The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Shop safety tip

Yesterday I was at my workbench and happened to look at the fire extinguisher. The nozzel on the end was plugged tight with dirt from a mud daubber bee. I took off the nozzle and cleaned out about 1/2" of hard mud and bee larvae. Maybe this only happens in my neck of the woods, but it's worth a quick look. Jeff

Probably a good idea just to be safe, however most fire extinguishers I've used would blow the nest and the wasp out of it.

That's a hot tip. It reminded me I haven't checked mine in a while.

I use an Inspection Card like they use at work(when I worked/retired to keep track of when I last safety checked it.

a guy comes around here once a year and does a check on my whole building, for free .... called the fire marshall :mad: :blat: :hammering:

Bill

Dirt Daubers will fill the air inlet ports on my air tools in a matter of days. I've found that sticking a golf tee inside puts a "no vacancy" notice that they can't ignore!!! Spiders (the widow kind) will take up residency in the center of spools of wire as well as in a pair of boots and if you're sawing up 1X12's you'd better watch your fingers when seperating boards as the mini-scorpions find them inviting.

Just a few of the benefits of living in the Sunshine (and bug) state.

Dave

Ah North Dakota were there is no scorpions or blackwidows. Only a cloud of mosquitos in the summer and bitter cold in the winter.


I work in an shed no heat no cooling and basically open to nature. But I have never had problems like that with insects. I suggest a can of Raid. As for the fire extingusher. Its a handy thing to have. I have two and although I haven't checked them in awhile its a nice to see them hanging on the wall. Specially when grinding away bolts well playing with 30 old gas ,carb cleaner, brake cleaner, sea foam, and few other explosive material. Safe maybe not but an adreline rush yes. One last thing may I suggest a hose of sorts accesible just in case something big goes down. A fire extingusher won't ruin things but likewise sometimes you just need a little more.

That's really a good tip & one you wouldn't want to discover you have a problem with when trying to put out a fire. Thanks.

As for spiders and dirt dobbers, I use about 12 Raider Foggers (the kind that put out the smoke) every 3 months. It rids the shop of spiders, crickets, flies, and wasps. The smoke doesn't settle on anything like the spray foggers do. But they really get rid of the bugs.

I had that problem with the extinguishers in my garage. After cleaning them out, I took a small piece of painters tape and stuck it to the end of the nozzle. Keeps the insects out and is easily blown off if you need to use it. Another area to check is the bottom of the extinguisher, wasps sometimes tend to build nests there and you don't see them until you use the extinguisher. Every month I pick mine up and turn them upside down. Turning it upside down helps to keep the powder inside from packing and you'll also spot a wasp nest if it's there.

same thing happened to my grandfather. he started to put out a fire in the back of a truck in front of his shop only to find a dirt daubers nest in the nose. it was a smaller one but the tank didn't blow it out, he was stuck trying to put it out by hand. hr