| AFFF or AR-AFFF foam fire extinguishers [message #327512] |
Tue, 26 December 2017 19:48  |
Ken Burton
Messages: 10030
Registered: January 2004
Location: Hebron, Indiana
Karma:
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Well, It is that time of year where some of us are subjecting our coaches to below freezing temperatures. I usually post a warning about freezing and foam type fire extinguishers earlier in the year. I forgot to do it this year. If you have any foam fire extinguishers and live where it will go below freezing, remove them and store them somewhere where it is above freezing.
If you have one of these little spray cans from Firefight and others, it will freeze below 32 degrees. If you have one of the Kidde 2 liter ones that we bought many years ago, it will freeze below +14. On others you will have to ask the manufacturer / supplier what the freezing point is.
I thought that I had moved all of mine inside to warmer areas. Then this morning I remembered that I had two that I had not removed in my truck that is parked inside at the airport. So today I made a special trip to the airport to retrieve the forgotten 2. Well, my indoor thermometer said it was 18 when I got there. It was -5 outside when I got up this morning and right now it is -1 at 6PM. I retrieved the two spray can type extinguishers and one is frozen solid but still intact. The other had frozen and exploded inside my truck. The contents are refrozen all over the place. I cleaned up what I could and threw away the extinguisher. The other one is at home thawing out in a laundry tub with a cover on it in case it decides to also explode while warming up.
So a word of warning. If you have AFFF Foam extinguishers from any manufacturer, and it is going below freezing where you are, REMOVE THEM NOW. If you find frozen intact ones, slowly thaw them out and remix the contents.
When freezing, much like salt water, the water and the AFFF concentrate inside separate. Ansul, a manufacturer of AR-AFFF and AFFF, says that frozen extinguishers may be reused if the water and concentrate is removed, mechanically stirred (their words), and reinstalled again. Obviously we are not going to do that on these cheap throw away extinguishers, so I suggest that you at least shake them thoroughly like a spray can of paint before placing them back in service.
Ken Burton - N9KB
76 Palm Beach
Hebron, Indiana
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