A boat owner buys an extinguisher marked Coast Guard approved, drops it into whatever bracket came in the box, and assumes the compliance question is closed. Amerex prints the reason it isn't, in its owner's manual for hand portable extinguishers.
Publication No. 27794, under the heading IMPORTANT NOTICE TO BOAT OWNERS:
"If the extinguisher is to be mounted in your boat, make sure that the proper mounting bracket is used. The nameplate (in the area of the UL manifest) says if it is Coast Guard approved and the mounting bracket which MUST be used to complete the approval. You will be cited by the Coast Guard if the correct type of extinguisher and bracket has not been installed."
Two things follow, and almost nobody selling extinguishers online states either. Coast Guard approval is not a property of the extinguisher alone — it is a property of an extinguisher and a specific named bracket, installed together. And the document that settles which bracket is the nameplate on the cylinder in front of you. Not a catalog page, not a marketplace listing, and not this guide.
Where to look on the nameplate
Amerex points you to one place: the area of the label carrying the UL manifest. That is where the nameplate states whether the unit is Coast Guard approved, and names the bracket that goes with the approval. If the nameplate doesn't say Coast Guard approved, adding a bracket doesn't make it so. (For the rest of the label's rating block, see our guide to UL ratings.)
Amerex says it a second way in its portable extinguisher catalog. Six agent pages — ABC dry chemical, Purple K, carbon dioxide, Halotron® I, high-flow dry chemical and the Z-Series — carry the same qualifier in the OPTION block: "USCG approved with bracket listed on UL label." (The Halotron I page prints it as "Extinguishers are USCG approved with bracket listed on UL label.") Not "USCG approved." Approved with the bracket listed on the label, six times over.
One related detail matters before a unit goes in for service. Amerex's Parts Book footnotes its replacement nameplates on eight of its portable and wheeled lists with the same line — "* Nameplates do not include UL or USCG" — so a new plate does not carry the listing marks the approval is read from. We set that out in full, with Amerex's second wording, under when the nameplate itself is the failed part.
The CG suffix, and where Amerex names the bracket outright
Amerex uses suffix letters to separate builds of one base model. Some are visible in the catalog charts: a T model ships with a vehicle bracket where the plain model ships with a wall hanger (B417 versus B417T), and NM marks the nonmagnetic build — the catalog's CO2 page notes a "NONMAGNETIC MODEL AVAILABLE (MODEL 322NM—TESTED TO 11.7 TESLA)." The full set is in our model number decoder. CG marks the Coast Guard build.
Wet chemical is the clearest case. Amerex builds the 6 liter C260 and the 2½ gallon C262 in standard and CG versions, and its wet chemical service manual (PN 13259) covers them as paired models — "MODELS B260/B260CG, B262/B262CG, C260/C260CG & C262/C262CG." The catalog marks the build difference in a single line: "Polished stainless steel cylinders–USCG models have durable high-gloss polyester powder paint coating."
Then, alongside the wet chemical specification table in Amerex's catalog:
"MODELS C260CG & C262CG COAST GUARD APPROVED
MUST USE 810CG BRACKET (sold separately)"
Sold separately. Amerex's chart lists a wall hanger as the included bracket for both models and puts the 810CG in a separate column. Buy the C260CG or C262CG alone and the installation is incomplete until the 810CG arrives. Both are rated 2A:K at 100 PSIG, discharge in 53 and 107 seconds with an initial range of 10–12 feet, and carry a +40°F to 120°F temperature range; see our C260 versus C262 guide.
