CO2 Fire Extinguishers

Use of CO2 Extinguishers

CO2 fire extinguishers were originally developed to deal with liquid fires such as burning petrol. The inert CO2 gas excludes oxygen from the surface of the liquid fire and stops the fire. These days CO2 fire extinguishers are mainly used on electrical fires in modern offices, as the CO2 does not leave any residue and does not damage computers, although the cold temperature and the electrostatic shock from the CO2 gas can damage very sensitive electronic equipment.
We offer installation and commissioning of your CO2 extinguishers as well. Our BAFE certified engineers will visit you to do all the work. We also offer the servicing of all your extinguishers.

Colour of CO2 extinguishers

CO2 fire extinguishers can be recognised by the black identification field with the words CO2 or 'Carbon Dioxide' printed on this black field. CO2 extinguishers also have no pressure gauge and a discharge horn rather than a hose.

What are CO2 Extinguishers

CO2 fire extinguishers contain only CO2 gas (carbon dioxide) in a highly compressed format (55 bar pressure). CO2 is inert, will evaporate without trace and suffocates fire by starving the fire of oxygen. As the CO2 expands through the jet (horn), it becomes very cold, so cold in fact that the gas can cause frost damage to skin. Therefore, when chosing your CO2 extinguisher, make sure that you select an extinguisher with frost-free horn.

Because of the high pressure in CO2 extinguishers, they must not be stored near radiators or in direct sunlight. If they get hot, the pressure will quickly rise and a safety valve will open to release the high pressure. As a result your CO2 extinguisher will then contain less CO2 as you would expect.

Also, never use the CO2 extinguisher without the horn being fitted; the horn acts as a pressure reducer and if removed, the CO2 fire extinguisher will discharge rapidly, causing a violent recoil, which can seriously injure.