Halon is a highly effective fire suppression gas, which is a colorless gas at room temperature and is typically stored in a liquid form in fire extinguishers after pressurization. In the event of a fire, the liquid halon will spray from the fire extinguisher and instantly vaporizes, thus extinguishing the fire. To increase halon’s spray distance, compressed nitrogen is also filled to the fire extinguisher as a propellant. Now let me introduce how to refill halon fire suppression gas into fire extinguishers.
1. Clean and Dry Halon Extinguisher Cylinder
This is not a mandatory step, but it is necessary for the Halon fire extinguisher cylinder used for extended periods. First of all, remove the cylinder valve, and then place the fire extinguisher on the fire cylinder cleaning machine. The machine will clamp the fire cylinder and use high-pressure water to flush the inside of the fire cylinder. Afterward, turn the gas cylinder over to pour out the sewage and rust stains inside it. Finally, use high temperature steam to dry the inside of the fire cylinder.
2. Reinstall Cylinder Valve onto Fire Cylinder
Place the cleaned Halon extinguisher cylinder onto the cylinder valving machine and set a installation torque. The machine will automatically clamp the fire cylinder and then install the valve on the Halon extinguisher cylinder. And the machine will automatically stop when your preset torque is reached.
3. Halon Extinguisher Cylinder Tightness Test
This step aims to to verify whether the cylinder valve is installed correctly and whether the tightness of the Halon extinguisher cylinder body is qualified. At this point, you will need to use a fire cylinder leak tester to complete the Halon extinguisher leak test. First, inject high-pressure nitrogen or air into the Halon extinguisher cylinder. Then, immerse the cylinder in a water tank for a few minutes. Finally, visually inspect the the Halon extinguisher cylinder for leaks by observing the bubbling.
4. Refill Halon and Nitrogen into Fire Extinguisher
Halon must be filled under pressurizing to ensure that the halon filled into the fire extinguisher is in liquid form. Therefore, you need to use a clean agent filling machine to refill halon and nitrogen gas into the fire extinguisher. The operation procedure is as follows: First, start the clean gas filling machine to vacuum fire extinguisher. Then set a halon filling weight on the machine, then the machine will automatically fill new halon into your fire cylinder. At last, use the machine to fill nitrogen at your required pressure into the fire extinguisher.
5. Mix Halon and Nitrogen Gas
Due to the density and phase differences between Halon and nitrogen gas, Halon and nitrogen may separate into layers in newly filled fire extinguishers. Without forced mixing, Halon and nitrogen gas will require 2-3 days to fully mix naturally. Therefore, you can use the gas mixer machine to accelerate the mixing of Halon and nitrogen gas.
FM200, also known as HFC-227ea, is a replacement for Halon, therefore, FM200 refilling procedures are exactly the same as Halon refilling procedures.
