Fire Extinguisher Cabinets for Car Washes, Marinas and Wash-Down Areas

A painted steel extinguisher cabinet in a tunnel wash lasts about as long as the paint does. After that the door edges bloom, the hinge seizes, and the next inspection finds a cabinet somebody has to fight open. The fix is not a better coating. It is a cabinet with nothing in it that can rust.

Where the wet environments are

The same problem shows up in more places than people expect:

• Car washes — tunnel and self-serve bays, vacuum islands, equipment rooms downstream of the reclaim tank
• Marinas and boatyards — fuel docks, wash racks, hoist bays, dockside walkways
• Food processing and commercial kitchens — anywhere the floor gets hosed at close of business
• Pool houses and natatoriums — chlorinated humidity, which is worse on metal than plain moisture
• Agricultural and livestock buildings — wash-down plus ammonia
• Parking structures and loading docks — road salt carried in on vehicles all winter

What makes a Cato cabinet suited to it

The body cannot corrode. Tubs and trims are injection molded high-impact polystyrene in .110 thickness with ultra-violet inhibitors; the semi-recessed model is .15 polypropylene. There is no substrate under a finish, so a scratch is cosmetic rather than the start of a failure.

The color goes all the way through. Red tubs are molded in color. A scuff from a pressure washer wand does not expose primer.

Metal content is minimal or zero. On the Chief the only metal is the break tool — an aluminum-tipped hammer or a stainless steel break bar — on a clear nylon-coated stainless steel cable. Specify the -B stainless break bar if you want the more corrosion-tolerant of the two. The Island Chief and the Warrior contain no metal at all: the Island Chief opens by a PETG hand-pull panel, the Warrior by lifting a cover off a plastic seal.

Red acrylic for UV. Cato specifies red acrylic on the Chief and a red cover on the Warrior for the best outdoor UV resistance. Outdoors or in a bright bay, order red — colors 02 or 52 on the Chief, or a Warrior WR or RR.

Cheaper freight to a coastal site. Plastic weighs significantly less than metal and the cabinets nest in their cases. A 5 lb Chief ships at 3.5 lb, twelve to a case.

Specify the rust prevention tray

The cabinet solves its own corrosion problem; it does not automatically solve the extinguisher's. A steel cylinder standing on a flat cabinet floor in a humid bay will hold condensation against its base.

Cato's tray, part 10300, is designed for exactly this: it sits flat side up, balls side down, with the longer part of the tray running across the width of the cabinet, and the extinguisher stands on it so air can move underneath and relieve corrosion due to condensation. Order it with the cabinet — as the -ET option on a full catalog number, or as part 10300 on its own. Note that Cato does not offer it for the 20 lb sizes.

Choosing the series for a wet site

Warrior is the natural first pick outdoors. It has no metal, no key to corrode or lose, and the widest tub for its rating — 8 x 19 x 6-3/8 in. at 5 lb and 9 x 23 x 7 in. at 10 lb. Pull up, the seal breaks, the cover comes off. Stock a handful of 95505 seals and it costs almost nothing to put back in service.

Island Chief where you want a locking trim for inspection access but still no metal in the assembly.

Chief with the -B stainless break bar and red acrylic where a conventional break-panel cabinet is expected and the specification calls for a lock.

Classic Semi-Recessed 41001 where the cabinet sits in a walkway and the 4 in. ADA projection limit is in play — its trim projects 2-7/8 in. Remember its tub is white polypropylene, and Cato's price sheet allows no freight discount on semi-recessed cabinets.

Don't forget the pull station

The same wall that eats a steel extinguisher cabinet eats a steel alarm pull station cover. Cato's 220 series covers are injection molded high-density polypropylene in red, available surface mount or recessed, with an optional gasket — 22011B and 22001C in the pull-to-open style, 22012B in the break-panel style. In a bay where water gets driven at the wall, the gasket versions are the ones to order. Both styles arrive fully assembled with mounting hardware and anchors, and both have knock-out plugs that can be cut to fit surface conduit.

A word on what goes inside

Agent choice is a code and hazard question, not a cabinet question. If the wet area is also a cooking area, NFPA 99 16.10.1.2 and NFPA 10 both call for a Class K extinguisher where there is potential for a fire involving combustible cooking media. Strike First, Amerex and JL Industries all make Class K units, and the 6 litre versions fit the 105-20 tub. Check the dimensions in our fit guide before ordering, and confirm the selection with your authority having jurisdiction.