Fire extinguisher

[JSailer]

I need to have my engine compartment fire extinguisher checked.
I do not know the last time it was done.

I am assuming it has to be weighed and the cartridge has to be tested or changed...
Any advice or feedback from experience?
Who do you go to for something like this?
And how often should it be done?

Thanks.

[tommays]

They sell marine UL units at home depot unless its some kind of giant unit a new would cost less than testing

[JSailer]

Originally Posted by tommays

They sell marine UL units at home depot unless its some kind of giant unit a new would cost less than testing

Thanks but maybe I didn't make it clear that it is an automatic, thermo-discharged bottle, mounted inside the engine compartment.
Not a hand bottle.

Is that what you were referring to?

[Minnewaska]

Try a local commercial fire extinguisher company. The ones that certify the extinguishers in commercial buildings. It can be as simple as certifying it visually or as complex as discharging, then testing the integrity of the bottle and refilling. Some bottles will expire after a period of time and beome unserviceable.

Which unit do you have? Talking with the manufacturer might help too.

[JSailer]

Originally Posted by Minnewaska

Try a local commercial fire extinguisher company. The ones that certify the extinguishers in commercial buildings. It can be as simple as certifying it visually or as complex as discharging, then testing the integrity of the bottle and refilling. Some bottles will expire after a period of time and beome unserviceable.

Which unit do you have? Talking with the manufacturer might help too.

Thanks. I will have to look closer at the one I have.
Last time I looked, I could not really read any markings as the bottle is old.
I'll take it out to check.

[LinekinBayCD]

You didnt say what the agent was. Given that it is old and in an engine compartment it may be a Halon extinguisher which is no longer available. It would need to be replaced with a Halatron extinguisher.

Do you have an automatic engin kill for the extinguisher? I believe that that is required with a Halon or Halatron automatic system as the air intake would draw the agent out of the compartment renderiing it ineffective.

[JSailer]

No, I don't know what the agent is but like you said, based on age alone I too would bet it is halon.

No engine kill.

[LinekinBayCD]

I considered going with a automatic system but between the system itself and the auto kill for the engine it was at least triple the cost of a fire port and manual Halotron extinguisher before any installation costs. Not much to install with a manual extinguisher. Drill a hole for the fire port and find a place to hang the Halotron. They are significantly larger than the typical marine extinguisher my guess is if you ever need to use it you'd be wishing they were larger.

[JSailer]

I'll look into that option if I can't get the existing bottle to be signed-off.
Thanks.

[Faster]

Our boat came with an auto discharge (not Halon, though initially I thought it was). I've been able to have a fire ext service company sign off on it twice.. as long as the weight is legit it's good to go.

Unbelieveably I've made that trip twice, and never been charged for the service. The second time I did buy a new extinguisher to replace an old non-rechargable, but the rest of the service was gratis... unusual in this day and age.