How do you recharge a fire extinguisher?
A friend has a standard fire extinguisher. I noticed the dial says "recharge." She has lost the manual so we don’t know how to do it. I vaguely remember that you can take them to a fire station, but I could be wrong. Any one know how to do it?
Recharging is only in your best interest if you have a lot of extinguishers in your place, (ie: office, business, etc). Then you woudl have to buy new ones every year and stick receipts to them, (per business Fire Codes). You would be much better off getting a new one from a hardware store. For a basic home, the 1A, 10BC is enough to stop a small fire from spreading, unless you are in a business, then a 2A 10BC is the required min. The 1A refers to the volume in the extinguisher, the 10BC is the sq. footage that you can put out with that extinguisher with little training. The A, B,and C is the different kinds of fires you can put out with that extinguisher (A= ordinary combustables, B=flammable liquids, and C= Electrical fires)
Not fire station. Is done at Extinguisher service company that get most of their income by going around companies and collecting, recharging, and replacing extinguishers - also mounting new ones and putting in fire alarms and related stuff.
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Look up "fire extinguisher" under the yellow pages. Most fire stations do not recharge them. If the extinguisher has a plastic head it probably won’t be recharged as they are notorious for leaking. If it is metal and 10 lbs or under, you are probably better off just buying a new one (by the time you pay for recharge and a 6-year teardown if required you could’ve bought a new one).
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Recharging is only in your best interest if you have a lot of extinguishers in your place, (ie: office, business, etc). Then you woudl have to buy new ones every year and stick receipts to them, (per business Fire Codes). You would be much better off getting a new one from a hardware store. For a basic home, the 1A, 10BC is enough to stop a small fire from spreading, unless you are in a business, then a 2A 10BC is the required min. The 1A refers to the volume in the extinguisher, the 10BC is the sq. footage that you can put out with that extinguisher with little training. The A, B,and C is the different kinds of fires you can put out with that extinguisher (A= ordinary combustables, B=flammable liquids, and C= Electrical fires)
References :
You need to take it to a fire extinguisher dealer/service center. The manual won’t explain how to recharge it yourself and you need to be certified by by the state or whichever agency has jurisdiction in your area. As already mentioned, if it’s small or has a plastic valve, buy another one.
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