:-)))))) LOL! Too funny.

Cheers,
Michelle

Fire extinguisher practice, sounds like a good idea. I'll keep it in mind for the upcoming holiday parties :)

Glad to hear all worked out safely for you.

petalpatsy, excellent point! I too have several fire extinguishers around the house, but I have never used one before. It's a great idea to practice on one so if, God forbid, I ever need to use one, I'll know how.

Thank goodness you thought enough to unplug the weed whacker before you dunked it in water! I'm glad everything worked out safely for you!

Dee

Dee, I never thought of water. It still struck me as an electrical fire, even though it tripped a breaker and was unplugged anyway. I didn't have any water anyway.

Naturegirl, if you want to include the dance you go up on your toes and hop from side to side while waving your arms with no rhythm and flapping your hands at the same rate as your heartbeat. You do this while still moving your whole body in a slow circle, looking around frantically with your mouth open. It's very sexy.

Lowes was very accomadating, since I had my receipt from 11/18, even though I admitted how I was using it, with all that leaf dust being sucked inside. She just said, "Yeah...but it caught on *fire*." I upgraded to one with the motor and air intake up by the trigger, and I've already been whacking tonight.

OMG, and while I was there, I got the *grooviest* thing! It's a tiny chain saw fitted out as a pair of hedgeclippers, with solid steel guards over the top(permanent) and bottom (moves like one blade of loppers.) When you close up the bottom jaw the hedge/branch is caught and stabilized against the chain. When the stuff is cut the guards meet and the chain is completed covered. To operate it, a trigger must be pressed on both handles.

Wish me luck.

Any electric motor could potentially catch fire if something happens so the resistance inside that motor increases enough to allow heat to build up. This is how your electric toaster works, current (electricity) moves through those wires (high resistance) which then heat up to toast the bread (or bagle). Usually when that happens in things such as a weed wacker the motor draws too much current and pops your circuit breaker, but not always.

"...Dee, I never thought of water. It still struck me as an electrical fire, even though it tripped a breaker and was unplugged anyway. I didn't have any water anyway..."

Oh, so what was in the galvanized tub? Sorry, when I think of galvanized tubs, I think of small pond features, since that's what many people in my neck of the woods use the tubs for. LOL! You can only imagine the visuals going through my mind on that one!

Good luck with the new whacker and with the new hedgeclippers. I'm deathly nervous around power tools of any kind, so I admire your enthusiasm!

:)
Dee

I so agree that people need to practice with something before being expected to use it in an emergency. Fire extinguishers are a perfect example of that. If you have never worked one, trying to read the directions and aim properly while panic grips, is not the best way to do it effectively. Perhaps it should become a fall tradition to practice with last year's fire extinguishers (these things need to be re-freshed or replaced regularly anyway) in prep for the holiday season.

I think the galvanized tub was probably placed over the fire to starve it of O2 and smother it.

If you have had your fire extinguisher for years it may not work. You need to shake them about once a year. The powder in them makes a lump in the bottom over time. If they have not been shaken for a while they may not work in an emergency.

I just have to tell this: hubby was on road (trucker)most of the time, but once when home, he decided to trim up for me, as it was almost winter. Cord was loose where it plugged into the trimmer, so he duct-taped it on. He has on a heavy coat, and cant hear over the whine of the trimmer, and it catches fire at the plug in!! flames licking up the backside of his coat, me yelling, "throw it!!"he's trimming away!!Why it was still working, I dont know, but finally, he wonders why I'm jumping up and down. Last of that weedeater-and a coat!

Thank goodness for fire extinguishers. Several years ago one of our grain trucks was over-heating during harvest. Like an idiot, I drove it home and parked it in the machine shed because it had a 500 bushels of corn on it. You guessed it - the engine caught fire. My husband was able to control it with fire ext. until the volunteer fire dept. got there (we live 6 miles from town). We lost the truck, we lost the corn and now it is really dark inside the machine shed because soot covers the metal roof. We pressure washed it which helped a little but it is still not shiny.

Heh. I dreamed I was child back in my parents yard. I sprinkled some maple seed wings on the lettuce in my brother's lizard cage and they burst into big, big flames. He was really mad.

Freud would be so bored with me.

I love your story. Reminds me of when I set the compost pile on fire with wood ashes...

Annebert, was there a dance involved too? LOL!

petalpatsy,

When I was reading your post I thought you had a 2-cycle gas weed-wacker. That would be a MUCH scarier event, as the oil in the gas to lubricate the engine makes it like a mini-flamethrower (ie its thicker than normal gas), and would burn much hotter/longer than gas alone!

Glad to hear you were safe, and great point about the fire extinguisher training. I have a 10 gallon real fire-extinguisher for large emergencies in the garage (connected to the kitchen). I say REAL because these are the real deal SCUBA-type tanks that hold enough CO2 to put out a small house fire. I decided to test it out just for this purpose because I had never shot off a real extinguisher. Needless to say I was shocked at how LOUD the sound of the rushing CO2 was as it came out of the nossle!

kimmsr,

You've got it reversed. The wires of the toaster have little resistence, that is why the get so hot. It's essentially a controlled short. High resistence would mean the wires would not heat up much because they are....surprise...not getting much current!