Fire extinguishers test in Switzerland: fire extinguishing product ReinoldMax made in Lithuania among the leaders

Swiss magazine „Haus & Garten“ which constantly researches the quality of the products on the market and informs the public, completed a performance test of fire extinguishers, in which a fire extinguishing product ReinoldMax made in Lithuania participated 3 fire extinguishers were selected for the test (countries of origin: Italy, Switzerland, Germany) and 2 fire extinguishing products (countries of origin: Lithuania, Germany) Water and foam based fire extinguishing products took the lead in all tests.

Paradox: the ReinoldMax 500 ml aerosol fire extinguishing product, costing 41,40 Lt (~12.33 Eur) at the supermarket, was found to be only slightly behind the test winning 3 litre water foam fire extinguisher, which costs 939.00 Lt (~279.69 Eur) in Switzerland.

If a tablecloth, an iron or a teddy bear catches fire in your home, fire extinguishing products would be the biggest help to you. At least that is what the extinguishers colourful instructions promise you, for example, such as the German manufacturer GLORIA powder extinguisher F2

In addition to observing the tests of five selected extinguishing products, professional firefighters from Basel (Switzerland), completed the tests themselves. The fire extinguishers test team sought to determine what classes of fires these products extinguish, how complex or easy they are to use, whether they perform their function and what the space looks like after fire.

The course of the test: one by one six mattresses (fire class A), a TV (fire class E) and a dish of burning oil (fire class F) were extinguished. The firefighters extinguished mattresses and TVs 1 minute after setting them on fire. The dish with grease was heated until it flamed up. The instructions for use on the fire extinguishers and the consequences waiting after extinguishing were evaluated separately.

Conclusion: after attempts of extinguishing fires in home conditions, three water and foam based fire extinguishers were rated from „good“ to „very good“. Powder fire extinguishers failed the test.

Powder fire extinguishers let down when trying to extinguish flaming grease

Mattresses: no matter powder or foam fire extinguishers – all products were able to extinguish class A fires without problems, i.e. a flaming mattress. With both types of fire extinguishers, the flame was extinguished after a few seconds.

However, the small fire extinguishers had very little extinguishing agent remaining after the test, that is why a more serious fire would be hard for them to deal with. It is important to keep in mind that aerosol extinguishing products such as the ReinoldMax 500 ml are only intended for extinguishing fires that are just starting. For extinguishing a Christmas tree on fire, an extinguishing product of 500 ml would hardly be enough. Meanwhile, the same Christmas tree could be extinguished without any problems by a larger capacity 750 ml or 1000 ml extinguisher.

TVs: all fire extinguishers used in the tests successfully extinguished a burning TV.

Dish with grease: the symbol “F” on a fire extinguisher indicates that this fire extinguisher is specifically designed to extinguish burning grease. Swiss made foam extinguisher Primus 3 L kept its promise – the dish with burning grease was extinguished in just seconds. The much smaller German made aerosol fire extinguisher No Fire also passed this test, albeit with great effort: only with the last spray the firefighter managed to extinguish the flaming grease. This fire extinguishing product No Fire is sold with a fireproof cloth which is advised to use to extinguish the burning grease. However, the fireproof cloth flamed up during the test!

Extremely well rated Lithuanian production aerosol extinguishing product ReinoldMax: albeit slower than the Primus 3 L foam extinguisher, the “little” ReinoldMax of 500 ml capacity, effectively extinguished the burning dish with grease. The extinguishing foam instantly formed a thick film and extinguished the fire. Even the professional firefighter Oliver Hofer was stunned: „I would have never believed that such a small capacity fire extinguisher is so effective“.

Powder extinguishers failed the test

Poor ratings got powder extinguishers Gloria F2 (Germany) and Pro (Italy): instead of stopping the flames, they only increased the fire. During the test, the Gloria F2 powder extinguisher blew air and caused a fire whirl. It’s hard to even think what would happen if this scenario would repeat in your kitchen. When asked why the extinguisher does not contain information that it is not suitable for extinguishing grease, the powder extinguishers manufacturer Gloria responded this way: „We do not have the ability to indicate on the fire extinguisher all cases where the use of a powder extinguisher is not recommended.“

Remember that there is one major drawback when it comes to extinguishing fire with a powder extinguisher: extinguishing powder causes severe corrosion. Toxic chemical powders are difficult to remove completely, computers and other technical devices tend to become unusable, and rooms may need major repair. Professional firefighters recommend to have and use only water and foam based fire extinguishers. Protect your home!

Author of the article Stefan Dietrich
Translated into English by Samanta Jonauskytė

SCOREBOARD

Brand name	Primus	ReinoldMax	No Fire	Gloria	Pro
Name	WN3F	Stop Fire	Fire Safety Kit	F2 G	F2 G
Type/fire class	Foam/ ABF	Foam/ ABCE	Foam/ AB	Powder ABC	Powder ABC
(Declared) quantity of extinguishing agent	3 L	500 ml	400 ml	2 kg	1 L
Weight, kg	6	0,6	0,5	3,4	1,3
Price, Lt (~Eur)	939,00	41,40	142,00	168,00	79,40
Bought at	Primus	Hornbach	Obi	Obi	Coop
Instructions for use	5	5	4	3	2
Degree of difficulty of use	5	6	4	5	5
Extinguishing test Mattress	6	6	6	6	6
TV	6	6	6	6	6
Grease	6	5	4	1	1
Consequences after extinguishing	4	5	4	1	1
Overall score	5,7	5,6	5,4	3,9	3,7
Overall rating	very good	very good	good	insufficient	insufficient