It’s a fire extinguisher Jim, but not as we know it

[BruceK]

It looks more like an emergency road flare (remember them?) than a fire extinguisher, but I'm pretty excited about the technology of my new pair of fire extinguishers.   

I've carried a fire extinguisher in all my Minis since I was in college because I witnessed some serious events. Over the course of a single week back then I encountered two different cars fully ablaze on the side of the road - one a beautiful Porsche 356.  That was all the convincing I needed to get some fire protection for my car and I've had extinguishers on board my Minis ever since then. Back in the 1980s I even spent big bucks to on several halon gas fire extinguishers because they don't leave any residue when used. 

Fortunately I've never needed to use a fire extinguisher, so basically I've been replacing them over the years with new units when they get old and lose their charges. Cheaper and easier to buy a new one then try to get one recharged.

But I just got a pair of Element fire extinguishers and they remain operational indefinitely.  And they have several other significant advantages over a traditional fire extinguisher:

- 50 second duration, about 5 times longer discharge time than typical extinguishers
- non-pressurized so no concerns about leakage or high-temp storage such as in a car
- non-corrosive and with no discharge residue
- much smaller form factor so easy to store in a vehicle or shop
- maintenance-free
- non-toxic
- effective for classes A, B, C, and K fires

They are made in Italy and have European and German TUV certification, but they are not yet UL approved here.  Also, these fire extinguishers are not cheap.   They cost $70-$80 depending on the seller.

[BruceK]

I bought mine directly from Element but it looks like Pelican Parts has them on sale now if you are interested:

https://www.pelicanparts.com/catalog/shopcart/MISC/POR_MISC_ELEMEN-detail.htm

If you follow that link there are videos available that show the fire extinguishers in use.

They are available from other retailers as well.

[Willie_B]

Looks good. Probably time to replace mine in the mini and truck.

[BruceK]

Brad, for a couple of bucks they will sell you a second mounting bracket.  Because they are so portable it's easy to move the Element fire extinguisher from one vehicle to another.  After all we are only driving one vehicle at a time.  Or, take the fire extinguisher from a wall mount in the shop to a mount in your vehicle when you drive it.

[John Gervais]

Wow, I like that!

[MiniDave]

I can't imagine needing it for anything other than a Mini!   :D

[gr8kornholio]

What do you do about fires D-J?

May have to grab one for mine.  Hate to ruin that paint cause I put it back together wrong.

[tsumini]

Little OT but my dad had this type glass bottle extinguisher on the firewall of his 1942 Ford Sedan . It had a bimetal trigger that broke the bottle when fire started. He put it in after a neighbors car caught on fire and they put it out with scoop shovels of snow.

[BruceK]

I can't imagine needing it for anything other than a Mini!   :D

Here, let me help your imagination.

(there's a certain theme going on here... see if you can spot it)   ;D

[BruceK]

Just passing this along in case anyone is interested: received an email today from Element saying that they are offering a 15% discount on their fire extinguishers with coupon code EFHS20 and also free shipping too. Plus a 2nd mounting clip free too (to easily move it between vehicles).

[MiniDave]

I never paid a lot of attention to fire extinguishers for the shop, even tho I have three of them - till they did the recall. After that I made sure all three were easily reachable and in good working shape - but I don't carry one in the car.

I know if I did it would promptly catch fire!   ;D ;D ;D  But these have so many advantages over a regular extinguisher that they make so much more sense to buy. Is the offer of 15% off for one or if you buy three?

I keep the ones in the shop right next to the doors - one at the back door near the solvent tank, one at the door to the upstairs, and one next to the garage doors, I figure it's more important to get me out of harms way then try and fight the fire. I don't know if that's the right idea or not? That's how we had them set up at the plant......

[BruceK]

Not sure if it applies to multiple units.  Here's the gist of the email. 

[MiniDave]

On Pelican Parts is says 5% off for one, 10% off for two and 15% for three....just FYI. But that could be a different deal thru them.

[MiniGene]

This is neat.  I looked up some videos on YT to see them in action and it looks like you have to get pretty close to the flames when using it.  I think if I were to make the switch from traditional FEs to these, I'd want to buy an extra one so I could give it a try.  I'd really want to get a feel of what it needed to get it started.  I've gone through probably 25+ FE training sessions in my life the "pull the pin, squeeze, sweep the base" is all I know!  LOL