What to do when your fire extinguisher goes bad and how to dispose of it properly. According to NEDT.ORG for the type I had - Not all extinguishers are the same. Always read the label and contact the manufacturer with any questions.
Local fire control near me "mines" the community for empties and under pressured ones. They harvest the chemical and re use it. They pay you a small fee.
Im my country in eu we have facilities usualy the big firedepartments or an individual one where you can bring it there and they refill/repressure it for like 5€
Seriously. There are lots of kinds of fire extinguishers and different formulas, but disposing of any chemicals by spraying them outside is generally a dumb idea for a lot of reasons. The couple times I've used fire extinguishers or been near one when it's sprayed, it's pretty nasty and you always end up breathing it in and getting it on your clothes. Call your local fire dept because many accept extinguishers, or drop it at your county's hazardous waste drop off sites.
@@awakentruth1116 you must not get out much. Just yesterday a Glacier melted so fast Up in the mountains there was a giant old historic bridge wiped out in Pakistan from what looked like the same as when half the mountain came off into Silver lake…. The creek responded the same exact way as when Mount Saint Helens straight did the same, but today it was extreme heat in a place that never de thaws. So maybe you should brush up on your “awakening”
Go ahead and try that and let me know how it works out... that little can barely knock an engine fire of any size when it's good. When less than full and/or out of date you have no way to know if you're gonna get about what you'd normally expect or a short puff and then nothing. The pressure is merely one factor, the dry Chem powder can cake up and not spray or clog the nozzle. Fires are very severe, dangerous and cause extensive and expensive damage. An extinguisher is cheap protection. I also keep a couple cans of fire gone or similar. It's very effective but doesn't have the mess from the powder so you don't hesitate to use it for fear of the mess or have to deal with that powder after it gets into everything. I also keep a large CO2 extinguisher, with that and the fire gone being the first choice and the dry Chem as a last resort.
Just spray water on it. That's what the FD did when my truck engine caught fire. I had my own water hose and could have sprayed it out myself but was just out of high school and was still remembering not to put water on liquid fires. Might have saved the truck if I knew water was all I needed. 911 didn't say I could and even wasn't going to send anyone until she asked if it was near the house. I know it's bc of liability but the only reason I called was bc I didn't know water was ok on burning gasoline.
you cant count on it working tho. if there is a fire you dont want to waste time on atleast trying that almost empty fire extinguisher. Rather throw it out
@@TheAnantaSesa in the case of other kinds of fires you can’t always throw water on them. case and point is if it’s any less than full you need a new extinguisher
most fire safety equipment companies won't recharge ones with plastic heads cause removing the head damages the delicate plastic parts and its not worth repairing. However you can still recycle the metal rather than trash it...
Probably not able to. I thought the same, but lots of people cheap out and buy non-rechargeable ones. Not sure why, they have less extinguishing capacity, can't be recharged, are easily broken if accidentally dropped. But hey, they save $5
@@brianrice1613 hell, theyre great to reuse. you can use a hacksaw after depressurizing it, use it as a crucible for a homemade metal foundry you can make out of sand and plaster which can melt aluminum and copper. great for getting better prices from recycling really focus on reuse with reduce, reuse, recycle
Why waste the dry chemical inside or the "container"... turn the extinguisher upside down, tap it a few times to settle the dry chemical at the top, discharge the dry nitrogen gas while it's still upside down and then twist off the head of this plastic gutted extinguisher. (PRO TIP: Buy extinguishers with metal heads that can be recharged)... After you have the head off, dump the still good dry chemical into one or two zip lock baggies. You now have one or two throwable or droppable fire extinguisher bags ready for use on a chimney fire. The aluminum pressure canister and top can be modified by removing the dip tube, cutting it off close to the top without damaging the base where the spring seats on it, holding in the piston (which acts as the discharge valve).You now have a field expedient water bottle after you clean everything with a spot of mild dish detergent. The valve has o-rings to keep it from leaking, as does the base of the valve assembly where it seats onto the cylinder... Or, you can just modify the valve assembly into a plug, to keep it simple. The aluminium cylinder is food grade, the former contents are basically inert monoammonium phosphate or Sodium Bicarbonate based extinguisher agents. The plastic heads on these cheap extinguishers are high grade and stable. You only need enough to make a plug.
