Halon

[longjohn]

I have found 3 old halon extinguishers in a garden shed whilst clearing out the property of a recently deceased relative, anyone know where I can safely dispose of them??

[AnthonyB]

Some local authorities dump sites used to take them as long as they were from domestic premises or similar, that would be your first port of call.

I can also get specialist disposal firms to take them (not cheap though) although if they are in good condition & an age/model of use to the preservation/museum sector I may be able to sort something at no cost to you (a picture would help to determine this)

[longjohn]

Thanks Anthony, May be worth a try they look in good nick once the dust has been removed, I'll try local authority as well. Its East Midlands area by the way

[AnthonyB]

If you can send me a pic I may be able to sort something if you are only in the E.Mids.

[colin todd]

I used to like halon. Now you have made me all nostalgic, shorty. (Sorry to hear about your relative though. Hope no one too close.)

[longjohn]

Thanks Colin, it was good stuff for extinguishing fires wasn't it, apparently an old extinguisher engineer chap I knew used it as deterrent for intruders, kept a halon extinguisher at hand upstairs and always said he would knock em out with halon, claim that he panicked and then he wouldn't get arrested himself for it, there's a marketing opportunity missed!!!!   

[Dinnertime Dave]

As a x RAF firefighter, I recall a bit of BCF in an engine fire was always good. Extinguished the fire without damaging the engine I was taught. Unfortunately it damaged the environment.

[longjohn]

so does the engine!!! and the garden and hedges that were removed to place the third/fourth family car on!!

wonder what the impact on the environment really was for Halon?

[nearlythere]

wonder what the impact on the environment really was for Halon?

If people stopped having fires then very little.

[Mike Buckley]

The problem wasn't using it for fire fighting it was using it for everything else such as coolants in refrigerators etc.. It was also used extensively in stripping paint off aircraft and cleaning, who could forget the empty CTC extinguishers on military bases because the contents had been used for cleaning the uniforms! The amount of Halon used for firefighting was minimal compared with these other uses.

Incidentally I believe that halons are still used for paint stripping aircraft in the UK (under strictly controlled conditions) and by the US military and some developing countries (who just don't care).

[longjohn]

That's it then! I'll just nip them up to East Midlands Airport workshops, here you are chaps I've brought you some paint stripper

[lancsfirepro]

A guy I know deters wasps with Halon. 

[John Webb]

so does the engine!!! and the garden and hedges that were removed to place the third/fourth family car on!!

wonder what the impact on the environment really was for Halon?

It always irked me that the diktat on banning Halon, particularly BCF, was made without, as far as I am aware, any proper assessment of the halon versus combustion products effect on the environment. Certainly no one from the Department of Environment asked the Fire Research Station about the matter, despite the fact we were part of DoE, and were at the time showing that nastier things were being given off in fires than many people appreciated.

[AnthonyB]

The late Tony Hudson told me that halon was good for clearing out wasps....

Was our approach to halon a knee jerk reaction - would the far slower phase out from general use as seen in the USA have been more appropriate?

I have an earlyish ICI brochure in the archive fire collection extolling the use of halon as the panacea to virtually all risks in all sectors yet know it's as if it had never existed and we seem to survive...

I still like it as an agent though, it had it's place, was always effective when I needed it.

[TFEM]

When I first started out on my own, my office was in a new built link between the house and garage. Very often whilst staring at the phone willing it to ring, I would hear the patter of tiny feet above my head. That's when i discovered that Halon was very successful in killing rodents.

Now, on a more serious note. I have today been in a small private airplane with a 0.7kg hand held halon unit installed in 2002. Can anyone point me in the direction of some recommendations/regulations regarding servicing/refilling such units. It has no pressure gauge like many of the old halons. Should it still be tested/recharged at 10 years? Who would do that? Can I buy replacement units? What do any regulations say about extinguishers in private planes?

Any advice appreciated.

John