myred911 Posted 22January, 2014 Report Share Posted 22January, 2014 Greetings all, As I prep my car for the PCV event @ PI next weekend, I checked the fire extinguisher (now close to being "out-of-date). Off to the local car parts shops to buy a replacement. Well! Most of the .9kg models are now made in China! The latest build date I could find was May 2013. That basically means that I lose 8 of 24 months of currency. Has anyone else experienced this or can contribute to the discussion. Cheers rEd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony1 Posted 22January, 2014 Report Share Posted 22January, 2014 Try Bunnings their stock moves fairly quickly, or else you have to go to some where like Wormald and pay the additional premium Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myred911 Posted 22January, 2014 Author Report Share Posted 22January, 2014 Did the Bunnings, Supercheap & AutoPro up this way, lucked out on anything with a later build date. Sheesh! Might have to come to the big smoke to buy one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OZ930 Posted 23January, 2014 Report Share Posted 23January, 2014 Can't the extinguishers get checked and reweighed, then retagged (certified) ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony1 Posted 23January, 2014 Report Share Posted 23January, 2014 unfortunately that process costs more than buying a new imported one these days especially for the little FEs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myred911 Posted 23January, 2014 Author Report Share Posted 23January, 2014 Hi OZ, Yr right about the re-check and re-tag, the CFA have been offering this service at PCV events for a few years. - all credit to them. My point really is that the imported extinguishers (in this case) are already well into their currency period before we even get to use them. To any drivers competing this year a check on the build date pressed into the cylinder is worthwhile. In this case the date was stamped on the lower part of the cylinder, others I have seen are stamped on the neck. My older extinguishers get relegated to the workshop. Hopefully never to be used in anger rEd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OZ930 Posted 23January, 2014 Report Share Posted 23January, 2014 Hi OZ, Yr right about the re-check and re-tag, the CFA have been offering this service at PCV events for a few years. - all credit to them. My point really is that the imported extinguishers (in this case) are already well into their currency period before we even get to use them. To any drivers competing this year a check on the build date pressed into the cylinder is worthwhile. In this case the date was stamped on the lower part of the cylinder, others I have seen are stamped on the neck. My older extinguishers get relegated to the workshop. Hopefully never to be used in anger rEd Ok, with you now.. and this check is more a pressure cylinder check then, because I have seen checks done on portable extinguishers in aeroplanes and it is a visual inspection and reweigh to confirm the weight (contents) are in tact. These are BCF though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airhead Posted 23January, 2014 Report Share Posted 23January, 2014 I've got 2 workshops FULL of good but out of date extinguishers. At least that problem starts to go away as CAMS have decided you don't need one in a circuit race car anymore. Go figure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myred911 Posted 23January, 2014 Author Report Share Posted 23January, 2014 This is what CAMS have to say about this. One issue with these extinguishers is that the powder tends to settle. The CFA re-tagging is really confined to ensuring the pressure is within the working limit and the date is OK. They may give the bottle a quick shakeup too. The cost to replace is minimal, the failure to do so possibly catastrophic and the peace of mind worthwhile. The real point here is that the imported extinguishers present a "use-by" issue. rEd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GC9911 Posted 23January, 2014 Report Share Posted 23January, 2014 Did the Bunnings, Supercheap & AutoPro up this way, lucked out on anything with a later build date. Sheesh! Might have to come to the big smoke to buy one. "Big smoke" ??? Is that a fire extinguisher pun? & yes the powder in the extinguishers does settle especially if installed in a moving(vibrating) vehicle, recently one of my truck drivers pulled over to assist a motorist whose car was on fire, got the extinguisher out, pulled the lever & Pfffffff, nothing!!! Turns out you should take the extinguisher out of the cradle every 6-12 months & turn it over a couple of times to stop the powder settling & getting compacted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myred911 Posted 23January, 2014 Author Report Share Posted 23January, 2014 "Big smoke" ??? Is that a fire extinguisher pun? & yes the powder in the extinguishers does settle especially if installed in a moving(vibrating) vehicle, recently one of my truck drivers pulled over to assist a motorist whose car was on fire, got the extinguisher out, pulled the lever & Pfffffff, nothing!!! Turns out you should take the extinguisher out of the cradle every 6-12 months & turn it over a couple of times to stop the powder settling & getting compacted. Had to work hard on that pun. Glad someone picked it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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