Since I assume you mean to pour the bag out from the top of the chimney that's not likely to be very commonly needed. Wouldn't it maybe be more handy to use the bags for camping and pour them on a campfire when done cooking?
@@TheAnantaSesa Back in the 1980s we had a major uptick of chimney fires in our city. Several of the engine and ladder companies began to put together chimney fire kits including metal trash cans to carry out the fuel load in the fire place or wood stove, long sleeve welders gloves, large tongs and special nozzles to drop into the tops of chimneys to slowly add a steam effect to put out the fire without fracturing the flue linings. Making up dry chemical chimney "baggie bombs" to knock down the fire initially was a part of the kits. They worked fairly well. Often, three or four dropped down the chimney was enough to knock it down. It was thought that they were less likely to be destructive to the flues and were not as messy as initially using water. Chimney fires are messy to begin with. They can also destroy enough of the chimney to spread fire into the structure. In our city, ANY chimney fire, no matter how seemingly minor, earned the structure of the chimney itself as unsafe and a red tag was issued. That's why I said it. It's not a bad idea for a camp fire as you stated. Prevention of the spread of fire in any wilderness? In this day and age, with the destructiveness of a wildfire spreading and endangering the lives and property throughout the world, an once of prevention is certainly something that might keep you out of trouble and garnering a hefty fine and possibly a prison sentence if you're found criminally negligent.
@Randy Porter Which FEs are you referring to? The Kidde plastic headed POSs sold in the home centers? Those? They were a waste of time, money and effort. I don't know but I would think that they were getting a bit of heat from the consumer protection groups from all the complaints of the end users. Extruded plastic heads manufactured without much quality control, prone to warpage from ambient heat and sunlight degradation to the plastic itself, some to a point where the plastic could crumble from hand pressure. A pressure guage held in place, sometimes quite loosely, with a tiny metal clip instead of a threaded base. One shot wonders nearly impossible to be recharged and most of them unlikely to hold the nitrogen, even with the most meticulous attention to the cleaning and re-lubbing of the O-rings. Some of the very earliest ones had nozzles built in to the plastic head and how could it even be filled with gas if there was no threads to hold the fitting for recharging... therefore the Kidde Corporation was making a one and done throwaway piece of crap, instead of a rechargeable, more economical design for the consumer. When anyone brought one in, I would break it down and show them why and how they were not worth attempting to recharge and compare them to the better metal head ones of several manufacturers, all easily cleaned, refilled and recharged with new parts and O-rings easily obtained from the various manufacturers. Ya get whatcha pay for... so, don't go cheap with anything related to fire safety. Don't misunderstand me about Kidde. They did and still do make quality products in their larger sized, non plastic headed extinguishers and other product lines. Their foray into the world of cheap plastic crap was a bad business decision and they created a lot of ill will towards themselves.
@@TheAnantaSesa depends on where you live, I started as a rural firefighter and it would take upwards of 30 minutes to get an engine or even brush truck out to you and 75-90% of fires were us just making sure it didn't spread and the structure would be a complete loss. This could save some houses if you have the wherewithal to do this
_"Old fire extinguishers work as fertilizer?!"_ Why am I reminded of that scene in _Fight Club_ where they put up a fake billboard saying _'You can use your used motor oil to water your garden!'_
I just thought "what a BS!" and started looking it up. google autocomplete put "as a fertilizer" after my entry of "fire extinguisher powder" and i was "well at least it is a thing!". Turns out it is somehow true. A big company in Germany recycles extinguishers, which are too old to be refurbished and the powder is sold to a fertilizer plant. It undergoes some kind of treatment, which isn't especially defined, but it ends up in fertilizer. My best guess: it's dried and mixed into the fertilizer.
When I was a young dumby I sprayed one of my dad’s extinguishers all over the hard having fun with a buddy. It killed every bit of grass it touched. My dad was not happy
Yaaa. I keep mine for the “just in case”. You had PLENTY of pressure for a kitchen fire. I would be so mad if I wasted a “bad” extinguisher and then had a fire. I know I Should buy a new one, but I’ve used multiple extinguishers after they entered the low pressure zone, And they all worked and had substantial powder expulsion. I’m not worried.
