Halon Extinguishers

[TFEM]

Thought you may like to know that we've just picked up a new customer. It was not hard to convince him that he wasn't getting the best service from his existing supplier! See attached photo! 

[Big_Fella]

Blimey, haven't seen one of those green cans for a while.  WOuld be interesting to know what application this was being used for etc?

[Galeon]

Went in for a bacon sandwich off Regents Street in London last week , and one of these old girls was still hanging on the wall , I hope he is more updated with his food regs than his can.

[kurnal]

Went in for a bacon sandwich off Regents Street in London last week , and one of these old girls was still hanging on the wall , I hope he is more updated with his food regs than his can.

Heard about your liking for old girls. Dissapointed not to see a photo though.

[Galeon]

Its the non Gary Glitter Effect

[Big_Fella]

Good 2 see they have had such regular and prompt service on this can LOL 

[Chris Houston]

Its the non Gary Glitter Effect

Let's try and keep this thread on topic, or at least away from that one.  Thanks.

[Thomas Brookes]

Month late in 2007,do you think this guy keeps up to date.

Dont mension any names but give a few details about the old company.

Does he claim service to BS5306 etc
His it a memberof any bodys
etc etc.

Not trying to crusify anyone just interested in what sort of company services green cans

[Big_Fella]

Just out of interest as extinguishers isn't my fortay.... what sort of tests would need to be conducted on this Halon extinguisher for it to be deemed as 'been serviced'?

[AnthonyB]

Firstly the possession or servicing of a Halon extinguisher other than on the 'Excepted Uses' list is a criminal offence under the The Environmental Protection (Controls on Ozone-Depleting Substances) Regulations 2002.

To correctly service the extinguisher (if you were legally permitted to) would involve first ensuring a safety pin was securely in place (safety). You would see if 10 years or more had elapsed since the last Extended service (if so the unit would be withdrawn and sent to a recovery station for halon recovery and then recharged). If within 10 years an external visual inspection for dents, cracks and gouges in the cylinder & any similar damage to the head cap/valve. If no significant damage you would see if the weight of the cylinder was that marked on the previous service as the full weight (to a tolerance of 10% of the extinguishing mass, so a 1.5kg extinguisher has a 150g margin of error before requiring a recharge). The pressure gauge would be checked visually and then with a testing tool (to ensure that it is telling the truth and is not stuck) and a test dot sticker applied. The safety pin would be pulled to check for free movement and then refitted with a new seal. You would ensure any operating labels were still legible and if all is well fill in the service label for a Basic Service.

The only halon that should be in use is on an airplane or helicopter, police or military use, and fire service use for the initial extinguishment of persons on fire. In practice the military have stopped using halon in portables anyway (may still be in some systems), The police only use it mainly for equipping riot officers in disorder where petrol bombs may be being used, the fire service don't seem to use it at all and the air industry remains the biggest user (for numbers of extinguishers) although the police probably consume the largest amount of halon as they still use it in training whereas the air industry don't using water filled units on an LPG rig.

Several one/two man bands still 'service' according to 1970's standards, I've mentioned Town & Country Before and there are several others.

Digressing a little I've noted several major companies are slimming down the parts they use as they don't seem to keep 55g cartridges on the vans any more - time and time again I see 'due ES - no carts on van' on service labels. Also very few people use the frangible Chubb & Ceo-Deux safety pins properly any more, reusing broken ones and tagging intact ones.

[fireftrm]

Resuing 'broken' Chubb  pins makes perfect sense. The cost compared to using it again with a seal, not to mention the environmental impact, seems entirley sensible.

[Thomas Brookes]

The problem with not using the correct pins & ok indicator is that it is not being serviced with accordance with the manufactures instructions.

[fireftrm]

Yes and so? Using the correct pin, but without their indicator?
Do you, religously, use the car polish, oil, screenwash, car wash etc that the manufacturer recommends?
As long as the pin fits, there is a tamperproof seal and the extinguisher is serviced correctly then there is no problem.
What about a pin and indicator not of Chubb manaufacture, but identical in operation, there are plenty of replacement makes available, or maybe just reuse the pin and use a tamperproof seal instead - oh a circle argument

[AnthonyB]

It also invalidates the extinguisher's BSEN approval as the combination results in the need to use too much force to break.

If you are purely bothered about cutting costs the Ceo-Deux frangible pin is replaceable by a steel pin and ring type safety pin that fits exactly & one national company demanded this of their maintenance company for all the extinguishers across their UK premises after a nasty incident where someone rotated the frangible pin whilst pulling and the pin body stuck (the hole in the head and the original pins were D shaped, not round) & the plastic ring bit snapped off. The body of the pin was stuck and until someone found some pliers to extract it the extinguisher couldn't be discharged. Problem was this wasn't at a training session, but a real fire!

I'll admit the reuse of broken pins is low down on the scale of slack practices (unless you charge the customer the price of a new frangible pin!) and companies like that in the original post are the real problem

[Psuedonym]

The snapping off of the D ring pins is a real issue with this type of pin i.e. the pull ring area (D) of the actual pin snapping rather than the snap off part of the pin allowing the release of the pin. Anthony is quite correct in his summary regarding this being of low importance for a client until of course you point it out and the subsequent problems caused from a snapped plastic pin stuck in the operating handle of an extinguisher. It them becomes an issue.
As for adding a plastic snap off seal to a plastic D ring type pin, this too leads to similar problems and should be avioded. Especially if a D ring has not been pulled (poor servicing) and this safety feature then has the original D ring with the circular part holding it in coupled with a metal pin plastic seal. Trying to release a D ring pin with two seals fitted is bloody difficult rendering the operation of an extinguisher impossible and only leaves a fire situation with a potential fire fighter (staff member for example) struggling to release a pin and putting themselves at further risk.
In my opinion these D ring type pins are a safety risk and a sales con for unscrupulous engingeers, who deems a unit unfit for use and replaces it with a new unit at uneccessary cost to the client.
Unfortunately my humble opinion doesn't travel to the upper echelons of the manufacturers who are only interested in unit sales not safety.