Static Electricity and CO2 Extinguishers
Ted Sommer
Has anyone heard of static electricity being produced by the
actuation of CO2 extinguishers? A pair of firefighter friends mentioned
that their Naval fire training instructed them to _ground_ the extinguisher
before dischare. This was done by setting the metal base on the ground or
deck while discharging the agent. Another guy said that he was taught that
if he discharged the extinguisher then handed it to me, I could get a
shock.
I have never heard of any of this before.
1) Is this true?
**2) If so, could anyone explain the physics and principles behind it?
What creates the static charge?
3) Anyone have any experience when this was a problem. I'd sure
hesitate to use a CO2 extinguisher in a class B environment if the
extinguisher could cause a spark!!!
Ted Sommer
<som...@blaze.org>
<Blaze...@aol.com>
"Why is it that if I had placed my six children in daycare at a cost of
about $250 per week, and I worked a job grossing $100 per week, our family
would have qualified for a larger mortgage loan?" -Amy Dacyczyn
Ed Shanks
Re CO2 extinguishers:
The product moving down the horn causes a static electricity
charge to build. If you've ever held a CO2 extinguisher off
the ground and operated it, especially without gloves on, I'm
suprised you didn't get a 'tingle.'
--
Ed Shanks |"Politics" is made of two words: poli, meaning
af...@yfn.ysu.edu |many; and tic(k)s, which are bloodsuckers.
rwa...@epix.net
: Has anyone heard of static electricity being produced by the
: 1) Is this true?
Yup, it's true. The static electricity is generated by friction between
the discharging CO2 and the rubber of the hose/horn assembly. If you
hold the metal valve assembly with bare hands, you'll definitely feel
it. The hose is required to be conductive, to dissipate the static
charge back into the metal of the cylinder and presumably into the
ground, assuming you've set the extinguisher on the ground. If you hold
the extinguisher off the ground, it dissipates the charge into you.
I'm not aware of a spark generated in this way having ignited or
reignited something, but then again I'm not the NFPA or UL either.
However, I think the Navy had the right idea....
If someone hands the extinguisher to you after using it you might get a
shock, but this is kinda like walking across a rug.... high voltage/tiny
amperage, of no consequence to humans. Unless of course you're holding a
computer chip in the other hand....
FyrC...@aol.com
> Anyone have any experience when this was a problem. I'd sure
>hesitate to use a CO2 extinguisher in a class B environment if the
>extinguisher could cause a spark!!!
>
I can tell you from experience that a CO2 extinguisher will indeed give you a
jolt! Several in fact, as long as the extinguiser is being discharged
without being grounded, however the shock is through you, and not the CO2.
Bill Raddatz
Box 15 Club, Los Angeles
ex-machinery tech, USCG
Randy Okray
>extinguisher may provide an ignition source via static discharge. Is this
>correct?
>
>If so, what other extinguishers may also represent a risk of static
>discharge?
>
>Mike Lopez
>scal...@aol.com
I haven't had static electricity problems with any extinguisher except
CO2...Most people recognize me when I'm using a CO2 extinguisher. I'm the one
dragging it around on the ground.
randy okray
ran...@vcn.com