Amerex's own USCG bracket column
The "extinguishers at-a-glance" chart in Amerex's catalog carries a dedicated USCG BRACKET column, separate from the included bracket and the optional brackets. Every model with an entry in it:
| Model(s) | Agent | Capacity | Cyl. dia. | Included bracket | USCG bracket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B417 / B417T | ABC | 2.5 lb | 3 in | 817VM Wall / 817 | 817 |
| B402 / B402T · B500 / B500T | ABC | 5 lb | 4.25 in | 888 Wall / 818 | 818, 821, 861H |
| B424 | ABC | 5 lb | 4.25 in | 888 Wall | 821, 861H |
| B443 · B461 | ABC | 6 lb | 5 in | 801 Wall | 808, 809, 895 |
| B456 · B441 | ABC | 10 lb | 5 in | 801 / 816 Wall | 809, 895 |
| A411 · 423 | ABC | 20 lb | 7 in | 803 Wall | 810 |
| B410T | Purple K | 2.5 lb | 3 in | 817 | 817 |
| B479 / B479T | Purple K | 5 lb | 4.25 in | 888 Wall / 818 VM | 818, 821, 861H |
| B460 | Purple K | 10 lb | 5 in | 816 Wall | 809, 895 |
| A413 · 415 | Purple K | 20 lb | 7 in | 803 Wall | 810 |
| B386T | Halotron I | 5 lb | 4.25 in | 818 Vehicle | 818, 821, 861H |
| 397 · 398 | Halotron I | 11 / 15.5 lb | 6 in | 802 Wall | 812 |
| 322 | CO2 | 5 lb | 5.25 in | 801 Wall | 809 |
| 330 · 331 | CO2 | 10 / 15 lb | 7 in | 802 Wall | 810 |
| 332 | CO2 | 20 lb | 8 in | 20# CO2 Wall | 811 |
| C260CG | Wet chemical | 6 liter | 7 in | 816 Wall | 810CG |
| C262CG | Wet chemical | 2.5 gal | 7 in | 816 Wall | 810CG |
| C571 | Class D copper | 30 lb | 7 in | 877 Wall | 810 |
| 720 · 722 | High-flow | 10 lb | 5 in | 816 Wall | 809, 895 |
| 760 · 762 | High-flow | 20 lb | 7 in | 803 Wall | 810 |
| 711 · 712 | Z-Series | 10 lb | 5 in | 877 Wall | 809, 809G |
| 713 · 716 · 790 · 793 | Z-Series | 13.2 lb | 7 in | 877 Wall | 810 & 810G |
| 714 · 717 · 791 · 794 · 795 | Z-Series | 20 lb | 7 in | 877 Wall | 810 & 810G |
| 715 · 718 · 792 · 796 | Z-Series | 30 lb | 8 in | 876 Wall | 811 & 811G |
Read the two bracket columns together and a clean split appears. Every wall-bracket model in the chart ships with a hanger that is not the bracket in its USCG column. A 10 lb B456 arrives with the 801 wall hanger; its USCG brackets are the 809 and 895. A 20 lb A411 arrives with the 803; the USCG bracket is the 810. A 20 lb CO2 model 332 arrives on its own wall bracket; the USCG bracket is the 811.
The exception is the vehicle-bracket builds. A B417T ships with the 817, and 817 is its USCG bracket; a B402T, B500T or B479T ships with the 818, which heads its USCG list; a B386T ships with the 818 as well. Those units leave the factory already carrying a listed bracket, which leaves the wall-hanger models as the ones where completing the approval takes a second line on the order.
For 5 lb aluminum-valve units Amerex lists three: the 818, 821 and 861H. The parts book separates the first two by valve family: the 818 is for "All 5 lb., 5½ lb. Aluminum Valve Models," the 821 for "All 5 lb., 5½ lb. Aluminum & Brass Valve Models." The 817 covers "All 2½ lb., 3 lb. Aluminum Valve Models," the 808 "All 6 lb., 9 lb.," and the 895 "All 6 lb., 10 lb."
Two-strap brackets sit in the optional column, not the USCG column
This is where careful buyers get tripped up. The two-strap brackets — 817S, 818S, 821S, 845S — are excellent hardware, and on a boat that pounds through chop a second strap is worth having. But across the at-a-glance chart they appear under OPTIONAL BRACKETS (and, on the B385TS and B394TS, as the included bracket) — never under USCG BRACKET.
That is not a statement that a two-strap bracket is unsuitable — it is a statement that the listing on your nameplate governs. Buy one for the security it gives you, then confirm against the manifest area of the label that it is the bracket named there.
Salt spray, galvanizing, and what survives outdoors
Amerex publishes one bracket specification that matters more in a marine environment than anywhere else: "All Amerex brackets meet the latest UL salt spray requirements (240 hrs. @ 20% salt solution—ASTM B117)." A one-year manufacturer's warranty applies to all brackets.
Above that baseline are heavier options. On the Z-Series page Amerex notes that "Hot-dip galvanized USCG brackets available" — the 809G, 810G and 811G in the Z-Series rows above. Separately, "Models 809, 810, and 811 are also available with an optional zinc primer undercoat (809Z / 810Z / 811Z)."
