Exploding Fire Extinguisher
 

I thought I'd revisit this issue which was covered last year. The exploding oxygen tank onboard the Quantas airliner has inspired me to see if anyone has any further thoughts about employing a box or some sort of shield onboard your in-car fire extinguisher. I'd hate to have one blow up under my legs, that's for sure.


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1217441804.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1217441964.jpg


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1217441870.jpg


http://www.nmsu.edu/~safety/news/news-items/vehicle_fe_explosion2003.htm

http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml00/00111.html

That's the same reason I took my extinguisher out!!!

Reading the caution label on the extinguisher, it says "Do not store above 120F". It gets above 120F inside of a car here in Texas.

In addition to blowing up, I am sure the stuff contained in the extinguisher would make a mess of your interior.

So would a fire. That said, I certainly understand the dilemma.

Suspected or confirmed?

Qantas, not Quantas. It's an acronym for Queensland and Northwest Territories Air Service, which was what the Ozzies originally named the airline in the 1920s.

And the most recent report I got (morning of 30 July) was that the O2 tank explosion was confirmed.

I have to think that not all extinguishers are created equal. Mine is super heavy duty construction.

That one in the picture looks elcheapo!

The O2 tank is even heavier duty than the fire extinguisher. I realize it is subjected to much higher pressure, but how do you know if you get a bum fire extinguisher?

It gets to about 115F AMBIENT AIR TEMPERATURE here in central Calif. So you know it's way above 120F inside the car.

What gets me is that I was going to put my fire extinguisher just ahead of either the driver's or passenger seat. If that thing exploded it could do some damage to me, not just the car. The US Forest Service fire extinguisher dented the side of the metal cab. That kind of force could detach a leg, foot, etc from the rest of your body.

Other than that, how was the flight? :D

Here's the story on the "Qantas" airlines flight. Any safe landing is a good landing.

http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/07/q.html

yeah, the Dollar Stores fire exinguisher is a El Cheapo! lol

On those hot days, inside my car got to around 140F. Now I wonder where is it safe to mount my little FE.

Fire eater by Sparco shouldn't have any problems like that.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/showthread.php?t=403204

I'm not so sure about that.


Plus......there's plenty of people that have fire extinguishers in their cars, have had them for years, and NOW you're going to worry about it?

looks heavy to me.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1217538947.jpg

http://news.aol.com/article/oxygen-tank-blamed-for-jet-blast/102397

RE: Fire extinguisher
 

I recall that Mercedes in particular (and possibly Porsche and BMW) had an optional fire extinguisher that mounted on the front of the seat back in the 1970's. Why would they do that if there were a potential explosion problem? Unless the particular extinguisher they were using made a difference. I'd like to hear some others' thoughts.

I keep a small inexpensive fire extinguisher on the floor behind the passenger seat along with a rolled up large towel behind it.
I guess if it decided to blow up thats the safest place for it in relation to the driver or passenger.
The towel is nice to have if I ever need it for something here in south florida, and keeps the fire extinguisher from rolling back and forth.

The whole fire extinguisher dilemma has me stuck right now.

To be useful, you need a fairly large extinguisher. Fires have a tendency, especially gasoline ones, to re-ignite. Also, you need to be able to get to it quickly before it spreads. Longer than a few minutes, and your whole car is toast. But where and how to mount it...

I guess the Sparco option is a good one, but you'd need a few of those to do the job, right? And you need a quick access location. I think for me that would be behind the door longitudinal. I have a way of cramming stuff in behind the front seat.

JGalt, I recall that in the 60s Porsche used to have a gas powered heater too. I'm sure that thing was like a bomb. And it doesn't get as hot there as it does here in the Western US.

Richde.....You have no idea how hot it gets here, trust me on that. It's roasting outside as I type this. If you put your ipod on the car seat in the morning, come back in the afternoon, you'll have a melted ipod. Now, fire extinguisher is in the SAME car, at the SAME heat. It's enough to at least give you pause. Look again at the exploded fire extinguisher. As yourself if there was no danger, then why is the US Forest Service concerned? By the way, that happened less than an hour and a half away from here, and it gets MUCH hotter here where I live.

