To bc: Dry Chemical

I bought a 5 gal. pail from our local fire equip./extinguisher dealer.
I do not remember what it cost as it was about 15 years ago.

I guess you could remove the powder from extinguishers that no longer pass test or have lost pressure and are not rechargable.

If you do mess with dry chem powder wear a good fine particle mask. I don't know if the powder will harm you, but it will make you gag.

Rollie

Thanks Rollie. I did some checking on google. Basically baking soda is what they use. They also siliconize and add anti-caking agents so it will spray in a fine powder. I think basically the baking soda keeps oxygen off the fire. Handy to know in an emergency and cheap and easy to buy.

Here is what one site said:

Dry chemical fire extinguishers are by far the most common fire extinguishers in the home. They can handle all three types of fires you would find in a kitchen or workshop: combustible solids like wood or paper, combustible liquids like gasoline or grease, and electrical fires. The idea behind a dry chemical fire extinguisher is to blanket the fuel with an inert solid (similar to dirt or sand). A dry chemical extinguisher sprays a very fine powder of sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3, baking soda), potassium bicarbonate (KHCO3, nearly identical to baking soda), or monoammonium phosphate ((NH4)H2PO4). These solids coat the fuel and smother the fire.

Makes me wonder if you could fill a paint sprayer or something else and hook it to the air compressor and have your own home made fire extinguisher at the shop. If somebody wants to try this, let us know.