Usually, someone who requirements a fire extinguisher will invest in an ABC fire extinguisher devoid of providing much believed to the actual fire hazards they want to protect against. When shopping for fire extinguishers, you will need to know a number of things about extinguishers in order to make an informed decision, particularly, the fire class you want to shield against and unique circumstances you will need to take into consideration (pc electronics, for example).

Classes of fire extinguishers

When it comes to fire extinguishers, there are 5 classes of fires: A, B, C, D, and K.

Class A – Fire extinguishers rated for Class A fires have a green triangle with an “A” in the center as effectively as a pictogram of a garbage can and wood burning. These extinguishers are employed to place out fires for widespread combustibles like paper, cloth, rubber, and some plastics (supplies that leave ash when burnt, hence, the “A”).
Class B – Fire extinguishers rated for Class B fires have a red square with a “B” in the center as nicely as a pictogram of a gasoline can with a burning puddle. These extinguishers are made use of to extinguish fires for flammable liquids like gasoline, lubricating oil, diesel fuel, and numerous organic solvents found in laboratories (items located in barrels, hence “B”).
Class C – Fire extinguishers rated for Class C fires have a blue circle with a “C” in the center as well as a pictogram of an electric plug with a burning outlet. These extinguishers are employed to extinguish electrical fires for energized electrical gear, electric motors, circuit panels, switches, and tools (“C” for existing-electrical).
Class D – Fire extinguishers rated for Class D fires have a yellow pentagram (star) with a “D” in the center as nicely as a pictogram of a burning gear and bearing. These extinguishers are made use of to extinguish fires from metals and metal alloys like titanium, sodium, and magnesium.
Class K – Class K fire extinguishers are applied specifically for cooking fires from grease, fat, and cooking oil (“K” for kitchen).
You can get fire extinguishers with a single class rating or many fire class ratings (ABC or BC, for instance).
Fire extinguishing supplies

Fire extinguishers use different materials for extinguishing fires. When picking your extinguisher, you have to have to determine what variety of fire you may be fighting and then pick the finest extinguishing material for your application.

Water: Water, or APW, extinguishers use pressurized water to extinguish fires. APW extinguishers can only be employed for Class A fires (combustibles such as paper, cloth, and so on.) they cannot be made use of for placing out other classes of fires.
Dry chemical: Dry chemicals are made use of to extinguish A-, B-, C-, or D-sort fires. They function by putting a fine layer of chemical dust on the material that is burning. Dry chemical extinguishers are pretty helpful at putting out fires. However, dry chemical extinguishers can be abrasive and corrosive to electronics and specific other materials.
Carbon dioxide: Carbon dioxide works by removing oxygen from the instant vicinity of the fire. Carbon dioxide extinguishers are only ever made use of for B (flammable liquid) and C (electrical fires) extinguishers. For computer system, healthcare and scientific equipment, and aircraft electronics, carbon dioxide would be a greater decision than dry chemical extinguishers because a carbon dioxide extinguisher leaves no residue.
Metal/sand: Some class D fire extinguishers use metal or sand, such as sodium chloride (NaCl) or powdered copper metal, to smother fires from metals and metal alloys.
Special applications
Some fire hazards require specialized extinguishers. Right here are a couple of examples of those applications.

Metal or sand extinguishers are utilized to place out class D (metal and metal alloy) fires:

Salt (sodium chloride–NaCl) is the most generally applied material in metal/sand extinguishers. NaCl extinguishers perform nicely with fires involving magnesium, sodium, potassium, alloys of potassium and sodium, uranium, and powdered aluminum.
Sodium carbonate extinguishers are also made use of on fires involving sodium, potassium, and alloys of potassium and sodium. Exactly where tension corrosion of stainless steel is a consideration, this sort of fire extinguisher would be a greater selection than an NaCl extinguisher.
Powdered copper (Cu) metal is made use of for fires involving lithium and lithium alloys.
Graphite powder extinguishers are utilised on lithium fires as effectively as fires that involve high-melting-point metals like titanium and zirconium.
Sodium-bicarbonate-based extinguishers are applied on fires involving metal alkyls and pyrophoric liquids.
Halotron I is a clean agent replacement for Halon 1211, which was banned from use due to its ozone depleting properties. Halotron I extinguishers are applied for extinguishing fires in computer system rooms, clean rooms, and exactly where telecommunications gear or electronics are present. Halotron leaves no residue and is nonconducting but is extra high priced than carbon dioxide. It must be noted that Halotron I will no longer be produced right after 2015.
FE-36 (CleanGuard) extinguishers are an additional clean agent replacement for Halon 1211. FE-36 extinguishers are much less toxic than Halon 1211 and Halotron I and reportedly have no ozone-depleting possible. FE-36 is also utilised for fires in computer system rooms, clean rooms, and exactly where telecommunications gear or electronics are present. In contrast to Halotron I, FE-36 is not planned for phase-out.

try this extinguishers: Wherever powerful magnets are in use, for instance, near magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometers (NMRSs), nonmagnetic fire extinguishers ought to be chosen. The powerful magnetic fields generated by this sort of equipment can result in steel cylinder fire extinguishers to fly across a area with deadly force.