DIY Life raft service?

Aeolus

Aeolus

Well-Known Member
Joined
3 Aug 2004
Messages
1,026
Location
Sussex
Visit site
In another thread, one respondent talked about DIY repackaging a life raft. Does anyone service their own life raft? The arguments for are, presumably: (1) You know what's been done and how well and (2) it's cheaper.

What would be the arguments against, apart from not having a certificate?
 
Well, Aeolus, as far as I can see that is it, no certificate.

DIY takes up a lot of space and outside on the lawn is not the place to be. Hire the scout hall etc if you have to.

Take pictures, draw what looks to be difficult to re pack.

The first aid kit is date stamped to time expire, no idea why other than marketing. Same story for the flare pack and water.

I am still using the first aid kit that “died” five years ago.

73s de

Johnth
 
Aeolus said:
In another thread, one respondent talked about DIY repackaging a life raft. Does anyone service their own life raft? The arguments for are, presumably: (1) You know what's been done and how well and (2) it's cheaper.

What would be the arguments against, apart from not having a certificate?
Click to expand...

Most liferafts are vacuum packed in a new polythene(?) bag. Not sure how you would achieve a suitable vacuum.

If you have a (cheap) solution for that, can you let me (and everyone else) know, please. I might then do my own service as I was less than impressed with the process employed by a local Portsmouth service centre when I observed a couple of years ago. I think they have since ceased trading.
 
Aeolus said:
In another thread, one respondent talked about DIY repackaging a life raft. Does anyone service their own life raft? The arguments for are, presumably: (1) You know what's been done and how well and (2) it's cheaper.

What would be the arguments against, apart from not having a certificate?
Click to expand...

Safety gear IMO is not the place where savings are to be had. Answering your question: should anything adverse happen I would want to be able to say that within reasonable limits I put my back into serious safety gear. Wouldn't you?

Most life rafts have 3 year servicing which is a lot more than just blowing the thing up and replacing the torch batteries in the onboard safety gear. When repacked it has to last another 3 years - anything spotted during the service that might compromise the next 3 years' safe performance would be spotted. Can you or I do that?

A service costs £150 /200 - ie 60 quid a year. Worth every penny.

I rest my case.....I hope I persuaded you.

PWG
 
I doubt that you'd be able to repack the liferaft properly.

I took a valise liferaft to Viking. They were a day late in returning the raft as they had great difficulty in getting it back into the valise. They only managed it when I tod them to put half the stores into a dry bag. No fault of theirs at all .... and I am only too happy to recommend them.

There is an additional problem with canisters .... the metal bands that hold them together are designed to break when the raft is triggered to inflate. It is possible to work out other ways to secure the canister ..... but would you risk it?

Are all liferafts vacuum packed now? They never used to be .... and I doubt if my Givens is.
 
IIRC, the canister sealing tape is also of a special variety, designed to release quickly.

Ordinary packing tape stretches too much.
 
The service people I've used carry out all the work in a dry atmosphere. They have a sealed room that is temperature and humidity controlled.

To pack it into the plastic bag they used a normal henry hoover.
 
Vacuum Packing; you can get storage bags designed to be used with a vacuum cleaner to store bedding. I realise that this may not be the same quality as used on liferafts - but it might be a useful alternative to not vacuum packing at all.

Only question might be whether it would burst easily enough on inflation.
 
Searush said:
Vacuum Packing; you can get storage bags designed to be used with a vacuum cleaner to store bedding. I realise that this may not be the same quality as used on liferafts - but it might be a useful alternative to not vacuum packing at all.

Only question might be whether it would burst easily enough on inflation.
Click to expand...

On the subject of vacuum packing, how do you seal the trigger rope entry to the bag? It has to enter the bag as the cylinder and firing mechanism are in there. Maybe it's not actually a proper vacuum, once the folded raft is back in the bag?
 
Playtime said:
On the subject of vacuum packing, how do you seal the trigger rope entry to the bag? It has to enter the bag as the cylinder and firing mechanism are in there. Maybe it's not actually a proper vacuum, once the folded raft is back in the bag?
Click to expand...

You don't. The release rope is back-to-back with the trigger mechanism through the plastic container, so that the packaging is water and air tight. IME the container is not vacuum packed, just air extracted to keep the whole assembly as small as possible.

Using a DIY container of whatever source, unless specified for this purpose, is inviting, shall we say, a measure of disappointment in the outcome when yanking on the release cord as the boat settles to its gunnels....

