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Annual extinguisher maintenance

Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2008 1:57 pm
by Drsplib
Quick question.
Annual maintenence of a 2kg dry powder appliance in a holiday home - what checks are actually carried out?
Appliances are visually inspected weekly.
Cheers,
Andrew.

Re: Annual extinguisher maintenance

Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2008 3:33 pm
by hammer1
Annual maintenance by competent extinguisher engineer - thorough inspection
BS 5306 recommend monthly inspections - weekly even better, good pro-active attitude ;)
Powder extinguishers should be test discharged every 5 years by competent person.

Re: Annual extinguisher maintenance

Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2008 4:20 pm
by Drsplib
Don't panic! i don't think i'd count as 'competent' in this area! .pirate
No, i've been carrying out FRA's on holiday homes, almost all of which i've had to recommend fitting extinguishers in, as they had none. I'm looking at the necessity for annual maintenance, vs the 5 year extended maintenance with discharge (more cost effective to replace with new.) Local experts charge aprox £30 or so, which is going to seem a bit steep for a lot of the clients.
I'm just curious as to what constitutes a basic annual service on such an extinguisher, since it cannot be discharged?
Many thanks,
Andrew.

Re: Annual extinguisher maintenance

Posted: Thu May 09, 2019 11:01 am
by Keith1983
I'm just bringing this one back from the past! Does anyone have a checklist of what needs to be done by the 'competent' person on an annual inspection of extinguishers. I've been asked the question can I carry out the annual inspection and maintenance. I have a NEBOSH Fire Certificate but no training or knowledge on the workings of a fire extinguisher. Is there an industry standard for the training?

Re: Annual extinguisher maintenance

Posted: Thu May 09, 2019 11:35 am
by witsd
I don't have a list, but I do have NEBOSH fire and there is no way in hell I'd have anything to do with this unless I was provided with extensive training.

No way I'm removing the horn from a CO2 without being certain that I'm not about to accidentally release the gas and launch the thing across the room!

Re: Annual extinguisher maintenance

Posted: Thu May 09, 2019 2:31 pm
by bernicarey
I am somewhat sceptical of the 'Milch Cow' of annual extinguisher maintenance by 'Competent Persons'.

See this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQDR8yRqYrM

This prompts some questions, including (but not all since there's a lot of them) ...
Does it need the hose to be removed to check for cracks... No
Does it need to be blown through by mouth? Well it might be argued that the only thing which might be blocking it is perhaps a spider's nest and I find the battle between 120psi of liquid or powder v. a spider's nest a bit of a one sided fight.
Does it need the O ring replacing...? Only because you've disturbed it.Every year, Trillions of people fly around the world in aircraft which have hundreds of O Rings in their pressure systems, which don't get changed unless disturbed ....Umm, so why?
Does it need weighing? Well if the gauge is in the green then how has the weight changed?
When have you ever seen an extinguisher with petroleum jelly on the safety pin? Incidentally, BS5306-3 does not mention lubricating the pin....

The BS is quite long, and the above service is basically what it requires. But it does seem to be somewhat questionable in the weighing and hose removal requirements.
The new Dual Gauge P-50 extinguishers don't require weighing and the hose removing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_cont ... 3VBfgSA5EQ

So what the difference? None really..... .scratch