Fire Extinguisher Orientation

[Fishsticks]

Is there any particular reason why FE are normally used upright, other than the fact that they normally have a convenient stand built into the base? On various aquatic and welding forums I've seen both advice that FEs should never be used e.g. on their side, and also suggestions that they might work better upside down. Using a fire extinguisher upside down would make sense to me - given the dip tube inside them.

I suspect it's the very low rate of flow in aquarium use that means that regulators don't freeze due to liquid CO2 being taken up the dip tube. However, that in itself would suggest that the orientation doesn't matter for aquarium purposes.

 

[ian_m]

All correct in fact, as you say upside down would be best, so dip tube is in gas rather than liquid. I ran my FE laying in a magazine rack for week or two, made no difference to CO2 rate. As you say the usage is so small there is no chance of CO2 getting into the regulator.

 

[Fishsticks]

Interesting...

I imagine the main danger of an upside down FE is that it might fall onto the reg and damage the coupling - the worst case scenario. With a well designed support that danger could be eliminated. Then again, I suppose that with the low flow rate there wouldn't be much advantage in the upside down mount in the first place!

 

[DrRob]

It shouldn't really matter. The dip tube is to make sure that what fires out in a few seconds to combat a fire is in liquid form, the regulator should slow things down enough for it to all evaporate to gas anyway by the time it's reached anything important and the dip tube would mean that, if upside down, it would be feeding from gas.

On the side would, in theory, be the one situation when liquid CO2 could end up in the reg, which could cause some local cooling.