Fire extinguishers are a vital part of fire protection, but all too often they get misused as door stops or worse – left in a corner and forgotten about. But ignored fire extinguishers have a hidden risk: a failure to operate if not properly maintained can cause serious injury and even death when they are not regularly checked because they are pressurized vessels.

MS Fire systems offers quality servicing and maintenance for all types of fire extinguishers, there are basically are two types of maintenance procedures. Visual inspection by the user and maintenance by a competent person.

Visual basic inspection

The visual inspection should be carried out, and recorded, on a monthly basis and cover:

• Location of the extinguisher – is it in the right place?
• Visibility of the extinguisher – is it positioned in such a way that it can be easily seen?
• Operating instructions – are the instructions facing outwards, clean and easy to read?
• The condition of the extinguisher – has it been used, is there any obvious damage or are there any missing parts?
• Extinguisher pressure – is the pressure of the extinguisher within safe operating limits?
• Tamper seals – have the seals and tamper indicators been broken?

Extended servicing

Every five years most fire extinguishers need an extended service. This means completely discharging the extinguisher, checking for internal corrosion, refilling and repressurising.

Carbon Dioxide (CO2) extinguishers need an extended service every 10 years. This involves a hydrostatic pressure test, to comply with pressure vessel legislation and a new valve. Most fire extinguisher servicing engineers will supply a ‘service exchange’ (refurbished) unit due to the onerous requirements of this process. It can be cheaper to purchase a new extinguisher.