The tag on a fire extinguisher is really for commercial purpose, so that when the fire department comes through for inspection they can determine when the fire extinguisher was last inspected and is still okay to use.
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Nope. CO2.
http://www.firesafetystore.co.uk/fire-extinguishers/co2-fire-extinguishers/2kg-co2-fire-extinguisher.html?gclid=CKPHsOvIscwCFfAy0wodylABjQ
Our local safety suppliers sells them for about the same sort of money.
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Wonder why the huge price difference? Donāt think CO2 is really regulated at that level here.
Good question.
CO2 and argon are the shielding gases for my welder, and a refill on a small bottle is >$50 - just the fill, whereas the pony bottle of CO2 to push a keg is only about $8 to refill, and has at least the amount of charge as a mid sized extinguisher.
Buildings have automated fire suppression systems, on the scale of our lasers I was thinking about those palm-sized CO2 cartridges for bb guns.
They work by a spring loaded hammer bouncing on a valve to release a puff of pressureized gas.
Wonder if that would be enough to squelch a flair up?
Or I could just connect/ position that keg pusher to the intake and just crack the valve for a secondā¦
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Insurance.
The fire extinguisher folks have to carry a lot of it, and they pass the cost on to you.
The tanks need to be tested and certified, the companies need to be tested and certified, etc.
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I wonder how bad the downside is to having it āuntaggedā. That price is a fraction of cost compared to other sites (Amazon about 2X, Universal restaurant supply - same one is $249 - claiming retail is $400+ for the same model/specs). Canāt beat the $75 price unless it doesnāt save your $4000 GF or house because it didnāt workā¦
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Yes, but given those things all hold true here as well, it does seem that you are paying an awful lot.
We generally perceive goods over on your side of the pond to be cheap, Cars, fuel, food, electronics are all much cheaper.
What is it about extinguishers?
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I suspect the larger cost are environmental concerns, not so much insurance. Once you have a procedure and regulations in place for one gas (ie CO2) canister, other gases can easily be accommodated. Canadians gets taxed through the nuts if we try to import/export Halon extinguishers here, and lots of that is due to our Ozone-depleting Substances Regulations.
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The corollary to insurance is law suits.
This is the cost of doing business in a highly litigious environment.
(Note, the opinions expressed here are my own and are not founded on any real knowledge of the fire extinguisher business beyond casual conversation with the guy who used to refill the extinguishers for the shop I worked at)
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Ah that is a good point. Here in the UK you can only sue for losses. You seem to be able to think up any number you like, then double it and add a few zeroās.
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Something smaller and more inexpensive I came across were these aqueous foam extinguishersā¦
the small saving grace is that theyāre bio-degradable and not CO2, but that foam would probably be nasty.
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Having a pail of baking soda nearby is a good idea. I was cutting cardboard today when I had a tiny flare up. And the exhaust fan was making it worse drawing the flames up the tubes of the cardboard. A pile of baking soda stopped the fire from getting out of control and prevented me from having to use the fire extinguisher.
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Iām going to get an extinguisher blanket I think. Might be the cleanest way. (And we already have a fire extinguisher for the big stuff.)
Iām wondering if my best bet would be to use the company that services our churchās extinguishers. Especially since Iāll be using the Glowforge on church property. Iād pay the extra to ensure that I am following best practices. Will check into it. They come once a year to check them all.
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Well I hope they donāt try to milk you like one I called up asking about an 11 lb. Halotron extinguisher. The company I called wanted $600. I laughed as I dropped the receiverā¦
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Nope, but has to be insurance.regulatory, because looking at McMaster-Carr, you can see the water based extinguisher is $139, and you donāt get more environmentally friendly than waterā¦ (comically a spare mounting bracket is $1.16)
CO2 for a 5lb (~2.25kg) is the same price and they go ip to $260 for a 15lb version (and the bracket is 3x as expensive 
). However water is Class-A only, while CO2 is actually B-C only, so given that many people will be cooking wood and cardboard CO2 is actually not recommended. (just be glad you donāt need a Class-D for a welding shop which is $510!). ABC come in cheap (dry chemical) $49-289 or expensive wet-chemical (Halotron) $382-467
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Early in my scientific career, I played a role in developing the rationale for a new ozone sparing halon extinguisher. I developed computer models (on a 286 computer in those days) to predict the effect of chemical structure on ozone depletion potential, effectiveness against fire, and toxicity. The research challenged the prevailing view that halons had to have ozone depleting bromine or chlorine in them to be effective as fire extinguishers. A full 50% of the fire fighting capability comes from the formation of a diradical called difluorocarbene, which is non-ozone depleting. Since most halons are low boiling liquids, 20-30% of the remaining extinguishing capacity comes from the cooling effect of the material evaporating in the fire. Bromine and chlorine in the structure of halons did provide some additional extinguishing capacity, but mainly served to make the halon molecule unstable so that it would fall apart to difluorocarbene. I heard about an early test of a halon fire suppression system in the analytical department of my first post college job. They hadnāt accounted for the over pressures developed from a large release of halon and the test blew out the concrete block wall at the back of the lab.
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So I pulled the trigger and bought this fire extinguisher today on Amazon based on everyoneās opinions on this topic. It has the 9sec discharge which I think would be appropriate for the laser (maybe Iāll buy a CO2 one as well as a back-up)! At $84.33 with free shipping (Prime member), I thought it was a good deal (the link shows $99.50 for some reasonā¦non-Prime pricing?). I put this into CamelCamelCamel and it showed it was only $5 above itās lowest price and a bunch lower than its highest. If youāve never used that website, itās great. Itās where I keep my Amazon wishlist and it sends notices when an item has fallen below the set price youāre willing to pay!
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009WUGRXS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
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Awesome, I may have to pull the trigger on this. For some reason, your link goes to a 3rd party vendor. The Amazon one is $84.33.
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I like that one too. When I started this page, I had thought I wanted a CO2 extinguisher but the discussion just evolved into the Halotron type. Thank you for your post.
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