Fire extinguisher in the car: How sensible does it make in the car?

The basic equipment of a car includes association boxes, lifeguards and warning triangle in Germany - but no fire extinguisher.What do experts say?Should drivers buy the device?

What starts with a small braised fire under the bonnet can quickly expand to the big fire if the stove is not immediately deleted.But a fire extinguisher is missing in many cars.

"Having a fire extinguisher in Germany is not mandatory in Germany, but it makes sense for an emergency.Expensive total damage would be avoidable in many fire cases, "says Sören Heinze from Auto Club Europe (ACE).Especially since the acquisition costs for a powder fire extinguisher are quite manageable with around 15 euros.

Jan Ole Unger from the Hamburg fire brigade also considers a fire extinguisher in the car to be useful: "Creation fires can be deleted, such as a starting cable fire, from which more can be created."

Many car fires are caused by technical causes

According to the TÜV Nord, around 15.000 cars in Germany due to technical causes in flames.The trigger is often errors in the electrical or worn cable, which trigger a fire by a short circuit.Also leaking oil pipes could quickly ignite by a hot exhaust manifold.

If you want to be prepared, you will find a variety of fire extinguishing models for cars in the accessory trade.According to the Unger, two-kilo extinguishers, which, for example, can be stowed away well in the trunk or in the footwell behind the seat: "Here you should definitely adhere to the manufacturer's installation information notes."

The extinguisher must also be attached well."The bottle should be assembled so that it cannot solve itself, for example, when braking," says Sören Heinze.In addition, drivers should position the extinguisher in such a way that it is quickly accessible, for example in the footwell of the passenger side or on the seats.

Powder or water - what deletes what and how?

Buyers should make sure that the fire extinguisher in the Europe -wide standard of DIN EN 3 and is frost -proof, advises fire protection expert Mathias Obst, long -time editor -in -chief of the specialist magazine "Delete fire brigade Retten Bergen".Content and filling quantities are crucial for the extinguishing success: "The extinguishing sprays, for example, are hardly suitable for deleting in vehicle fires because their content is too low and the pressure is not sufficient," says Obst.

Most fire extinguishers work with ABC powder."This covers all three fire classes: solid fabrics, liquid fires and gas fires.Foam extinguishers, on the other hand, are only suitable for fire classes A and B, "explains Heinze.Also, powder extinguishers with the same filling quantity would have a significantly higher extinguishing power.However, the extinguishing agent could cause damage to the vehicle rather than a foam extinguisher.

Advantages and disadvantages

The operation of a powder extinguisher is quite simple according to fruit.However, the right extinguishing technique is important: "Here you should try to combat the embers with short bumps, because otherwise a two-kilo extinguisher is empty after twelve seconds."The fire is ultimately suffocated by the powder.The disadvantage of the powder is the strong residues.Once blown out, the fine powder sat in every crack and is difficult to remove again.

A foam extinguisher, on the other hand, hardly does any consequential damage, but cannot be used for gas fires."The simple handling is an advantage, because you delete with a water jet, similar to that of a garden hose," says Obst."With the powder extinguisher, on the other hand, the extinguishing agent is thrown out with great force, which could overwhelm some users."However, the disadvantage of the foam extinguisher is a higher purchase price from around 30 euros.

Regular maintenance extended operational readiness

Once purchased, fire extinguishers can remain operational for far more than ten years."But it is important that they are waited regularly," says Heinze.The test cycle usually provides for maintenance by the manufacturer or a specialist company every two years.The pressure state can be read on models with a manometer and thus also whether the fire brings are actually ready for use.

The review is extremely important for functional safety, as fire protection expert Obst explains: "For standard extinguishers, also called long -term pressure extinguisher, the extinguishing agent and the compressed gas are located in a container, which means that a gradual pressure loss can be set."Because of these leaks, the fire extinguishers would lose their effects after a while and would then have to be checked or replaced.Therefore, it is important to consider the notes on durability on the extinguisher.

But there are also low -maintenance models: so -called bumpers have an extra bottle for the exercise."For example, the carbon dioxide cartridge is weighed and the powder is checked for its trickle ability," explains Unger.

It is fully flamed for the fire extinguisher too late

Whether powder or foam extinguisher: Both variants are suitable for both combustion vehicles and for electric cars."The fire progress is always decisive.A starting cable fire can be combated with the common fire extinguishers in every vehicle, "says fire brigade expert Unger.If a car is full of flames, a two-kilo extinguisher can no longer align a lot with a vehicle.

The fire brigade, on the other hand, has to extinguish differently if the battery of an electric car is on fire, which, according to the expert organization Dekra, does not occur more often than fires of petrol and diesel vehicles.“Because the battery cells are mostly installed under the vehicle, they are difficult to access for the fire brigade.In addition, a lot of water has to be deleted in order to cool the lithium-ion batteries at the same time, "says Markus Egelhaaf from Dekra accident research.