wanted to make sure.
Things like tire filler say to store at room temperature which means I can't keep it in my car in an emergency kit (according to label).
Is there any issue with keeping a fire extinguisher in a hot car for months on end? I know it might be a dumb question but in San Antonio I would be interested to hear that they can withstand hot storage for extended periods of time. I realize it is for fighting fires-- I just wanted to make sure.
Things like tire filler say to store at room temperature which means I can't keep it in my car in an emergency kit (according to label).
Check the gauge periodically but generally no issue with storing them in hot places. The plastic head extinguishers(kiddie, first alert brands) are prone to leaking regardless of where they are stored. The issue with those is usually the gauge leaking. They use an o-ring and keeper pin to hold the gauge and the o-ring there tends to leak if it gets bumped or pushed on much. Worst case scenario is likely a slow pressure leak, nothing catastrophic. My garage extinguisher is a 1963 model and it's still holding pressure like a champ. I actually serviced a unit that was involved in a fire at a saltwater disposal well. The vinyl cover melted and shrink wrapped to the extinguisher. Gauge and hose melted off. Still held pressure.
My recommendation is NEVER USE THE WALMART PLASTIC EXTINGUISHERS
Go to a real fire safety place, and buy a good refillable version with a steel needle and seat.
The box store brands use a plastic needle and seat. After a few months of hot/cold cycle they are going to leak down and be about as useless as spitting on it.
Had a grass fire start, and of three Walmart type extinguishers in the pickup and on the tractor, I got about 2.5 seconds of spray total.
