Recently purchased a 1948 3800 and I believe it has a fire extinguisher mounted in the cab? The only issue is that when I opened it, the clearish liquid inside smelled of brake cleaner, gasoline, or something highly flammable.....Please dont mind the holes in the floor lol
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Older fire extinguishers used carbon tetrachloride. Highly hazardous stuff. Link [en.wikipedia.org] Please don't be sniffing it.
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Yep, that's a brass canister extinguisher, filled with Carbon Tet. It'd carcinogenic, but it also makes some if the best thread tapping lubricant that's ever been invented. Drain the canister and store the liquid in a tightly capped mason jar. Just have plenty of ventilation if you use it as a thread tapping lube. Jerry
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Jerry is right about it being the best tapping fluid for steel and stainless steel! But not on aluminum, it will gum up the tap and you will break the tap. Don't ask me how I know.
Don
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1967 GMC 9500 Fire Ladder Truck "The Flag Pole" In the Stovebolt Gallery [stovebolt.com] '46 2-Ton grain truck '50 2-ton flatbed '54 Pontiac Straight Eight 1954 Plymouth Belvidere '70 American LaFrance pumper fire truck. 1976 Triumph TR-6
Carbon Tet was commonly used in the dry cleaning industry pre 1960ish. Scientists noticed a correlation between dry cleaners and higher death rates and began a study. The stuff was outlawed soon afterwards. There was a story floating around at the time of a man who picked up his suit from the cleaners and put it on the next day for work. Walked in the door of his business and dropped dead. Ambulance personnel noticed a strong odor of Carbon Tet on the body. As I said it was a story at the time, who knows if true or not.
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Can those old extinguishers be refilled with modern stuff to be re-used?
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I don't know of a fire suppression liquid other than carbon tet that's stable enough to stay liquid without being pressurized in a sealed container. Halon comes to mind, but I believe it had to be contained in a pressure vessel. It's also almost impossible to find due to some sort of so-called health hazards . Jerry
Last edited by Rusty Rod; Tue Mar 14 2023 08:39 PM.
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt! There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
