[SPA-DESIGN]

Originally Posted by RF_Racer

My fire extinguisher expired last month, but has never been used, the gauge is still on full or pointing at green end of the scale.

Its a SPA 2.25 litre electrical. SPA want £100 to service it, can this be checked and serviced by any fire extingusher place from the yellow pages? I feel SPA are trying to rip people off by saying it can only be done by them.

Any thoughts, tips welcome.

Be sure of your facts before making claims like that.

Fire extinguishers are a safety product and as such require regular maintenance and service this is a requirement for both commercial and motor sport applications.

The gauge indicates the stored pressure in the bottle, being in the green is no guarantee the system will perform as it should, the extinguishant fluid used with in the cylinder has a shelf life and over time will deteriorate as do all things in life thus effecting the overall performance of the system.

The governing bodies of motor sport (NOT SPA) require fire systems to be checked every 2 years by the manufacturer or an official service agent of the manufacturer.

2 year service prices can vary from £15 - £80 plus carriage and VAT depending on model, mechanical operated systems are cheaper than electrical versions, in the case of electrical systems if they have been fired there is a rearming charge as well.

You could well get it serviced by an independent commercial fire extinguisher company who will just look at the gauge and re-label it with a label that is not official for racing resulting in the race scrutinizers denying you permission to race.

If by chance they do refill the system they will use a basic commercial AFFF extinguishant fluid which is not suitable for the various race fuels used in motor sport, we use a special formula of AFFF which is tried and tested and will work on all types of fuel like methanol, ethanol, diesel and alcohol based fuels.