29 May
2006
29 May
'06
3:47 a.m.
Jules Richardson wrote:
Tony Duell wrote:
Apples and oranges, though. What you really need to do is compare the
environmental damage or your two halon extinguishers (or rather all the halon
extinguishers that are actually *used*) and compare that to other sources of
halon (or equivalents) that cause similar environmental damage.
I bet the banning of halon extinguishers was cooked up by a bunch of
politicians to make it look like they were "doing something" rather than going
after the real culprits :-(
cheers
Jules
The hole in the ozone layer is drastically affected by the sun
spot cycle and it is well documented by the radio communications
types. The big scream about the freon refrigerants (halons)
came at the peak of the most active sun spot cycle in many
years. When the peak of the next cycle was approaching,
approximately 11 years later there was a quick blurb on the
local news about the hole was expanding again and then complete
silence. The biggest problem with the freon refrigerants was
that they will break down into phosgene with high heat and the
EPA makes no mention of that in their lists of hazards
associated with freon gases. Notice what the price is now (30
to 50 times what it used to be) and the replacements are just as
expensive plus they are flammable. Don't have a front end
accident with your new car. :-)
I've
still got a few big Halon-charged units whose gauges say they're fine,
but I know that Halon's a no-no because it eats a hole in the sky. So
All I can say to that is that you should compare the environmental damage
done by a couple of Halon fire extinguishers with the damage that would
be done if you had to rebuild all your classic computers and other stuff
from scratch.