Except for the fact that the extinguisher will likely leak down its remaining pressure because of the remaining powder in the discharge path of the internal workings, chambers and spring loaded, o-ringed piston and seat, allowing a slow outflow of the dry nitrogen gas. A properly cleaned, refilled and recharged extinguisher is a happy extinguisher.
Ever seen the damage a fire causes? As someone who has far too many times I would never trust that to save me from the massive losses a fire causes. Extinguishers should be replaced as directed by the labeling, 6-10 years from the date on the bottom of the bottle. It's also good to occasionally take and shake them, you should feel the powder moving around and if not then tap lightly against a hard object to loosen it up. It will cake up over time and that can cause it not to work. Keep these ready and add some fire gone or other less damaging agents as well. When trying to knock down a fire there's no such thing as overkill...
@@alexkitner5356 it's not overkill if you only have 1 fire extinguisher. Keeping an old one as a spare makes more sense than throwing it away and then only having the new 1. Just bc you buy a new 1 doesn't mean you can't still keep the old one. Eventually every room in the house can have one. Then put one in the car and the shed and so on. They do more good than nothing but you're attitude comes off like everyone is always going to have access to a new one and no one ever saves money by just not buying one ever and takes their chances.
@@mikegrant8490 don't they lose pressure over time without even being used? That's what I think OP means. And regardless, they still have pressure for a while so despite getting a new one after using the old 1 you can still keep the used one as a spare until that pressure finally does leak the rest of the way out.
@@TheAnantaSesa it's not just a question of pressure. If there's a guage and it's red then it's a dry agent which is a powder that over time, particularly time just hanging on the wall, can cake up into a semi solid chunk. All the pressure in the world isn't going to help if the extinguishing agent can't come out. Is it okay to keep an old one? Sure, I have some that are out of date and the safety margins built into that date don't mean that there's a rapid loss of function across the board but that it's when the likelihood of failure outgrows the acceptable margin be it 0% or 80%. I also do some things that I would recommend for anyone, first of all I make a habit of shaking or turning the extinguishers upside down and letting the powder move around and not keep settling and compacting. I also buy new ones for the places that need them like garage, kitchen, shed, etc, when they expire. The old one is okay to try, but it's not okay to rely on it as the only rapid option and yes, the time lost using an old one that fails then getting another from some other location can be the difference between a fire you could extinguish to one you can't or that produces so much smoke you can't get back to it.
The older type that uses the Plastic trigger handles were recalled and a few years ago I was sent new Metal handle type. They never wanted the return of ones I had and I still have those just in case and extra for camping equipment, any where needed, they are still full and have plenty of contents. If you have older plastic type call the recall number, you'll get New ones , but not sure if they are still doing this.
Fire extinguisher tech here. That is a disposable extinguisher, it cannot be recharged. Also, like another reply mentions, those plastic handled kidde's had a recall a few years ago due to the stored pressure causing the handles to shatter and explode when someone attempts to use them. The company i work for refuses to insure that kind specifically
If they leak pressure like that and are disposable, this has to be done. But for the most part, the non-disposables, and as long as it was put together properly, a good extinguisher will last a lifetime. It could be refilled or, if unused, theyd top off the pressure and try to find where it leaked out from. I found one that hadnt been touched since '62 the other day, still full of agent and in the green for pressure
True, but the recycling people will sell them back to the manufacturer, like glass coke bottles. These kinds of things are always recycled one way or another.
Thank you for showing everyone how to properly and safely dispose of a fire extinguisher. I learned that the insides aren't useless, and others learned the whole way round too! I feel we should share this type of information just as a reminder on occasion. It's good for us
They do not go bad, most of the time they lose pressure. Just need to be checked and repressurized. Do not randomly empty them, just take them to your local recycling center or call your fire department to ask what to do with them.
@@microwave221 yeah, a lot of stuff that we don't consider toxic is bad to breathe a bunch of powder of. That would include things like sawdust which would harmlessly decompose if you spread it around in the woods.
@Edward Elizabeth Hitler It is a problem contributing to blooms in aquatic environments, but not much more so than other fertilizers to my knowledge. The issue only arises in far larger amounts or when introduced directly into water networks, so I certainly wouldn't condone dumping masses of it into storm drains. While the video isn't very rigorous, I very much support the message of not disposing charged pressure vessels, having worked both in fire equipment as well as on the back of a compacting recycling truck.
