Pyrene Fire Extinguishers WW11

[Tim Bell]

Originally Posted by Chris Suslowicz

Yikes!

If it's full of Carbon Tet (tetrachloromethane, CCl4) that's not something you want to keep around, because it does evaporate and is fairly nasty stuff. (If used on a fire you can get carbonyl chloride (Phosgene, COCl2) produced depending on the flame temperature, etc.

Best regards,
Chris.

Chris

I was told once (not a chemist) that if you mix with water on a fire you can also get Chlorine gas.

As you say - nasty stuff - marginally better than getting burned though!

Tim

[Chris Suslowicz]

Originally Posted by Tim Bell

Chris

I was told once (not a chemist) that if you mix with water on a fire you can also get Chlorine gas.

As you say - nasty stuff - marginally better than getting burned though!

Tim

Worse than that, heat + water vapour + carbon tet:

CCl4 + H2O -> COCl2 (phosgene) + 2 HCl (hydrogen chloride/hydrochloric acid)

The idea of it as a fire suppressant is that it's heavier than air and will exclude oxygen from the fire, thus putting it out. The problems arise if it doesn't put the fire out and the temperature is high enough to break down the firefighting agent. (You then get toxic and corrosive gases formed.)

Even Halon can be ineffective on some metal fires... and the only thing you can put out titanium with is titanium dioxide - burying it to exclude anything it will react with, because it will break the oxygen out of water, carbon dioxide or sand, and the halogens out of Halon and just carry on burning. (If you can get enough water onto some fires it will work by lowering the temperature, but a spray won't do it if it's a big one.)

Chris.
(Remembering that someone had a garage full of 50 gallon drums of sodium metal that caught fire - an interesting problem for the fire crew and nasty for the local residents (including a friend of mine).)

[Alex van de Wetering]

I have also heard it's quite effective as paint stripper......


On the subject of extinguishers...I have seen brackets with 6 mounting holes and ones with 5 mounting holes......manufacturer difference only?? CMP rear walls are drilled for 6 holes if I am correct.

And that clamp.....my bracket doesn't have one, but I have seen people using the clamp of a repro jeep extinguisher bracket to merge with a Pyrene bracket.

[Lynn Eades]

Alex, my understanding is that the six hole ones were military and the civvy ones were five hole? I don't know for sure, but an example is the Carrier (U.C.)bracket has six holes (covered by your CMP comment)

[r.morrison]

Well .....after reading Professor Chris's description of what I have here, maybe I should just put it at the side of the road and phone the fire department and tell them I found a toxic bomb from WW11! You guys are giving me the heebie jeebies! With the exception of the removal of "french fry grease" or possibly "poutine" stains Bob!!
Well according to the bracket and the information supplied by Lynn and Alex, this puppy has 6 mounting holes on the bracket, but again it's 17 inches long (whether that has anything to do with it). Thanking all for the insight!
I've included some photos.
Cheers....Robert

[Chris Suslowicz]

Originally Posted by r.morrison

Well .....after reading Professor Chris's description of what I have here, maybe I should just put it at the side of the road and phone the fire department and tell them I found a toxic bomb from WW11! You guys are giving me the heebie jeebies! With the exception of the removal of "french fry grease" or possibly "poutine" stains Bob!!

Heh. I did 'A' level Chemistry about half a century ago and a lot of it stuck.

It's safe enough as long as it doesn't leak and you inhale the fumes or get it on your skin. (The real no-no was smoking while using it to clean stuff: that really could give you a dose of phosgene poisoning.)

Modern school teaching of Chemistry is nowhere near as exciting as it used to be, but probably a lot safer for all concerned. My main annoyance is that I can't buy things that used to be available 'over the counter' without a background check and a licence that cost as much as a Firearm Certificate - so I can't get Sulphuric Acid to fill the (dry-charged) Signals batteries I have!

(Not that I actually want to - they only last about 2 years in use, so I just use modern equivalents instead and keep the originals for the collection.)

(Sigh!) "Even the nostalgia isn't as good as it used to be. - Sir Terry Pratchett"

Chris.

[Lynn Eades]

Just to derail your thread a bit Robert, I bought this civvy extinguisher on Trademe. It arrived in the post and is still full.