Note that corrosion resistance and approval are separate questions. The galvanized brackets appear in the USCG column only on the Z-Series rows; on a 15 lb CO2 model 331, the chart's USCG entry is the 810 and nothing else. A tougher finish is a good idea on an open deck, but it is not automatically the bracket that completes your approval.
Mounting it so the approval means something
A named bracket loosely fastened to a bulkhead is not an installation. Amerex's owner's manual sets the bar: "UL specifies that a hanging device must withstand a vertical force of five times the weight of the charged extinguisher but not less than 100 pounds."
The manual then gives substrate-specific instructions and treats strap brackets separately from wall hangers. On cinderblock or cement, "Mount vehicle/marine strap type brackets using two 3/16" toggle bolts or #10 lead screw expansion anchors"; on concrete or tile wall, "Mount vehicle/marine strap type brackets using two No. 10 masonry lead screw expansion anchors." For steel posts or beams: "Special tools and fasteners are required – have extinguisher mounted by a professional fire extinguisher service company."
The general rule is stated plainly: "Use the mounting bracket furnished with the extinguisher or an approved Amerex vehicle bracket if required."
What the Coast Guard requires you to carry
That is a separate question from which bracket completes an approval, and not one Amerex's literature answers. Amerex publishes the UL rating, capacity and listing status for each model; how many units of what size your vessel must carry is a carriage question. Consult the Coast Guard's current carriage requirements for your vessel's length, propulsion and construction, and confirm with your marine surveyor or insurer before you order. What we can tell you is the other half: given a model number, which bracket Amerex lists to complete its approval, and whether we have it on the shelf.
What we stock
Coast Guard approved wet chemical — the C260CG at 6 liters and the C262CG at 2½ gallons, both 2A:K, in our marine and Coast Guard approved collection alongside the wider wet chemical range.
The bracket that completes them — the 810CG, the only entry in Amerex's USCG bracket column for those two models.
Vehicle/marine brackets by cylinder — the 817 for 2½ and 3 lb aluminum valve models, the 818 for 5 and 5½ lb aluminum valve, the 821 for 5 and 5½ lb aluminum and brass valve, the 861H listed beside them on the 5 lb models, and the 808 for 6 and 9 lb — plus the box-type 809 for 5 and 5¼ in cylinders, the 812 for 6 in in either black or galvanized red, 810 for 7 in, 811 for 8 in, and the 895, which the catalog shows in the box-type group though the Parts Book lists it by capacity, "All 6 lb., 10 lb." — plus the galvanized and zinc-undercoated versions above.
Two-strap versions — the 817S, 818S, 821S and 845S, in the full bracket collection.
The service parts — the 03412 ½" × 1½" pad and 01264 rivet for the 817, 818, 808, 821, 845, 846, 889 and 889HB; the 03076-P white vinyl tip for the 817, 818, 808, 821 and 845; and the rubber grommet bumpers — 20619 on the 895, 06858-P on the 861H, 846, 889 and 889HB, 01990-P on the 807, 809, 810, 811, 812 and 860 — all in service parts. Fitment is laid out model by model in our bracket fitment guide, and the units that use the same hardware are in vehicle and fleet.
Fitting out a vessel, a charter fleet or a marina and want each unit quoted with its listed bracket? Send us the model numbers off the nameplates and we'll come back with options, availability and lead time — request a quote.
Sources
The boat owner notice, the mounting force requirement and the installation instructions are quoted from Amerex Corporation's Owner's Manual Hand Portable, No. 27794. The USCG bracket column, included brackets, cylinder diameters, UL ratings, capacities, discharge data, pressures, temperature ranges, the "USCG approved with bracket listed on UL label" option line, the salt spray and warranty statements and the 810CG callout are from Amerex's published portable fire extinguisher catalog, which itself directs readers to "see Amerex Parts Catalog for bracket details." Bracket fitment descriptions, part numbers and the nameplate footnote are from the Amerex Parts Catalog. The paired CG model designations are from Amerex's Owner's Service Manual — Wet Chemical Portable Extinguishers, PN 13259. Coast Guard approval status and the bracket that completes it are stated on the extinguisher's own nameplate — confirm there before you order, and confirm carriage requirements, hazard classification and installation with a qualified fire protection professional, your marine surveyor and your authority having jurisdiction.
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