May 11, 2011
1. In an effort to eliminate confusion over ratings for extinguishers listed with either a UL listing or a ULC (Canadian) listing, both agencies have agreed to harmonize their test standards. Prior to this change, the US and Canadian Standards had different test requiremnets for the Class A rating.
2. All manufacturers of fire extinguishers had to retest to the new standards, so that UL and ULC were consistent and the one test program would result in a dual listing for the manufacturer. The results of this retesting are that the current Class A ratings on a few fire extinguishers have been adjusted lower. For example, an extinguisher that previously carried a 20A UL rating may be reclassified to a 6A rating under the more rigorous bi-national standard.
3. The JL extinguishers that are affected by this change are listed below. As inventory of the older labeled extinguishers is used up, we will start shipping extinguishers labeled with these new ratings:
MODEL Description Previous UL Listing New UL Listing
Cosmic 20E 20 # ABC 20A-120BC 6A-120BC
495 50# ABC Wheeled Unit 30A-160BC 20A-160BC
4. The fire extinguishers have not changed in design or in fire-fighting capabilities, only the ratings. If one of these extinguishers has been specified for an upcoming project, let the architect or specifier know that there are no extinguishers available (for the 2 models listed above) with the old UL rating - from any extinguisher manufacturer.
5. Click Here for a copy of a letter explaining this change.
If you have questions on this change, contact our customer service department from 7:00 am EST to 4:00 pm Pacific at 1-800-554-6077
