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while i was doing a butt load of paper work the person who does our came in and i rememberd the post about them.
i asked what they done with the junk ones? He said they break then down and keep the chemicals.
And what about the bodies i asked ???
He said you want them you can have them as he dont have time to or space for them.:)
SO THANKS TO WHO EVER POSTED IT
your welcome, :) if they are broke down already you have hit a motherload, we have to break ours down we get a few hundred $ a week off of them working between cars, lots and lots of brass i promise you will be happy.
by the way they are pretty simple to break down the assembly im assuming they didnt do that part to. ive been working on the ones with the brass nozzles so far, they have stainless steel handles, at first i tried drilling out the rivets it worked okay, then i tried grinding the ends off the rivets then a hit with the shop hammer this worked way better. also on the hoses depentding on what you have, the ones im working on right now has brass fittings crimped down over the hose, hard as heck to get off, so i just cut it flush with the chopsaw and my yard pays brass breakage for that about 90cents a lb. the thick alum tanks we were getting $9 a piece for them for just the tank if you have any of those thats where i would start. anyway these are my 2nd passion right behind cars wish you luck and if you have any questions ill be happy to try to help
what is the average weight of a standard, empty steel fire extinguisher?
"Why do you guys keep telling new members to read the old threads?"
This is a example of a question I have read on the forum many times now. To all those who ask "why" this thread is the answer. I am over joyed to read someone has taken an idea from the forum and is going to make money with the free knowledge he got here. Yeaaaaaa for you, Mike.
there is no average really for a steel one i probably have 20 different sizes in the yard, id say the small ones we have are about 2lbs which would be worth about 24 cents just for the tank takes about 2 seconds to cut thru witha chop saw, but the hardware is worth way more depending on aluminum or brass. i have a couple tanks ive not cut up yet that are empty that weigh at least 40lbs maybe 50 they are 5ft tall and about 9 inches around used for industrial purposes. thanks miked for your comments i was wondering if anyone would grab ahold of this its alot of hands on work but really no harder than breaking down anything else. ive done the same thing myself about reading old threads, i said when i started this that the computers would never interest me, but now ive got a couple contacts and adds on craigslist for buying computers, its slow right now but we get a couple calls a day usually not impressed with our $5 offer but we will keep on trying :)
corycouch thanks for the inside info
on the alum tanks do you still cut them in 1/2 also
miked i read and read some more till i get brain locked.
yes i still cut them in half, my yard requireds it, another member sent me a pm that he only had to cut a hole in the bottom, just check with your yard, either way its good money and you should have a steady flow of product depending on how large the company is
Quote:
i asked what they done with the junk ones? He said they break then down and keep the chemicals.
And what about the bodies i asked ???
If their pulling the chemicals then haven't they already pulled the fittings out?Quote:
your welcome, if they are broke down already you have hit a motherload,
yes, but the assembly has a valve, handle, and a tube that would still have to be separated, in my experience so far 3 different materials, the hardest part for me it taking the nozzle out of the tank, they are all threaded usually rusty, taped or glued, large pipe wrench and a whack of the hammer usually takes care of it sometimes resorting to the vise, if this is already done for him thats great news, sorry i may not have been clear but the broken down i was referring to was the handles took out.
the gent told me all they do is remove the handles to get the chemicals out.
i don't have much luck trying search, i try using it like google, keywords and click search, don't seem to find anything there pertaining to what i'm looking for
its hard, ive got to where i dont do the search, i just goto the forum i think it should be listed in and scroll down looking at the titles, ive also seen some of the guys used google and with their search scrapmetalforum ive tried with limited results, i like browsing down the list i usually see something i might not have read otherwise
Or if you had Google Desktop you can find it with keywords.
I just meant that they had to pull the innards to get the chemical out, cause it's all attached to the handle. I figured being their brass that the company scrapped them theirselves. He might only get the tanks,,
http://www.scrapmetalforum.com/showt...e+extinguisher
http://i1064.photobucket.com/albums/...s/Photo159.jpg
thats a good lookin pic :)
Questioned a rep I saw get out of a company truck dealing in fire extinguishers and asked him what they did with their throw aways and he said they cut them in half and scrapped them. Oh well, I'll look for the next opportunity.
i took these pics today i found some aluminum ones mixed in with the steel i put a quarter down so you could see how thick they were, the brass valve this is the first one ive found like this i hope i find alot more, the valve, handles, pin and even the chain are brass so i wont have to break it down i just had to take the tube out, i worked till past dark so i had to come in to take the pic
http://i1064.photobucket.com/albums/...s/Photo175.jpg
http://i1064.photobucket.com/albums/...s/Photo176.jpg
i didnt even mean to give a scale for the valve but u can see how big it is next to the ink pen and thats a 12v milwaukee imact driver
You ever come across older extinguishers? I just got 5 American Lafrance soda acid extinguishers with a stainless steel body and a brass handle. 3 are empty and 2 are still full. Didnt find much online as far as selling for more than scrap. Whats the best way to get rid of the soda acid if i want to break them down for scrap or ship whole?
depending on how old they are, some people collect old fire extinguishers. You could always talk to some of the local fire departments.Quote:
Originally Posted by shendog
Looks like they could be items of interest to vintage fire fighting equipment collectors.Quote:
Originally Posted by shendog
Vintage Brass Underwriters American LaFrance Foamite Soda Acid Fire Extinguisher | eBay
Lots of hits on Google refering to the LaFrance models
Ed
Thanks cory for posting this info, and thank you shendog for the bump. This is a great idea!
They are very collectable. One scrap yard near me has 20 or 30 of them up on a shelf. Its amazing that someone turned them in for the brass.
if the soda acid is the same stuff i get is isnt hazardous, with you just having two id just toss it in the trash, just an idea and i dont have time for it but one of the guys i get them from makes lamps out of some of them, and the stainless ones would make a good looking lamp, alot of firefighters are die hard with their job and collect all sorts of stuffQuote:
Originally Posted by shendog
Thanks guys, i think i'll blow out the soda acid, see if i can unscrew the tops to clean them out, and then put on CL or eBay. Maybe even make a lamp lol. Great suggestions....will let you know how it goes.
I just found a deal where I can get two storage sheds full of fire extinguishers. But, I am a little hesitant to take them, because I don't know where to get rid of the powder. It would be easy enough to spray them in a barrel. But what about the ones that have powder but no pressure? If I saw them in half I would get metal shavings in the powder. Then nobody would want to reuse it. If I sheared them in half the bottom half would still be full of powder. Because the shear would smash it shut. What do you guys do? I know I would have powder all over the place...haha
I've seen that discussed in another thread IB, might try looking through the "similar threads" links on bottom the page