Friday, Mar 16, 2007 at 22:42
Some good points, as even out of a 9kg powder, you will only get, from memory, about a 110 seconds of effective extinguisher.
As for using them upside down, you are correct, they wont work except for any powder that is in the pick up tube. All the powder moves to the head of the extinguisher, the opposite end from the pickup. The nitrogen gas will expel, but that doesnt really do too much as far as extinguishment.
As mentioned, it is good practice to invert your extinguisher every now and then, as the powder can pack quite hard- especially with the constant vibration and jarring from 4wding. A good thing to do is to give it a light tap with a RUBBER MALLET on the base whilst upside down, as this will assist in freeing up the powder. Also, it doesn't hurt to leave it sitting upside down for a good 10-15 minutes, to let gravity do its thing.
However, as mentioned in another follow up, it would be good practice to carry a pressure sprayer or the PET bottles, as they are atleast refillable whilst on the road, whereas a powder is a once use where it then needs servicing, even if you have only used a small amount of powder, as the valve design unfortunately means that powder will get stuck under the
seat, which will result in the gas discharging over night
FollowupID:
488705