747 APU leak check fire extinguisher
 

Hey sorry about this as I already posted this question in the engineers section but there wasn't much response so i thought I'd try here...

I'm trying to find out what would be considered the best fire extinguisher to use in APU post maintenance leak checks.
Our procedure on 747 is to start the APU with the doors open to watch for leaks around replaced filters etc but it also states that you should have an "appropriate fire extinguisher" with you because with the doors open the aircrafts onboard fire fighting equipment is compromised.

At the moment there are plenty of extinguishers at my workplace but no one seems to know for sure which one we should be using for this task.

Just wondering if anyone does this check somewhere and could give me some info on what type of extinguisher is best suited (CO2?) and what size is deemed adequate.

CO2
 

The agent used in the built in extinguishers is Halon 1301 so unless you have a stand alone Halon extinguisher (unlikely) you will need an alternative.

See this website for the full list of Halon alternatives:

What is Halon and How Halon Work? Halon 1301 and Halon 1211

You will see that there are many, but CO2 is one of them so that would seem to be the easiest option.

wow thanks speedy that's a great help, cheers

Speeedy's on the money!
 

CO2 is the correct option.

Dry Chemical Powder or Foam will do a great job of messing up everything in the vicinity and falling back towards earth and the extingusiher operators lungs. :eek:

As a general rule...

Dry Chemical Powder (Red Bottle with White Stripe) is good for Brake and Wheel fires.
Foam is good for Fuel and Oil when on a horizontal surface.
CO2 is good for everything else.

Just be aware that I heard a story about a guy who was injured fighting a fire and the insurance company would not pay his workers comp because he was not trained in fire fighting. I always tell people that if you're on a major airport you've got trained professional ready to jump into their nice shiny red trucks to help out, so I reckon the most important thing to remember is the emergency phone numbers. I've got them programmed into my mobile phone. :ok:

yeah that's a great idea about the phone numbers too

thanks very much for the response, great info!