Actually they are advertised as being better than a normal fire extinguisher in terms of how long they last. Check out the info on their site. I have never used this nor have I used a normal fire extinguisher so I cannot vouch for either.

What I can say is that I bought a new fire extinguisher from a respectable store in Germany and a few months later I noticed that the pressure on its gauge read zero. When I tried it, there was nothing in there. If it hadn't had a gauge on it I wouldn't have known that it was empty until a few months after that (I mean every when do you refill these things). This is the main reason I changed to this Fire Eater thing.

Yeah, I do. I used to live in Merced and my parents live in Vegas now. Ever been to Saudi Arabia in August?

Has there been an incident of someone on this board that had an extinguisher explode? Quite a few people do have fire extinguishers, some of them live in hot climates.

My point is, if this was really an issue to worry about, it would have already come up.

The cargo compartment of an airplane in flight is cold, the oxygen cylinder didn't explode because of heat, probably something caused it to rupture by physically damaging the cylinder.

Rich, it has come up.

Sequoia-National-Park-Ranger-pickup-damaged-by-exploding-fire-extinguisher.....

here's a link
http://www.nmsu.edu/~safety/news/news-items/vehicle_fe_explosion2003.htm

you have this negative attitude in most of your posts. I suggest if you don't have anything to contribute, then say "I don't have anything to contribute"

Sounds to me a bit like the old "I won't wear a seat belt because I don't want to be trapped in a burning wreck/I want to be thrown to safety in a crash." It comes down to what you think is more likely I guess...

a fire extinguisher in this case isn't very likely to save your life. It's a case of I want to try to save the car, but I don't want to carry a potential bomb around in the meanwhile.

Say the odds are one in a million...one in ten million. If it goes and you are inside the car, it no longer matters what the odds are. So, there must be a way to place these things or select a system that, even if it blows, you are not going to be severly injured. I mean once you have been warned, it seems foolish to automatically assume that the warning is bunk.

rusnak,
I am with you on the temp. here where we live. It can be way above 120F. Sure I don't want the FE to explode and hurt myslef, and create the crash myself. How about putting the FE somewhere safe, not from the heat but from the driver/passenger. Or maybe inside a box... create a compartment for it?

yeah Ron, I agree with the box idea. Maybe a hinged metal cover behind the driver's seat would do it.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1217580228.jpg

Sounds easy enough, since I already have the whole big subwoofer box behind me in wooden. But umm... I plan to restore it back to stock seats. Well, I will find a way.
Wonder how strong the pressure is. I don't want to loose my butts if bad luck :)
How about mounting it in the front trunk?

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1217581416.jpg

Never heard of this before and interesting to know.

1 thought though - how many of us actually drive the car when its above 120 inside? do most of us not open the windows or hit the AC once we are in the car and therefore reducing the risk somewhat?

I guess then its just a case of deciding if you want to risk damage to car when left parked in direct sunlight v's having an extinguisher to maybe save the cars bacon one day.

Exactly what I was going to say. I doubt you'd be able to survive more than a few minutes in the temperatures that would make a FE explode. A car parked in direct sunlight is known to reach more than 50C inside the cabin on a very hot day.

You get what you pay for. The extinguisher in the above image is obviously of inferior quality, it looks like the base of the cylinder was attached by a rolled seam just like a spray paint can.
Buy a quality extinguisher that has fully welded seams and an inbuilt pressure relief system. If you are worried about your FE over pressurizing on a hot day check the gauge see if the pressure has built up. I have used FE's where the outside air temp is over 40C, imagine what the cabin temp is, and never had a problem. When you are trapped in a burning car and the track fire marshalls are a bit slow it's good having something that keeps the flames away that little bit longer.

Hey that's only my opinion, each to their own.