• 13 parts
  • Checked September 2026

Parts of a Fire Extinguisher

A portable fire extinguisher from the front, then cut open with its valve enlarged.

Parts of a Fire Extinguisher

Name Date

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
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Write the name of each numbered part.Answer key

  1. Cylinder
  2. Pressure gauge
  3. Carrying handle
  4. Operating lever
  5. Hose
  6. Nozzle
  7. Nameplate
  8. Wall hanger
  9. Valve assembly
  10. Siphon tube
  11. Extinguishing agent
  12. Pull pin
  13. Tamper seal

Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry. Licence: own work.

Each numbered ring is a button. Use the arrow keys to move between them and Enter to choose. Names are read out in Study, and once a part is answered.

Next step Next: a fire sprinkler system

All 13 parts on the diagram

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Outside 8

  1. Cylinder Holds both the extinguishing agent and the gas that pushes it out.
  2. Pressure gauge Its pointer shows whether the pressure inside is in the operable range.
  3. Carrying handle It is part of the valve assembly, under the operating lever.
  4. Operating lever Squeezing it toward the handle opens the valve.
  5. Hose It carries the agent from the valve to the nozzle.
  6. Nozzle A carbon dioxide extinguisher has a wide horn here in its place.
  7. Nameplate Its pictures give the basic operating instructions.
  8. Wall hanger It is screwed to the wall. In a vehicle a vehicle bracket does the same job.

Inside and the pin 5

  1. Valve assembly Carries the lever, handle, valve stem, gauge and outlet to the hose.
  2. Siphon tube The agent is drawn up through it to the valve. It comes from the cylinder's bottom.
  3. Extinguishing agent In this kind it is a dry chemical powder.
  4. Pull pin Makers also call it the ring pin.
  5. Tamper seal Unbroken, it shows the extinguisher has not been used or tampered with. Pulling the pin breaks it.

How this list was compiled: Every name checked on 2026-09-30, a name kept only where two independent sources use it. Two fire extinguisher makers' manuals, read as full text on archive.org: a user and service manual for dry chemical extinguishers (https://archive.org/details/manualsbase-id-646802) and a second maker's service manual (https://archive.org/details/manualzilla-id-6036255). US Occupational Safety and Health Administration, evacuation plans eTool, Portable Fire Extinguishers, Fire Extinguisher Use (https://www.osha.gov/etools/evacuation-plans-procedures/emergency-standards/portable-extinguishers/use). US Fire Administration, fire extinguisher outreach page (https://www.usfa.fema.gov/prevention/home-fires/prepare-for-fire/fire-extinguishers/). Wikipedia, Fire extinguisher. No maker is named on the page. Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry; a schematic of no maker's extinguisher, nothing traced. Licence: own work

How it works

This is a portable dry chemical extinguisher of the stored-pressure kind: the agent and the gas that pushes it out share one cylinder. The first drawing shows it from the front. The second cuts it open and enlarges the valve.

Read the full guide

Outside first, then cut open

Numbers 1 to 8 are on the outside: the cylinder with its nameplate, the pressure gauge on the valve, the carrying handle with the operating lever above it, the hose and nozzle, and the wall hanger. Numbers 9 to 13 are in the second drawing. On the left the cylinder is cut open, and the siphon tube reaches down into the extinguishing agent. On the right the valve assembly is enlarged. The pull pin passes through the lever, and the tamper seal is looped through the ring of the pin. Squeezing the lever opens the valve, and the agent is driven up the tube and out through the hose.

  • Makers use other names: ring pin for the pull pin, pick-up tube or dip tube for the siphon tube.
  • A carbon dioxide extinguisher has a wide discharge horn in place of this nozzle.

Questions and answers

What are the parts of a fire extinguisher called?

Outside: the cylinder, the nameplate, the pressure gauge, the carrying handle, the operating lever, the pull pin with its tamper seal, the hose and the nozzle. Inside: the valve, the siphon tube and the extinguishing agent.

What is the pin on a fire extinguisher for?

The pull pin locks the operating lever. Pulling it out breaks the tamper seal and frees the lever to be squeezed.

What does the tamper seal on a fire extinguisher show?

An unbroken seal shows at a glance that the extinguisher has not been used or tampered with. It is looped through the pull pin and breaks when the pin is pulled.

What is the tube inside a fire extinguisher?

The siphon tube. It runs from the valve almost to the bottom of the cylinder, so the agent is drawn up from the bottom when the valve opens. Makers also call it a pick-up tube or dip tube.

What does the gauge on a fire extinguisher show?

The pressure inside the cylinder. Its pointer shows whether that pressure is in the operable range.

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