Old Fire extinguisher

I have come across an old fire extinguisher that hasn't been recharged since 2008, I would rather not reach for it in case of fire, but ain't quite sure what to do with it. It's a little guy, not much scrap value. Should I just take it to a business that deals with 'em? Also, anybody found a good way to get rid of old paint?

Contact your city officials and ask if there is an ongoing or upcoming hazardous waste disposal date. I know there is a time once a year that we can take unknown farm chemicals to one place in the county and they dispose of them properly and free. There are similar projects in many cities and most accept paint.

Mech beat me to it, but yep, Corycouch is the man in regard to those. If you do a search on them, you should pull up a couple threads by him on it.

Good info them archives, sometimes you just gotta dig really, really, deep.

Sirscrapalot - Pfffffftsssshhtt!

I shall... this was actually just a ploy to get a custom quote from the Sir! Zing!

I once had an old fire extinguisher, a large one, I think a 20. Not sure exactly what it was but about twice the size of a normal office one(5A-10BC etc) It was a discard from an old office building we were remodeling, expired etc, sent to the dumpster, but not put in it, just left sitting there. I eventually threw it in the car and took it home, but it wound up in the storage for about ten years, then in the barn for another 5 or so.
Eventually I was working with a guy who had once worked refilling/recharging them, and one time he was by the house and I had it setting out, and asked him what he thought about it. I had long presumed it would still been good but after he bumped it around awhile, took a rubber mallet to it, and anything else he could think of, decided the powder inside must been caked.
Prior to moving from there I had thoughts of tossing it into a dumpster, but the reading on the pressure gauge still worried me(picturing some guy on a dozer at the landfill running over and it blowing up on him). Well, I finally did the un-imaginable, pulled the pin, and then the trigger. Never test one this way, or it will be ruined for dependable use(I've heard once that powder gets across the seal they'll no longer dependably hold a charge)
Anyway, I walked to a side of the place where, if it chose to do so, it could disperse harmlessly across a wide open space. Well, it did... that thing spewed... and spewed.....and spewed....I could have put out ten major fires with that monster before it finally stopped

Originally Posted by Bear

but the reading on the pressure gauge still worried me(picturing some guy on a dozer at the landfill running over and it blowing up on him). Well, I finally did the un-imaginable, pulled the pin, and then the trigger. Never test one this way, or it will be ruined for dependable use(I've heard once that powder gets across the seal they'll no longer dependably hold a charge)

Thanks, I didn't know that.

The powder, I think, is baking soda. (Sodium BiCarbonate) Once it heats up, its looses a molecule of Carbon dioxide & becomes Sodium Carbonate. The Carbon dioxide hopefully puts the fire out....
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Soooooooooooo many times I have heard this > "Hey lets let the thing off, it'll be fun".

Followed by "Why on earth did you do that you idiot?, the stuffs in my eyes, I can't see anything, what the hell is that stuff? Its everywhere. I can't breath. Why, why did you Do that!?"

Originally Posted by Bear

Well, it did... that thing spewed... and spewed.....and spewed....I could have put out ten major fires with that monster before it finally stopped

I've got a stack of old extinguishers. It's impossible to empty one without attracting attention. -- If an emergency arises and it has flames involved, I am SO ready.

As far as old paint if it has dried in the can then it can go in with the steel buy me (if it still in a metal can that is) I hate the gallon plastic paint cans...

Well so much for sending you a Christmas present of them. I'll just resort to the fallback of sending beer, an a picture of the cooler.

Sirscrapalot - Da Roof, da roof..da roof is on fire! - Some song.

I forgive you Cory. Your legend will stand as the master of the extinguisher tho, we have you immortalized in the forums.

Sirscrapalot -

Cory's tales of fire extinguishers prompted me to buy a lot on govdeals in 2012. It didn't seem like such a large lot so I went to pick them up without a trailer. Big mistake. By the time I got the back of my Pathfinder all packed out I thought I was going to bust the suspension. Gawd those things are heavy.

In Iraq we would line them up on a barrier and shoot them..... just a nice white puff when you hit them. AHHH leaving that country was the best.