Amazing performance of 1L Water Mist Extinguisher

[Bodstrup]

I had a chance to test the 1L Water Mist extinguisher at an event at my fire station, the results were very impressive and the unit did get a lot of attention after the demonstration.

We set up a cooking oil fire demonstration  in an approximately 120cm wide tray. Fire was fuelled by plant oil (called rape (!) in English I believe) with a bit of gasoline to boost ignition.

Fire was allowed to burn for about 20 minutes, oil was boiling when we started testing.

I used the following extinguishers:

• Fire Blanket
• CO2 unit
• 9L Water Spray (non-Safelincs, older unit with fairly large droplets)
• 9L Amerex 272 'WaterMist' extinguisher
• 1L WaterMist unit from SafeLincs
• 9L Foam extinguisher loaded with 3% Sthamex AFFF F15 solution.

The fire blanket worked, took some time to get rid of smaller flames under the blanket, quite a bit of smoke released for some time after use. Removing the blanket even after 1 minute resulted in re-ignition

CO2 unit failed, causing flames to shoot around

The 9L water spray was dangerous to use, the spray pattern caused flames to shoot out in random direction, I would not have used it if I were not in protective clothing including hud and helmet. After using about 50% of the content I did manage to put out the fire. We also did a short squirt from a water jet unit. Result was the expected eruption of burning oil. Neither units are recommended.

9L Amerex 272 did work, but required some time, distributing the spray around the tray. Smaller flames were spreading from the tray during application. The long metal lance did help me keep distance to the fire. The drop size of this unit, while smaller than water spray units, are far bigger than the SafeLincs units, making it much less effective.

1L SafeLincs unit extinguished the fire almost immediately, within 2-3 seconds, with no side effect and no re-ignition. Had plenty of water for 3 rounds, which means i used less than 1/3 of a liter for extinguishment

9L Foam worked very fast, no side effects, difficult re-ignition. This is not the ideal product for oil fires, but still worked very well. A very hot and full pot of oil boiling violently might be a problem here, needing an F class unit.

After the demonstration, several of the firefighters asked about how that tiny unit was able to put out the fire faster than the others and with such a small size. I could only point to SafeLincs and their nozzle technology.

My only suggestion for SafeLincs is: Produce a 9L unit and add a lance like the Amerex 272, it is really good for reaching through a car window or other hot, restricted places.

Regards

Michael
 

[AnthonyB]

Safelincs don't manufacture the extinguisher - the UK manufacturer who produces Water Mist extinguishers (under license from the inventor at Telesto) is Jewel Saffire.

They already make 3 & 6 litre extinguishers available through Safelincs, the way the technology works is such that a bigger can is required - so the 1 litre uses a 2 litre can, 3 litre a 6 litre can and the 6 litre a 9 litre can so a 9 litre unit is not viable.

A 6 litre units can tackle an established car fire - a demo video is on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iu1B7thWDcw

[Guest Sailbadthesinner]

Having tackled a small fire on a boat using a standard dry powder I would like to suggest the following advantages for using water mist for small boat applications:

1.  Holding an extinguisher and aiming the hose while keeping your balance on a moving boat is nigh on impossible.  The fixed nozzle on the Water Mist makes it a one handed operation once the pin is pulled.

2.  The rapid loss of vision once engulfed in the cloud of powder makes any more than a briefest blast of powder unacceptable in a confined space.

3.  Cleaning up a tiny quantity of water would be so much easier instead of trying to clean up a dusting of powder that turns to gloop once damp.

4.  The one down side is the need to remove the water mist from the boat over winter to avoid freezing but this isn't an issue for many boats that will be laid up anyway.

 

Just my thoughts, I hope I never to have to prove myself right.

 

[AnthonyB]

Water Mist extinguishers do not have the suitable minimum fire ratings (5A/34B) under the mandatory Boat Safety Scheme and your boat could fail it's safety certificate examination and be prohibited if you use these.

You could of course have them in addition to the mandated extinguishers as all your points are most valid