Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 10:21:09 -0700
Reply-To: Stuart MacMillan <macmillan@home.com>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Stuart MacMillan <macmillan@home.com>
Subject: Re: Ever wonder what's in your fire extinguisher?
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Well, maybe it's time for that Eurovan camper! Or maybe this stuff will
clean the old corrosion off of some of my wiring connections!
I'll just get trailer for the fire extinguisher, I'm not putting another
one of these things inside!
Matthew Pollard wrote:
>
> Stu- that ain't baking soda.
>
> It is way way way worst- It is ammonia phosphate and or ammonia sulfate.
> (baking soda is sodium bicarbonate.) That stuff is extreamly corrosive. I
> would pull out that vacuum cleaner and go through everything that you can
> find, paying particular attention to the instrument cluster and radio.
> That stuff will eat up electronics, optics- like those high end laser
> mirros you have all over the dash- and aluminum.
>
> As for CO2 extinguishers- a 10 lbs CO2 extinguisher weights about 40 lbs
> (that is 10 lbs of CO2). You need about three times more CO2 as compared
> to the dry chemical ones for the same fire stopping power. Then their is
> Halon, which is chloro-flouro-carbon (cfc :-( that weights less than the
> dry chemical ones for the same stopping power. If you have combustable
> metals (magnesium, titantium, etc) then you need a class D extinguisher-
> those are huge (like 10"x30") and weight about 75lbs for the same stopping
> power.... but chicks dig big fire extinguishers.
>
> Personally, i stick with dry chemical because when my engine is on fire i
> don't give a damn about corrosion!
>
> By the way, why didn't you have a trigger lock on your extinguisher?
> Doooohhhh!
>
> -Matthew
>
> Matthew Pollard http://www.uidaho.edu/~poll7356
> Dept. of Chemistry http://www.chem.uidaho.edu
> University of Idaho http://www.uidaho.edu
>
> On Wed, 25 Apr 2001, Stuart MacMillan wrote:
>
> > Well, I know now! I was loading a long, heavy piece of metal into the
> > old workhorse last weekend and managed to hit the button on the fire
> > extinguisher dead square. Before I could get it stopped, the entire
> > front passenger area was coated with a layer of baking soda! These
> > little buggers really put out an amazing amount of stuff in a short
> > time.
> >
> > Oh, well, the van needed a good cleaning anyway.
> >
> > I wonder if they may CO2 extinguishers that size?
> > --
--
Stuart MacMillan
Seattle
'84 Vanagon Westfalia w/2.1
'65 MGB (Daily driver since 1969)
'74 MGB GT (Restoring sloooowly)
Personal mechanic for:
'70 MGB GT (Daughter's)
Assisting on Restoration (and spending OPM):
'72 MGB GT (Was daughter's, now son's)
'64 MGB (Son's)
Stripped and gone but their parts live on:
'68 MGB, '73 MGB, '67 MGB GT
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