fire extinguisher

[Joe the plumber]

In my van I have two 3kg dry powder extinguishers, recommended, supplied and serviced by Chubb, to comply with the requirements of my public liability insurance. They go everywhere my blowtorch goes.

 

The servicing is annual and costs me around £125. They arrange to come and do it at any location I'm working at when it's due. That also includes unlimited free replacements should I have to use them.

 

It would undoubtedly be much cheaper to buy new ones every year from Screwfix or elsewhere, and get rid of the old ones (which is interesting if you ever have to, as nowhere you'd expect to will accept them), but I'm happier having the back-up of Chubb to ensure I'm properly covered.

 

However although this isn't directly relevant to boat use, I'd be interested to see if the insurance we have for our boats has anything specific to say about the condition and maintenance of fire extinguishers on board, regardless of BSS requirements.

 

I know that insurers will do anything to avoid paying out as a relative had a disaster in 2011 through not having a compliant fire extinguisher to hand when working on a house (for a customer) which caught fire. He ended up personally liable for the whole claim, which was in excess of £140,000. My Chubb contract was a direct consequence of his misfortune.

 

Incidentally, I've hear O. Heap of Derby are cheaper than Chubb for maintenance contracts.

[Graham Davis]

I still think that a water mist based system would be best for boats.

 

See these earlier threads.

 

http://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=73220&page=2

 

http://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=78195&page=2

 

Pity they aren't recognised by the BSS, if they were I am sure a manufacturer would develop a system, or we could use hand held units.

 

Edited to change most back to mist, blurry autocorrect.

 

Having seen the handheld Watermist system used on competition vehicle fires I am most impressed with it, and I am sure it would be excellent in a boat, BUT, they are still a "first aid" device, and in those quantities still only designed to "knock back" the fire enough to aid evacuation.

[cuthound]

Having seen the handheld Watermist system used on competition vehicle fires I am most impressed with it, and I am sure it would be excellent in a boat, BUT, they are still a "first aid" device, and in those quantities still only designed to "knock back" the fire enough to aid evacuation.

 

True, however a built in system with mist heads throughout the boat and within the engine room would be effective, and would only wet the area where the fire broke out. However no one makes a trying suitable yet. When I was working I floated the idea with Marrioff. They said they could make me a bespoke one for £12-14K!

 

Edited to correct the autocorrect induced error.

Edited January 2, 2016 by cuthound