Do you have a fire extinguisher in your lab?

[olkipukki]

Thought about it and did assessment "What if" scenario, considering to buy one.
Hopefully, never will be used.

What about you?

[digsys]

Absolooooooootely !! In fact 2 in main W/S and 1 big one in garage. W/S = both electrical and Lithium friendly. AND, when working on dangerous goods .. sometimes 1 more.
Oh and a fire-blanket and sand.

[olkipukki]

Absolooooooootely !! In fact 2 in main W/S and 1 big one in garage. W/S = both electrical and Lithium friendly. AND, when working on dangerous goods .. sometimes 1 more.

Is it foam or CO2 based?

Oh and a fire-blanket and sand.

Yes, fire-blankets, how I can forget?! 

[VK5RC]

Yup x2
 CO2 if not too bad, foam if bad, master power switch next to the door.

[olkipukki]

CO2 if not too bad, foam if bad

Is it something better?

[Ice-Tea]

Yes. And my bench has a very low value GFCI too

[bd139]

Yes I have a powder extinguisher, fire blanket and two smoke alarms (one ionising and one optical).

Make sure that you regularly check your extinguisher pressure regularly, as often as your smoke alarms!

Also make sure at least someone else with you is basic first aid trained and knows the rules around what to do if you're lying unconscious near a power source (isolate before contact etc)

Also always turn everything off at the source and never leave anything unattended especially battery chargers, soldering equipment, power supplies etc. The latter less so but only if they are half reputable units (so no mastech crap!)

[digsys]

... Is it foam or CO2 based?  ...

Actually depends on what project etc we're working on.
Small repair / test packs (of little or "low" value) - often just drop it into a large plastic container of water - lined with tiles etc
Older smaller EV packs etc - similar or large sand box or dry foam extinguisher
More expensive packs - Class-D / Dry Foam extinguisher with ALL backup options :-)
The extinguishers are only for pricey jobs - can't afford to waste $$s on every project, as during busy periods, we can be running dozens of projects.
Got to admit though - I do get lax sometimes - went to a Formula SAE-E 18V pack fire - dropped it into the usual bucket of water setup - then into the back of my wagon and drove it 20Km back to base for analysis :-)

[Electro Detective]

Yes, two fire extinguishers close by

Fire extinguishers are subject to Murphy's -extra heavy duty- Law, no matter how many and what type you have.

Fire blankets, sand buckets, welders leathers and gloves etc are what you need when shtf
and you need to be in there snuffing out stubborn flames before it's too late

If you don't have a mask on, snuffing needs to be done lightning quick without hesitation before the smoke fixes you good!

First rule is to isolate/kill all sources of electricity

How do I know all this? 



 

[Rerouter]

Powder extinguishers are a serious pain to clean up after, just a thought, DO NOT CLEAN UP WITH WATER! ABE type when left to soak in water will split into a strong acid and a very persistent oil, so if you go for a day to be checked for smoke inhalation, you may have a nice scar left on your concrete.

If you look into CO2, keep in mind you do not want to be in a sealed area with it, each liter occupies half a cubic meter immediately after release. and will need at minimum 5 extra cubic meters to dilute into to be at non lethal concentrations following.

Foam is effective, but some pretty nasty health effects if its the wrong type. usually a bit easier to clean up,

I do not have one in my own lab, but I do have E-stops around the benches to cut all power to the benches and a smothering blanket.

[jogri]

Important tip for anyone who has a sand bucket as a fire extinguisher: Sand gets hard over time, chances are that your fine sand now has the properties of concrete. Go and check it, a solid 15kg chunk of sand isn't going to be useful to extinguish a fire.

Got to admit though - I do get lax sometimes - went to a Formula SAE-E 18V pack fire - dropped it into the usual bucket of water setup - then into the back of my wagon and drove it 20Km back to base for analysis :-)

Yes, Formula E batteries are fun... In the student lab where people worked with those beautys they had one important rule: Keep all windows open and just throw it out in case it catches fires (the landing zone was concrete and nothing there was inflammable).
Magnificent little beasts, i still have a bunch of them at my home. They have the same size as my normal 2500mAh lipos but pack eight times the C-rating and twice as much charge...

[SilverSolder]

[...]They have the same size as my normal 2500mAh lipos but pack eight times the C-rating and twice as much charge...

 

No wonder they are borderline unstable?

[Electro Detective]

Important tip for anyone who has a sand bucket as a fire extinguisher: Sand gets hard over time, chances are that your fine sand now has the properties of concrete.

Go and check it, a solid 15kg chunk of sand isn't going to be useful to extinguish a fire.

Depends on the type of sand, moisture retention, how long it's been sitting etc but an excellent heads up 

I have two sand buckets (with decent handles!) not quite full with a piece of rebar stuck in to stab and stir the sand every so often, without it spilling about
and a clear plastic bag on top. Have never used them, do not intend to, but they are there.. just in case I stuff up or someone in the kitchen does   

I may 'upgrade' to 4 medium sized plastic painters buckets with air tight lids, and store them upside down and vice versa, and shake them about every so often.
you can sense from the shaking and rolling if the sand has gotten lumpy or not, well I can anyway ymmv/emmv 

This way they can be used on or near a workspace as props, weights, multimeter and DSO risers    etc
rather than just sitting in a corner wasting space, getting in the way, 
FORGOTTEN    and lumped up like concrete if or when needed on an unwanted surprise barbeque   


If doing this make sure the buckets and lids are similarly marked where they open up at the small finger tab, large 'panic proof' arrow to arrow marks   -> <-

There is NO TIME to be stuffing about looking for that small opening tab to pull up on, or wrecking your fingernails trying other spots and wasting time,
time you could have stifled the fire/flames with sand by now > every nano second counts to determine whether you win fast,
or lose and cop a face full of toxic smoke as a reward for being too slow and unprepped to begin with, especially if no mask to be found.. 

put numbers for the buckets and matched lids so no mix ups or small size differences later when refilling and closing them up.
i.e. label buckets 1 to 4, lids 1 to 4 with arrow markers on the opening tabs

[Alex Eisenhut]

My "lab" is my tiny condo... So there is an extinguisher in the kitchen anyway: a few steps away.

[Stray Electron]

   I keep fire extinguishers all over the place.  There's one in every room in my house and at least three in my workshop and a big automatic Halon extinguisher as well. Also two in the passenger compartment of my truck and another in the bed of the truck and one in my wife's car.

[olkipukki]

Probably need to add First Aid stuff to complete a full kit

Usually, how long FE (fire extinguisher) can last?
Is there something I can keep 5 years?

[Neomys Sapiens]

6kg of dry powder (sometime to be replaced by a Auer HiPress with a bit of surfactant)
6kg of CO2
and
6+2+2kg of the good stuff (....)

[ogden]

Powder extinguishers are a serious pain to clean up

Nah. Just avoid powder. Period. Electronic devices are usually beyond repaid when being in vicinity of powder fire extinguisher release. In case you own expensive electronics, do jobs that could be subject to fire - get CO2 one, obviously of proper capacity. Note that USB-powered stuff like Arduino do not need fire extinguisher nearby.

[Sal Ammoniac]

Yes, I have two of them.