Fire Extinguisher vs. Electronics??

Here is a link to the best type fire extinguishers for sensitive electronics.

https://firesystems.net/faq-items/what-is-the-best-fire-extinguisher-for-sensitive-electrical-equipment-and-high-value-assets/

Sorry, link did not work......

Here it is again:

https://firesystems.net/faq-items/what-is-the-best-fire-extinguisher-for-sensitive-electrical-equipment-and-high-value-assets/

Thx

I use these....only about $20 per can....

• Extinguishes paper, fabric, wood, grease, and electrical fires, Light aerosol can is easy to hold, carry and use
• Formula is biodegradable and nontoxic and wipes clean

Does it say what the extinguishing agent is? I doubt if they are NFPA approved.

I agree with Mr. RedFred.. Good Advice..

Although Halon is a very good fire extinguishing element for electronics, the area needs to be sealed like in the hospital telephone switch room..

CO2 might cause thermal shock, but otherwise is OK. Halon is used in computer facilities, but real Halon is horribly expensive; but Halon substitutes are available I believe. With dry chemical, I think I heard somewhere that it is the A component in ABC extinguishers that is corrosive, thus one without A would work, but the powder gets everywhere.

All our substations used Halon gas fire suppression because it is inert and did not damage electrical equipment. There was an alarm before the gas discharged so the area could be evacuated if personnel were present.

Smaller fire extinguishers were CO2 hand held verities for in panel fires.

Dry power types caused too much damage to the equipment not involved in the fire and the subsequent cleanup.

Halon extinguishers are used in aircraft because they are safe for electronics and for aluminum.

A dry chemical extinguisher will absolutely destroy an aircraft. It gets into everything and is extremely corrosive to aluminum. I would bet that it would also be corrosive to copper used in electronics.

Halon is a form of freon that removes oxygen from the atmosphere, and is harmful to people over a certain time period and at high concentrations due to it's oxygen depletion nature. It displaces oxygen in the room and reacts with the chemistry of a fire, so to avoid excessive exposure, everyone must evacuate the area before releasing the Halon, and a shunt-trip breaker is thrown to stop all air flow in the room.

Three Conditions must all be met before the Halon is released in an occupied space:

1. A temperature sensor must detect high temperature.(A flashing light warning, can be reset manually)

2:An ion detector must detect ionized particles.(same as temp)

3. An optical type smoke detector must detect smoke particle.(same as temp,)

If all 3 conditions are met, then you get a very loud alarm and red lights flashing.

No resets available.

Everyone leaves the room, and there is an emergency stop button at every exit.

The last person out hits the button and it triggers the shunt-trip breaker and triggers the Halon.

Kind of hard to do this at 30,000 feet, so it is still approved in aircraft and military, marine vessels.

There are aircraft rated extinguishers, but mainly used for maintenance. Small aircraft may use Halon but in small quantities. Halon has been banned because of atmospheric ozone depletion, however there are some modern substitutes that work just as well with no ozone depleting chemicals.

Jet engines have a fire extinguisher built in, but must be trigged by the pilot that injects directly into the engines, no exposure to passengers.

There are also extinguishers for marine use that do not damage electrical components.

All boats with engines must have these type extinguishers on board and up to date certified inspections.

I am sure regulations and chemicals have changed since I last had to supervise installation of these systems.

TMI,I know, but there it is.

<...Fire...> can be <...extremely damaging to electronic equipment...> as well.

<...Fire extinguisher[s]...> generally protect people and premises.

The use of Powder based extingushers kills electronics. Last year the German Army had a Wiring Harness fire in a Tank and the crew used a Powder based Extinguisher to kill the fire. Result, Tank unable to move due to powder infiltrating everything, Tank had to be completely stripped cleaned and rebuilt.
Surely when the new Lab was built it would have fire protection systems built in??
I worked in a hi-tech facility that tested Fuel Systems where there was a hi-level fire / explosion risk... when the Alarm sounded you had 30 seconds to get out of the building before the doors automatically locked and the building was flooded with CO² gas. The sensors were so sensitive that the flash from a Camera would be enough for the Alarm to trigger.