Another safe way of dispensing fire extinguishers is with a 308 and/or 556 Sometimes 9 mm or 45 ACP will indeed help you remove your fire extinguishers but bigger rounds are recommended
So many aspects of this video motivate me to engage, respond, react discuss or otherwise increase my involvement with this video somehow. I'm certainly more informed than others on this subject... It's more like my civil duty to educate the naive masses! My attention couldn't possibly be put to batter use I've decided. Any products or services I learn about while on this rabbit hole is purely coincidental. If I'm wrong, I hope my insurance covers cognitive behavioral and addiction therapy.
He says it’s similar to fertilizer and then sprays the shit straight in the air, not even trying to get it on the ground. Fertilizer is absorbed through the roots and needs to be concentrated near the specific trees.
I am a portable fire technician. You can only use a dry chemical powder Extinguisher once before it needs filling. The seal will be broken and will leak out the nitrogen stored to push the powder out. Even a tap on the handle will cause this.
Yes because what is good for humans and a yard is infact different. It’s like saying, “puts fertilizer on yard, *but doesn’t eat it” (and for what it’s worth. There’s no way fire extinguisher shit can be used as fertilizer.) there’s stuff in there I know is not “fertilizer”
@@cbearslife4950 Fire extinguisher powder can be recycled in to a fertilizer, they remove the silicone caking agents from it. Taking a quick look at the ingredients in the powder, I can confirm that some plants do in fact prosper with these elements in their soil
Reminds me of the time I was doing some diy work on my water pipes, Using a plumbers torch and having the water turned off I decided to borrow an extinguisher that my mum had in her car. Managed to catch some debris on fire couldn’t blow it out so I grabbed the extinguisher for it to not work I had to resort into scooping water out the toilet bowl to put the fire out, turns out it had expired in 1993 😂
“Don’t breathe this stuff in” *remembers a memory of a party where everyone was piss drunk and someone came out with a fire extinguisher and sprayed the entire group and multiple extinguisher fights went on*
I once stole this dudes Xbox 360 with the cords n controller and his bong at this party 😂 I was drunk as hell and I creeped into the hallway and got into the bedrooms. I was making trips from the room to the trunk of the car & on my 3rd trip going back for the stack of games the dude came into the room and was like "wtf!" He turned around and went back into the living room/kitchen area where most the people were at. He yells for his buddies and by then I had made it out the house. They all ran after me (i can't remember for the life of me where I got the fire extinguisher from, but I had one) I pointed it at the group like it was a gun, like "stay back!" And by then my buddies came out and had made it into the car, I jumped in and we took off. I want to say they called the cops while all this was unfolding but I could be wrong & the cops just came cause it was loud & obvious there was a party there with all the cars & ppl. The house was at the bottom of this hill in this residential area & As we were leaving & made it up the hill there was cops heading the other way. I have no idea why that guy who caught me in his room didn't take off of me and try to fuck me up. I know I would have done that if I found someone in my room stealing my stuff 🤣 They were some pussy stoner/surfer type white dudes though. Shit is funny to think back about it now but it was mad fucked up To do that lol 😆 I think they said something to me that pissed me off for me to do that. It's really hard to remember the little details cause this was like 12-14 years ago.
I call it the "better safe than sorry guage". A small drop doesn't mean it's completely useless. It gives you a rough idea but it's really there to ensure the most pressure possible during an emergency when seconds count.
When I was in high school, I went to an overnight retreat. At the opening meeting, the retreat administrators said straight up, "each of your cabins contains a fire extinguisher. DO NOT set it off if there is no emergency. You will get sent home and be charged $500 for a new fire extinguisher." Late that night, the guys in my cabin were messing around and one of them managed to hit his head against the smoke alarm hardwired to the ceiling and set it off. The first thing my friend did was rip the fire extinguisher off the wall and start randomly blasting it all over the room. I got hit directly in the face, but thankfully held my breath. The administrators had mercy on my friend and didn't send him home, but I think his family still had to pay.
