Beware of shady operators

It recently came to our notice and to the shock and dismay of a car facility that they had been duped. In 2015 they paid R1500 for a 4.5kg DCP Fire Extinguisher.

The going rate in 2016 is around R500!

This “operator” also “illegally serviced” existing equipment at exorbitant costs.

They claim to be registered servicers, but the sequence of the number quoted on the poorly printed label suggests that they are the 9 billion 574 millionth operator!

Gasman was 3079th and 3080th. Check with SAQCC (Fire) and SABS.

The statistically impossible number suggests that your gardener, your domestic helper, yourself, in fact everybody you know, are registered to service and then some.

Why call us then?! The Service Label stuck on also seems to open a further avenue for them.

“Service 10 every six months.” Also see the printed photo elsewhere.

Gasman has seen more than our fair share of these characters, The “Take it off, wipe, lick and stick” type, the refill with cake flour type (see how that adds fuel to a fire!!)

They remove them from property and disappear, they misrepresent Gasman etc etc.

Here are the salient points governing Fire Extinguisher Equipment: Equipment conforming to the SABS mark should be wall mounted, sign indicated and certified.

They should be serviced by a Certified Contractor annually or any time after use. Vehicle mounted Fire Extinguishers should be serviced every six months.

Currently the extinguishing medium used in Fire Extinguishers is either Dry Chemical Powder (DCP), Carbon dioxide (Co2) or Water Based Chemical Foam.

In accordance with the Montreal Accord (1994) on ozone depleting substances, the green labeled Bromochlorodifluoromethane (Halon BCF1211) type of Fire Extinguishers can no longer be serviced.

Brominated haloalkanes were first used during World War II as Fire Extinguishers for aircraft and tanks.

Bromochlorodifluoromethane was introduced as an effective gaseous fire suppression agent in the 1960’s for use around highly valuable materials in places such as museums, mainframe rooms and telecommunications switching centres.

They were also widely used in the maritime industries, in the engine rooms of ships and also in the transport industry in vehicles.

Its efficiency as a fire extinguishing agent also led to it being the predominant choice of fire extinguishing agent on commercial aircraft and was typically found in cylindrical hand-held canisters.

Its advantages as a fire extinguishing agent were that it had lower toxicity than chemicals such as carbon tetrachloride and that since it was a covalently bonded compound, it did not form conductive ions, therefore being usable on electrical equipment.

Paradoxically, this singular, but major fault, led to its disuse.

The medium inside a Fire Extinguisher can not be substituted with any other medium using the same cylinder.

The number and type of Fire Extinguishing Equipment required and its positioning is guided by classification.

Gasman will analyse, discuss and quote free of charge. The required certification is provided by us.

Challenge operators for their Service Operator’s Card. Check them with SABS for current validity, as renewal of the SABS mark registration is not done automatically, even if once acquired.