Extra fire extinguisher?

69427

The Artist formerly known as Turbo84
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Clinging to my guns and religion in KCMO.
I've got several fire extinguishers nearby while I've been cutting and grinding under the '69. (I'm somewhere between cautious and paranoid when it comes to fire.) Question: I've got an extra Ar/CO2 bottle for my MIG, and I got to thinking about getting an extra fitting and some hose and hooking that up to the extra (full) bottle for an extra fire extinguisher. The bottle just sits there being unproductive until I empty out the current bottle on the MIG cart, and I would think any additional extinguisher capability would be a positive. Any reason not to equip this bottle for emergency use? (I always have the garage door open for extra light when I'm working out there, so there shouldn't be any suffocation concerns if I emptied the bottle.)

Thanks,
Mike
 
That sounds to be a pretty clever idea on the surface. Maybe you just found your retirement product. I'm not clever enough to see a downside beyond what attorneys can do...:hunter:
 
I do a lot of welding, and the most useful fire-control device I have is a squirt bottle. Add that to a garden hose that is on while I am welding and that's about the extent of my immediate response equipment.

I've cleaned up dry-chem messes - you only do that once, and then your though process goes like this - hmmm, fire. Am I on fire? put it out with gloves. Is the car on fire, put it out with gloves. If gloves are ineffective, get my squirt bottle and put out the fire. Presuming my fire is beyond the squirt bottle's ability - dry chem, but before I pull the trigger I seriously ask myself if what I'm saving is worth the cleanup.... and it has to be a pretty valuable something before I pull the trigger.

If you're really wanting to build your bottle extinguisher - use wet chemical products. It cleans up with water.

With all that said, while I get lit on fire on an annoyingly frequent basis but that's just a glove slap to extinguish; I haven't had a fire that the squirt bottle doesn't work on in decades.... but that requires keeping the area clean, minimizing fuel sources, and no leaving stacks of rags anywhere.

If it is something super greasy - I weld it outside, away from anything that can readily burn.
 
Any of the dry chem stuff is corrosive as it can possibly be. Boeing has a very large chapter in their maintenance manual devoted to cleanup after a dry chem extinguisher discharge. Discharge a dry chem in your kitchen and within 6 months you'll be replacing all the mechanical clocks - even though they weren't in the line of discharge.

CO2, Halon, whatever is way better.
 
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