You weld an on-off nozzle with a connection for an air hose and then you fill it three-quarters of the way with water and hook the air compressor up to it and pump it up to 100 lb with 3/4 of the way water in there and you got a squirt gun
Empty, remove top. Drill 7/16 hole near the top, pull through a tubeless tyre/tire valve is the easy way to do it, well except for the rubic's level puzzle of getting the valve to line up with the drilled hole.
@@aaronnoyb they sell this tire valve installer that doesnt need to have the tire unseated , in this case it would work for the extinguisher . you pretty much shove the tire valve stem in from the outside of the object rather through it. ia ya didnt have that tool you could just tie a string to the valve and install the normal way..
Bro, you can take them to a Fire equipment supply company and have them recharged. I have to have 6 at work and take them and get them recertification/recharge for next to nothing. A lot cheaper than a new one.......
@@deldarel %100 but getting them recharged is not one of them. Emptying the contents and unscrewing the head and recycling the cylinder is about the best you can do with a cheap disposable.
Barely sifted out 2lbs of ABC dry chem. It's supposed to shoot out with enough force to keep you from needing to be directly on top of the fire, was well as giving it a chance to spread out and coat the fuel source. This one wasn't completely depressurized, but certainly bad enough that it should be removed from service before it leaked anymore
Ya don’t do that take it to the proper facility to be discarded don’t spray it like that when there is no fire. And most of all DONT PUT IT IN THE TRASH CAN
the fire departments around here used to recharge your extinguishers for free (if it was a compatible model). Now, they no longer do that, and a private company does it for $40 / per extinguisher. i just learned how to recharge mine with a compressor.
So he acts like he's doing some good for the environment and then he throws the canister in the trash. Never throw away good steel or aluminum, make sure they're recycled.
Thats not a lot of pressure at all. He did the right thing. Watch your name calling. I use air dusters. You need to release pressure in them before tossing them, too. It gets to the point when they can't even blow dust because of how expended they are, but they're still under some pressure. It's the same deal with propane, any gas canisters, etc. There's pressure, but not enough to safely function.
I remember being on staff duty and some moron in the barracks set one of these off. Since our extra duty guys were off picking up litter, my cherry private ass got to go and sweep the entire hallway this was set off in.what a great way to spend a Saturday. Didnt even get time off for PT since it was a weekend.
That isn't actually a good thing I believe because it has pfas in it witch never decomposes and a lot of this can be bad (sutch as in places where firefighters test)
Yeah common sense should tell you just because it's got one good thing in it doesn't mean it's going to be all good for a given task, especially if it's original purpose wasn't that.
Imprecise, there are various types of fire extinguisher with different fire retardants, depending on application, and the original video even neglects to mention the type he has ☹️
@@StormcallR yeah. Upsetting how many likes there are. We all need to collectively read up on forever chemicals and eliminate them from our lives. We're running out of time.
That is a high pressure tank with working valve. Throwing it away is a waste. They can be used to make really awesome air cannons. Or various other products
That's right that gauge just wants you to go buy another one former firefighter here but it's good to buy an extra one anyway so keep the old ones if they don't work grab another one
It's also good to every once in a while hold the canister upside down because the power substance inside can harden if it's been sitting in one location long enough.
Ok guys some knowledge. The gage usually shows empty after a couple of months of being straped on the side of a truck / skidsteer etc. Not because of it going bad. It's the powder, the shaking and bouncing actually packs the powder to the bottom making a false empty. Just roll it down a big bumpy hill / kick it around for 5 mins and it fluffs the powder back up making it safe to use.
As a fire extinguisher technician I can confirm that this is indeed sometimes the case. But don’t kick it down a hill to loosen it up 😆 Just turn it upside down and tap it a bit with a rubber mallet. That should be all it needs.
I remember my neighbor moved after his father passed away help him clean out the house I got about seven industrial fire extinguishers they have the little aluminum eyelid on the back or you can hook it up to a wall, every single one is fully charged, and placed at strategic points in the house
There's a build date stamped into bottom or on decal. After 10 years, plastic topped extinguishers, like this one, are to be removed from service. Metal topped can be refilled. The contents can be saved and put in baggies for chimney fires.
That one isn’t rechargeable. I just bought a couple of them today at Home Depot. The rechargeable type is about $50 new, vs 2 of these disposables for $30.
Fire departments don’t refill fire extinguishers except for the water extinguishers for themselves.You need to go to a fire equipment supply and service company.
