Crewsaver Ergofit 190N Pro - Failure to fully inflate

[Moonbeam]

We purchased a pair of these new at the beginning of last season.

http://www.cactusnav.com/crewsaver-...MIr9a6muSE2gIVqLXtCh1KtgsWEAQYAyABEgIpP_D_BwE

So it's time to home service them by weighing the gas cylinder and leaving the jacket inflated overnight which is what I've done for many years with our old style 150N Crewsavers.

Being the first time I'd opened one of the Ergofits up I was interested to see how it was all put together inside. I thought it was quite fiddily inside so I thought we'd try and test the second jacket inflation from unpacked while being worn. The second jacket was donned and I revealed the manual mouth inflator tube just enough to put a 12v high speed inflator pump on it which packs quite a punch and I hoped would replicate the gas cylinder to some extent. To our disappointment, only one half of the jacket inflated as far as the neck flap where there is some very strong velcro holding the neck flap down which stopped the other half of the jacket inflating.

Thought I would look online and found this review where they had the same problem and the the auto inflate did not work either!!

http://www.mby.com/gear/10-best-lifejackets-tested-18906/11

I can not find any recalls on this product so far.

Has anyone here who owns one tried theirs? Trying to deploy the hood and light was not easy either.

I'm mindful as to the limits of our test in as far as the auto inflate would start inflating the jacket from the opposite side which may make a difference? The 12v pump is probably not packing the full punch of the gas cylinder (although it does inflate our tender in short order), but is probably more than lung inflation would offer?

Think I will re-pack and try the gas cylinder on the manual pull cord.

Edit: I should add that our jackets are the UML inflator not the Hammer type as tested in the above link.

 

[afterpegassus]

I have one.
I took it off and put it in my shed after coming ashore one day last autumn.
The following day, on entering the shed, I found a fully inflated lifejacket.
Everything appeared to function as it ought except for the fact it had spontaneously inflated. Why this happened, I never found out.

 

[[70521]]

I have one.
I took it off and put it in my shed after coming ashore one day last autumn.
The following day, on entering the shed, I found a fully inflated lifejacket.
Everything appeared to function as it ought except for the fact it had spontaneously inflated. Why this happened, I never found out.

That happened to one of my LJs, but on the boat I put it down to damp air over a long time.

 

[Moonbeam]

Update... having stayed fully inflated overnight, I twice repacked and tried the same method as above with the same results, so after repacking again, I thought it was time to try the big guns and fire the CO2 cylinder on the manual toggle.

Boom, it fully inflated in under 3 seconds. No problems. Now just have to buy a re-arming kit!

Reassuring to know it did the job, and useful to know that if we did have to inflate these via the mouth piece, then they are going to need help in undoing the flaps.

 

[Deleted member 36384]

many moons ago a hang-glider died when his glider parachute failed to deploy. The investigation revealed that the velcro over the years had become so bound together that the manual tape to rip the flap open was too stiff. Part of the unpacking and packing of the lifejacket annually breaks the velcro bond and ensures it does not bind up tight.

 

[Moonbeam]

many moons ago a hang-glider died when his glider parachute failed to deploy. The investigation revealed that the velcro over the years had become so bound together that the manual tape to rip the flap open was too stiff. Part of the unpacking and packing of the lifejacket annually breaks the velcro bond and ensures it does not bind up tight.

Yes, I was made aware of that incident during my training as a paraglider pilot. When that incident happened (I think the 90's?) equipment manufacturers for hang gliders and paragliders where very much a cottage industry. Harness manufacturers as a result of that incident focused on making the reserve parachute a lot easier to deploy to the extent that when I trained, one of the pre-flight checks was to make sure the reserve was still secure so as to avoid accidental deployment during take off.

 

[lw395]

A few weeks ago we found a 20 year old Baltic lifejacket at the back of the shed. It had not been worn for at least 5 years, but was fairly tatty, I think it was worn a fair amount when new. I pulled the cord and it inflated fully. It's still pretty well inflated now, just a little less firm.