Big recall today. It's time to check your fire extinguisher.

There was a large recall today on Kidde fire extinguishers about 40 million of them. SO check your rigs, boats, homes and shops.

https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2017/k...astic-handles-due-to-failure-to-discharge-and

 

This is not good.

 

Thanks for the link, have 3 just in the house that are on the list. Yikes!

 

IMO from being in the industry I'd guess a number of fire extinguishers have been condemned by now either by being rendered obsolete via NFPA10 requirements or lack of parts support. (Assuming it was a plastic head model that was subject to six year and hydrostatic test.) I'd still urge people to look and see what you have.

 

I owe you huge. We have one of these in our kitchen. I would have never known without your post!

 

Can you recommend any styles/brands that are most reliable?

 

I'm partial to Ansul, Amerex, Badger or Kidde with metal heads.

I don't care for Buckeye or First Alert. I'm not saying those brands won't work or are less reliable. I just think the fit and finish on a Buckeye is pretty crude.

 

So metal head is key?

 

yes

 

"Plastic-handle models produced between January 1, 1973 and October 25, 2015"
"Plastic-handle models with date codes between January 2, 2012 and August 15, 2017"
"Push Button Pindicator Models manufactured between August 11, 1995 and September 22, 2017"

Damn Son...

 

Thanks!
I work in plastics, so I noticed that my ABS handle was pretty flimsy- I would have thought they'd be glass filled nylon or maybe something with more polycarbonate for rigity. Never thought it was a deal breaker though.
I'll buy a metal head straight away & keep the replacement they send me as tertiary backup.

 

Quite a few of the links on Home Depot don't send you to the right place. I already notified them about this. But, more troubling, is you would not believe the length of the list and how many other things you may well own that are on it? My Ridgid power nailer and a GE Profile range [we got from Lowes] are on it. Had NO idea!

We bought this new home 4 years ago and the smoke detectors kept chirping even though the batteries were good so I replaced all of the smoke detectors and bought 3 new fire extinguishers for the home and 3 smaller ones for all 3 vehicles and they are ALL freakin junk!

 

Metal head is key with one caveat. It needs to be maintained according to NFPA10 standards. This doesn't mean throwing it under the sink for 20 years and hoping that one day it will work. That's when people sometimes find out they don't work. Also buy the correct fire extinguisher(s) based on the hazard. A lot of homeowners buy fire extinguisher(s) have the wrong rating because either don't know or it's a price issue for the correct one.

 

you should have your feet checked by a doctor.

 

@Itchyfeet
Thanks for the heads up.

I have three that are affected by the recall. Submitted the info to Kidde.

 

That is the good thing. Replacements on the way for me too. Unfortunately, if not for the "local" news story that I just happened to see, I wouldn't have known about it. Will now have to see what I can do about my Ridgid Nail Gun and my GE Profile range? Both of those were registered with the companies so I don't understand why I wasn't notified by them? I don't register everything but things like $200 and up I always do. Nailgun was like $249 back when I bought it. Range was $1499.

Guess we all need to pay closer attention to check recalls on EVERYTHING we buy to make sure we are not going to die?

 

Bout time! 2 months ago my smoker caught fire. Grabbed the extinguisher and it let out a cloud of dust and that was it. Luckily I was just able to close al the vents on it and the door and hope it just suffocated itself, and it did. But I called Kidde and told them about and they said it must have just been a faulty extinguisher or it was old. I had just bought it a few months prior since I tend to change mine out every year. They had a recall on these about 3 years ago as well, I reported it and got a new one in the mail for free, which was nice. Just makes me mad about this last situation because things definitely could have been worse.

 

@Itchyfeet Thanks for the heads-up. I will inspect my stuff when I get home.