CO2 is particularly effective and clean for fires involving electrical equipment, as well as fires with flammable liquids, making Fire Kwencher the preferred choice for commercial premises and in the home.

Servicing instructions for Fire Kwencher CO₂ fire extinguishers.

Extract from Approvals Technical File:

"The Soda-Club CO₂ fire extinguisher bodies are manufactured from aluminium alloy AA6061. They have been designed to BS5045 Pt 8 and have PED module B type approvals issued by Lloyds Register. Each cylinder is pressure tested to 212bar. The cylinders are manufactured under PED Module C1. The utmost care and control is exercised during the manufacturing process to ensure a top quality product.

These cylinders must not be modified in any way and should be protected from any heat and mechanical damage. Whilst processing the cylinders, the cylinders should not be allowed to exceed a temperature of 150°C. NOTE! A temperature exceeding 200°C for a maximum time of 4 minutes, and not exceeding 220°C maximum, is permissible for the purposes of powder coating the cylinders only. Exceeding this can result in modifying the mechanical properties and safety of the cylinder. Any cylinder that is damaged in any way should be destroyed.

The cylinders must be fitted with PED approved valves containing a bursting disc rated at 190bar. The valve thread is M25 x 2 . The assembly torque for the valve to cylinder joint should be 95 Nm (70 lbf.ft), the threads should be clean and may be lightly lubricated. A suitable "O" ring seal must also be fitted to the valves to ensure a satisfactory seal.

In order to comply with UK Carriage of Dangerous Goods and Use of Transportable Pressure Equipment Regulations 2004 (SI 2004 / 568), or equivalent other EC country regulations, the Special Provision 594 of ADR section 3.3.1 must be complied with. This means that the extinguishers must be contained in strong outer packagings and must be fitted with a device to prevent inadvertent discharge.

The cylinders should only be filled with CO₂ and should not be overfilled.

The assembled fire extinguishers must be fitted with appropriate data and user instructions as required by current legislation."

CO₂ extinguishers should be subject to regular visual inspections. If there is any evidence of discharge or obvious damage/corrosion, the extinguisher should be removed for re-charging and/or expert examination.

Refill after complete or any partial discharge in accordance with BS 6643, part 1 and the manufacturers instructions.

Service annually in accordance with the recommendations of BS 5306, part 3 and the manufacturers instructions.

All servicing and filling should be done by a trained competent person, using only manufacturers approved products and spare parts.

Warning:

Extinguishers are pressurised containers that must not be pierced or exposed to excessive heat and on no account must any attempt be made to remove valves while still pressurised. Extinguishers must not be discharged without the discharge horn being fitted, as this will cause serious bodily injury or property damage.

Annual inspection

The extinguishers should be inspected annually for charge and damage. The actual weight should be compared with the weight that should have been recorded at the time of installation. It is a requirement of EN 3 that the extinguisher should not have a leakage rate greater than 5% of it's nominal charge per year

For a 1kg extinguisher, this is 50g per year
For a 2kg extinguisher, this is 100g per year
For a 5kg extinguisher, this is 250g per year

If the check weighed cylinder exceeds the limits stated above, it should be withdrawn and examined and the cause of the leakage corrected. The extinguisher should be refilled to its correct weight within the EN 3 filling tolerances.

The safety pin should be in place and the plastic security tie intact. If the security tie is broken, check weigh the extinguisher to ensure it has not been partially or fully discharged and replace the security tie with a new one.

If the horn is damaged it should be replaced with one from the manufacturer. If the manufacturers horn is not used, the fire rating claimed on the extinguisher label cannot be claimed and this should be removed/obliterated on the label. The horn should be assembled to the valve using a torque of 35Nm ~ 40Nm (26 lbf ft ~ 30lbf ft) or until sufficiently tight to ensure that the horn cannot be removed without the deliberate use of tools.

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Protect the cylinder during any removal or replacement of a valve so that the paint finish is not damaged.

If the valve is removed from the cylinder, the "O" ring should be replaced, the counterbore of the cylinder checked to be clean and the valve should be tightened to a torque of 95Nm ~ 130Nm (70 lbf ft ~ 95lbf ft).
It is permissible to use a smear of silicon lubricant on the valve stem thread before assembling to the cylinder.

If the horn is removed from the valve, it should be replaced and tightened to a recommended torque of 35Nm ~ 40Nm (26 lbf ft ~ 30lbf ft) or until sufficiently tight to ensure that the horn cannot be removed without the deliberate use of tools.

If in doubt, contact the extinguisher supplier for detailed technical information.

Refilling

The cylinders should be inspected for any signs of damage or tampering before any refilling operation. Any cylinders exhibiting dents or gouges or any signs of fire damage should be immediately removed from circulation and destroyed.

A CO₂ extinguisher should be filled with it's nominal charge to a tolerance of +0/- 5 % . i.e.

• for a 1kg extinguisher, this is +0/- 50g

• for a 2kg extinguisher, this is +0/- 100g

• for a 5kg extinguisher, this is +0/- 250g

The extinguisher must be leak-checked after filling.

Graham Brooks

Soda-Club (Europe) Ltd.