Stainless Steel Extinguishers.

[Tom Sutton]

I have 3 stainless steel water fire extinguishers that were purchased in 1987 and have been serviced annually. During a recent service, the agent refuse to conduct work on these extinguishers due to "wrong colour" - stainless steel with red "Water" commercial produced labels.
 
I understand these can be legally retained until they can no longer be serviced, or are unserviceable. Could you kindly advise and recommend a course of action - service / replace / paint red etc.
 
It seems such a shame to replace units which are fully functional.

I received this enquiry recently and it seems a little harsh any comments. I have asked for more information but not given a response yet.

[jokar]

The BS is recommendation only and these extinguishers providing they are serviceable are ok for use.  It seems an agent is trying it on.  Please look at previous threads on the subject of stainless steel extinguishers.  I think Anthony Buck summed it all up quite concisely.

[John Dragon]

We are more than happy to service these extinguishers as long as parts are available for them.
Most are Amerex, so parts not a problem.
Some e.g. Badger or Abtex - genuine parts no longer available.

[Tom Sutton]

I did a search and found 4 threads thanks jokar I remembered the painting the extinguishers to match the decor thread but not the others. Lesson learned start with a search.

[Chris Houston]

Change the service contactor, not the extinguishers.  British Standards are just recommendations, as long as your fire risk assessment concludes that the ones you have are OK and it is done properly, then you have no problem.

[Midland Retty]

Yes agreed. Either the engineer is misinformed or is trying it on. Its always good to remind people like that that you can take your money elsewhere....infact might find the engineer has a miraculous change of heart you did!

[Psuedonym]

Sack the service company they are trying to rip you off. Any engineer out there who doesn't know the regulations and recommendations (Ask him which Part of BS5306 states a S/S unit is not legal) should not be carrying out the work or they do and are trying it on.
Either way, pay for the work carried out and include a letter cancelling the contract.

[AnthonyB]

Most has already been said here & by me in similar old threads.

There is nothing wrong with a 1987 Stainless Steel Water unless:
a) It has a dent in the cylinder (or a deep gouge), or similar damage to the threads, etc
b) The stainless has been scratched and corrosion has taken place
c) The unit cannot retain pressure due to a valve leak in the head (or the head/gauge is impact damaged) and either a new head/valve is no longer available (e.g. Abtex) or would end up costing more than a new extinguisher.

In other words it has become unsafe for use or un-servicable due to lack of parts. Just needs annual Basic Services & 5 yearly Extended Services like anything else.

Stainless steels were preferred by some not just for appearance, but for long life & durability, hence the MoD using Chubb S/S waters, powders & foams for over 20 years after stocks of the 70's/early 80's Rampart (also chubb) cartridge & chemical stuff wore out.

It wasn't one of the same group of companies that likes putting little square yellow 'corrective action required' stickers on extinguishers left, right & centre was it (I liked the way they used easy peel adhesive on them - makes my job of ripping them off again far simpler!)

[The Reiver]

Are you sure it's just the colour that's wrong ?
If they're 20+ years old, the linings probably lifted or split.

I joke not. I have on file a copy of a rec. report from a certain BAFE registered SP 101 company(c/w BAFE registered ST 104 technicians) stating just that. And because they are one of the most respected names in the business it must be true.

[Psuedonym]

Go on, do tell us...!!

[AnthonyB]

For those not in the know, the joke is that Stainless Steel extinguishers don't have plastic linings as they don't need them!

There is a fair chance a poly lining has lifted after 20 years, but have still found some 70's waters with the linings going strong and with a very small number of 60's waters I've still in service they'll never loose their plastic lining - as they haven't got one (zinc lining of the Universal (Royal Navy) Water extinguishers from when Nu Swift kit was a cut above the rest)

I wonder who the BAFE company was too - some suspects come to mind.....

[Clevelandfire]

For those not in the know, the joke is that Stainless Steel extinguishers don't have plastic linings as they don't need them!

There is a fair chance a poly lining has lifted after 20 years, but have still found some 70's waters with the linings going strong and with a very small number of 60's waters I've still in service they'll never loose their plastic lining - as they haven't got one (zinc lining of the Universal (Royal Navy) Water extinguishers from when Nu Swift kit was a cut above the rest)

I wonder who the BAFE company was too - some suspects come to mind.....

Yes - indeed

I wish we could name and shame.

Challenge them all the way Fire Extinguisher companies are the biggest offenders when it comes to Fire Safety related scams and it has to stop. FOr god sake any layman reading this , if youre fire extinguisher "engineer" (technician even none of them are engineers in the true sense of the word) make recoommendations run it past this forum first.

[f500]

Unfortunately the biggest companies with the most "recognised qualifications" seem to be the worst offenders in my experience, but no-one has any power to do anything about the rogue companies because a lot of them are on the committee!

[nim]

I have 3 stainless steel water fire extinguishers that were purchased in 1987 and have been serviced annually. During a recent service, the agent refuse to conduct work on these extinguishers due to "wrong colour" - stainless steel with red "Water" commercial produced labels.

The engineer shouldn't have refused to service these extinguishers but if these are not the only water extinguishers on the premises then:

Extract from;
BRITISH STANDARD BS 5306-8:2000

Fire extinguishing installations and equipment on premises

Part 8: Selection and installation of portable fire extinguishers - Code of practice

4.4 Avoidance of multiplicity of types
To avoid confusion, all extinguishers installed in any one floor of a building or single occupancy should have the same method of operation and if intended for the same function should all be similar in shape, appearance and colour. These precautions apply equally to temporary replacement units supplied during maintenance operations (see BS 5306-3, 8.5.3).

[Tom Sutton]

I have checked this out.

The premises are holiday apartments. One water stainless steel fire extinguisher is located on each level corridor (ground floor, first floor and second floor). There are no other fire extinguishers in this part of the building. The stainless steel extinguishers are pre-pressurised with pressure gauge.
 
At the rear there are two self-contained apartments in an extension, not connected internally to the main building. As they considered these too far from the main building in case of emergency, they have installed a small dry powder extinguisher in each.