9 replies to this topic

[Mark McCallister]

Anybody ship their SPA fire bottles back for their biannual service? Does UPS charge more for the dangerous shipment (compressed gas cylinder)?

[HoneyBadger - BrianW]

I didn't ship my bottle back, but I did have it shipped to me. They charge a hazardous material fee and they will only ship it via ground. IIRC

[DionJ]

The one drawback of the SPA system is the 2 year service, others don't have it. Anyway, just spray it on your lawn and wash it down with water to avoid the haz mat fee.

[Zauskycop]

Quite honestly (and told to me by the company that refilled mine)...Don't declare it as a fire extinguisher. Literally, when I tried, UPS's first question was "Is it flammable?". Ship it as "Car Accessories", and save yourself the hassle!

[Tom Ghan]

As someone who works for a worldwide transportation company I should point out that there are serious legal consequences, and even more importantly, safety issues for not declaring a haz or dangerous good package. When a package is declared as a Haz or DG it is handled differently at each step of the shipment by trained and certified personnel. When not handled properly, planes ( cargo and passenger), trains and trucks have crashed as a direct result of improperly shipped Haz and DG packages. I am not a certified HAZ or DG specialist, so I talked to someone who is. If a fire extinguisher is full or even partially pressurized it must be classified as HAZ ( ground shipping DOT regulations ) or Dangerous Goods (air shipment IATA regs). A certified Haz or DG specialist must sign off on the paperwork prior to shipment.
I won't comment as to the environmental aspects of completely emptying an extinguisher first, but that would allow it to be shipped as a non Haz or DG package.

Quite honestly (and told to me by the company that refilled mine)...Don't declare it as a fire extinguisher. Literally, when I tried, UPS's first question was "Is it flammable?". Ship it as "Car Accessories", and save yourself the hassle!

[davew]

I ship these often. And Ann who does most of my shipping is a UPS hazmat certified responder, at her real job as a UPS supervisor.

Anything pressurised can NOT be shipped via air freight. It must go ground only.

A typical hand held fire bottle is NOT considered to be hazmat. If your fire system is AFFF, the fluid is basicly water and soap mixture. Special and expensive soap. But basicly soapy water. It is also not hazmat. Also, it will freeze if left in the cold.

The older systems are considered hazmat and should also only go ground and must be labeled properly.

Dave

[FTodaro]

I have the SPA system you just spray in on the lawn and shipped empty, there is no advantage to shipping it full as they do not reuse it and it costs more to ship full. Just went through this recently. YOU NEED to have it recharged as the stuff in the SPA system turns to jello, you will not be impressed when you spray it on the lawn. costs 100.00 to get done.

[Zauskycop]

As someone who works for a worldwide transportation company I should point out that there are serious legal consequences, and even more importantly, safety issues for not declaring a haz or dangerous good package. When a package is declared as a Haz or DG it is handled differently at each step of the shipment by trained and certified personnel. When not handled properly, planes ( cargo and passenger), trains and trucks have crashed as a direct result of improperly shipped Haz and DG packages. I am not a certified HAZ or DG specialist, so I talked to someone who is. If a fire extinguisher is full or even partially pressurized it must be classified as HAZ ( ground shipping DOT regulations ) or Dangerous Goods (air shipment IATA regs). A certified Haz or DG specialist must sign off on the paperwork prior to shipment.
I won't comment as to the environmental aspects of completely emptying an extinguisher first, but that would allow it to be shipped as a non Haz or DG package.

As someone who works those aircraft that fly with those material...I am well aware of the safety implications of hazardous material. I know and understand that it must be shipped ground (which i do), and I also understand (as an ex volunteer firefighter) how "dangerous" an AFFF system could be . It is not flammable, explosive, or dangerous in any type of way. The problem is that short of checking what is in every fire extinguisher and classifying each seperately (read HALON IS BAD!!!) they just group them all together and say "All extinguishers are hazardous"...which any trained individualy will let you know is false.

[Mark McCallister]

I have the SPA system you just spray in on the lawn and shipped empty, there is no advantage to shipping it full as they do not reuse it and it costs more to ship full. Just went through this recently. YOU NEED to have it recharged as the stuff in the SPA system turns to jello, you will not be impressed when you spray it on the lawn. costs 100.00 to get done.

+1 Frank! It didn't exactly flood the back yard.

I contacted the vendor and they said it makes no difference to them whether I discharge it myself or not. Discharging it reduced the weight of my shipping box by about 5 lbs. (14 lbs. instead of 19), making the standard UPS Ground charge to ship from FL to VA $19 and change, with no hazmat worries.

I was hoping for a little redneck fun and tried to create an oil fire to spray it on, but turns out fresh Mobil-1 is surprisingly fire resistent, even with a propane torch pointed at it in the middle of my back yard fire pit. Oh well, no Youtube stardom for me...

[Tom Ghan]

As someone who works those aircraft that fly with those material...I am well aware of the safety implications of hazardous material. I know and understand that it must be shipped ground (which i do), and I also understand (as an ex volunteer firefighter) how "dangerous" an AFFF system could be . It is not flammable, explosive, or dangerous in any type of way. The problem is that short of checking what is in every fire extinguisher and classifying each seperately (read HALON IS BAD!!!) they just group them all together and say "All extinguishers are hazardous"...which any trained individualy will let you know is false.

Good to know you brig that experience to the conversation. I am sorry if I came of as toadamant about shipping HAZ. I had visions of every one dodging the haz regs to save a few dollars and panicked.