This morning my 3 year old grandson saw me smacking all the household fire extinguishers against my anvil and wanted to know why.

My first reply was that I was going fishing this coming weekend and wanted to get a headstart on my daylight savings time change routine.

From the look on his face (like the one I give him when he forgets to say please or thank you), I could tell didn't like my answer.

Here's a summary of my second attempt to answer his question.

The following is based on first hand experience and recommendations from a retired fireman.

Background: After hanging for a year, the powder in an ABC fire extinguisher will settle and set in the bottom. The longer it hangs, the harder it sets up. (If you want to see for yourself, grab yours and give it a shake--if you can't feel and hear the powder moving, it's packed.)

My experience: I have a sister in law that lives with me and she's a firebug (too much oil in the deep fryer, Christmas presents on top of a 500 watt pole lamp, portable bathroom heater to close her bedding, etc). A couple of the times when I grabbed the closest extinguisher, all I got out of it was air.

Fireman's recommendation: When you change your clocks:

(1) put new batteries in your smoke detectors (the ones that I take out go into the remote control bag).

(2) Collect all your extinguishers and one-by-one beat them up. Rap them against something hard but don't hit them so hard that you leave big dents. Then give them a good shaking like you would a can of spray paint. If you can't get it to free up, replace it with a new one.

(3) Hang or lay the extinguishers horizontally. They won't pack up that bad.

(4) If you need to use it rap it against something before squeezing the handle.

My boat owner recommendation:

Add mugging your extinguishers to your biannual maintenance list.

Be safe and GO OUT AND GET SOME
PapaD

This morning my 3 year old grandson saw me smacking all the household fire extinguishers against my anvil and wanted to know why.

My first reply was that I was going fishing this coming weekend and wanted to get a headstart on my daylight savings time change routine.

From the look on his face (like the one I give him when he forgets to say please or thank you), I could tell didn't like my answer.

Here's a summary of my second attempt to answer his question.

The following is based on first hand experience and recommendations from a retired fireman.

Background: After hanging for a year, the powder in an ABC fire extinguisher will settle and set in the bottom. The longer it hangs, the harder it sets up. (If you want to see for yourself, grab yours and give it a shake--if you can't feel and hear the powder moving, it's packed.)

My experience: I have a sister in law that lives with me and she's a firebug (too much oil in the deep fryer, Christmas presents on top of a 500 watt pole lamp, portable bathroom heater to close her bedding, etc). A couple of the times when I grabbed the closest extinguisher, all I got out of it was air.

Fireman's recommendation: When you change your clocks:

(1) put new batteries in your smoke detectors (the ones that I take out go into the remote control bag).

(2) Collect all your extinguishers and one-by-one beat them up. Rap them against something hard but don't hit them so hard that you leave big dents. Then give them a good shaking like you would a can of spray paint. If you can't get it to free up, replace it with a new one.

(3) Hang or lay the extinguishers horizontally. They won't pack up that bad.

(4) If you need to use it rap it against something before squeezing the handle.

My boat owner recommendation:

Add mugging your extinguishers to your biannual maintenance list.

Be safe and GO OUT AND GET SOME
PapaD

It's something I wish I could unsee. After being in a flood n losing alot of stuff n a giant clean up. We still had a house n our lives. I personally know folks that got out with their lives n the clothes they was wearing. Lost everything else. My wife is clueless. Walked in one day n smelled something. She sat a candle undera table lamp n the heat started melting the plastic on the lamp shade. Still can't get her to stop putting flammable items on the stove top. She ruined a $200 on sale leather pocket book by doing just that. I think she'd learn after a SIL had two grease fire n damaged the kitchen. Plus smoke damage 👍

My 2 cents worth learned while driving truck. A lot of trucks have an extinguisher mounted on the floor under the drivers seat near the door so it can be reached from outside when the door is opened. Install it in the mount with the base facing forward and the handle facing back.
I learned the hard way! The pin had vibrated out unbeknownst to me. I was traveling down I-95 at 60 mph. I shifted in the seat and swung my foot. I heard a hiss and the cab filled with white fog. 4 lanes wide, I was second in from the right. Couldn’t see out the front and couldn’t see either mirror. I could hear traffic going by me but couldn’t see them. I signaled and started moving toward the shoulder but that was scary also as there was marsh on the sides of the freeway. The right window was down slightly and a puff of air swirled the powder just enough to see where I was. Stopped safely and jumped out for fresh air. My supervisor was with me for a check ride. We were both completely white. I did get good marks for handling an emergency!
A long story but the point is: During your pre-trip (whether truck or boat) make sure you have your extinguisher, make sure the pin is in place, and make sure you can’t accidentally bump the trigger.
Stay safe!