Fire Extinguisher Ul Rating Meaning
The ul rating is broken down into class a and class b c ratings.
Fire extinguisher ul rating meaning. But what do these fire extinguisher ratings mean. A higher number means the extinguisher can battle a bigger blaze. Fire extinguisher ratings class a extinguishers will put out fires in ordinary combustibles such as wood and paper. Below is a useful chart from buckeye fire.
10 bc extinguisher means 2 5 gallons of water firefighting capacity for 10 square feet covered for a bc type fire. What it means in another article we discussed the different types classes of fires the typical fuel source common settings in which a certain class of fire is likely to occur and the most effective type of fire extinguisher to combat the different classes of fires. The letters stand for the class of fire the extinguisher can be used against. Every fire extinguisher has an alphanumeric rating that tells you what types of fires it can extinguish as well as the size of fire it can put out.
These numbers are a ul ulc rating that indicates the amount of firefighting capacity with the square feet covered for the type of fire. A 2a rating equals 2 5 gallons of water and a 4a rating equals 5 gallons of water. Fire extinguisher ul rating. What do the letters and numbers by the fire extinguisher classification mean.
A class a fire extinguisher is used for ordinary combustibles such as wood paper some plastics and textiles. The numbers in the ul rating are a relative measurement of how effective a given extinguisher is at fighting certain classes of fires based on proper fire extinguisher training. This code for example 13a 55b defines the class or type of fire and the size of fire this type of fire extinguisher is capable of extinguishing. Fire extinguishers are classified by the type of fire that they will extinguish.
These numerical ratings allow you to compare the relative extinguishing effectiveness of various fire extinguishers. The a rating is a water equivalency rating. An abc fire extinguisher might have a ul rating of 4 a 80 b c. For example an extinguisher that is rated 4a 20b c indicates the following.
Most fire extinguishers have a fire rating printed on the canister. Fire extinguishers that comply with brazil s portaria 486 and abnt nbr 15808 are eligible to use the brazilian recognized conformity mark the inmetro mark in conjunction with the ul mark for brazil. The ul mark on a fire extinguisher as well as on fire extinguisher components and agents is widely recognized to indicate that they meet the standards for safety and performance. A and b rated fire extinguishers also use numbers to show how large a fire they can fight.