Do it proper...you know it's the right thing!

PWG
 
I always service my own having found several faults from a previous service. Its a simple job compared with most maintenance items on a boat. I usually leave it inflated for a week. Sitting in the inflated raft and getting familiar with the layout must be better than being faced with a strange item in an emergency. Getting the raft back in can be tricky, a vacuum cleaner helps to deflate completely. I had trouble the first time so left out the lifed items (which I think are better stored seperatly) and some poor quality parts and replaced them with better in a grab bag. Having become familiar with the container and firing mechanism I can easily open it and inflate by hand if the mechanism fails.
 
It is possible to buy cheaply second hand, out of date, life rafts at Boat Jumbles.

Take one to bits and practice putting it back together. Then, when it comes time to service your own trusty raft, things may be just that little bit less daunting.

When doing it for real, hire the scout hall as the front lawn is not the place to be.

73s de

Johnth.
 
Aeolus said:
In another thread, one respondent talked about DIY repackaging a life raft. Does anyone service their own life raft? The arguments for are, presumably: (1) You know what's been done and how well and (2) it's cheaper.

What would be the arguments against, apart from not having a certificate?
Click to expand...
I service my raft myself, in the spare bedroom, take a video as you unpack it, check the weight of the gas cylinder, leave raft inflated for 24/48hrs, replace out of date items inside, repack. I would rather know that it's OK myself, than find out in an emergency that it was not done properly by someone else, you hear too many horror stories. AFAIK There is no requirement to have a liferaft or a certificate for it, unless specified by insurers or boat is coded.
 
mainmarine said:
I service my raft myself, in the spare bedroom, take a video as you unpack it, check the weight of the gas cylinder, leave raft inflated for 24/48hrs, replace out of date items inside, repack.
Click to expand...
You must have very precise kitchen scvales to measure the cylinder weight to a gram or two.

mainmarine said:
AFAIK There is no requirement to have a liferaft or a certificate for it, unless specified by insurers or boat is coded.
Click to expand...

Not in the UK but certainly if you go to France.
 
PeterGibbs said:
You don't. The release rope is back-to-back with the trigger mechanism through the plastic container, so that the packaging is water and air tight. IME the container is not vacuum packed, just air extracted to keep the whole assembly as small as possible.

PWG
Click to expand...
Peter
Can you explain "back-to-back with the trigger mechanism through the plastic container", please. Do you mean the plastic bag is between the trigger mechanism and the release rope i.e. the rope is not directly attached the trigger? This sounds a bit suspect to me - either the rope could slip off when pulled (due to the slippery plastic) or the plastic bag could be punctured where the rope 'attaches'.

Could someone in the know please advise how the raft is re-packed - what type of bag is used and whether the bag is air tight/vacuum packed or just provides a cover?

I have no problem with the thought of DIY servicing, provided replacement items are readily available and the correct procedure is understood. There does not appear to be any specialist knowledge or equipment required to do this, unlike some other DIY jobs that we happily undertake and that can have serious safety implications (engines, rudders, electrics, gas et al).
 
On my plastimo liferaft the painter is one line all the way to the trigger. The liferaft is not vacuum packed as another poster says because the painter passes through the bag. The bag is obviously a special item as it has the hole for the painter.
Search on BlowingOldBoots for pictures of my liferaft being packed. Thet have to be folded a certain way not just for inflating buy also to stop the co2 from freezing the tube and causing it to split.
 
While not wishing to cut corners in safety terms, I had a service completed recently on an Arimar Ocean 6. I asked the service depot to remove all water, first aid and similar bits, as we have a grab bag (a big old flare box) with these and such things as spare specs, copy of licences, car keys, wallet, etc. The bag also contains the flares, and is kept during the week down below, dry.

I am happier keeping an eye on the consumables, plus personally important kit which is transferred to the grab bag each time we go on board, rather than locking them away for years in a valise.
 
sarabande said:
I asked the service depot to remove all water, first aid and similar bits, as we have a grab bag
Click to expand...

Why specifically remove them? Supplementing them with a grab bag I can understand, including to the point of acting as though the in-raft supplies didn't exist. But unless the packed raft gets significantly smaller, which seems unlikely, why not leave them in just in case? You might be glad of the extras - or even left with them alone if some unlikely turn of events prevented you bringing the grab bag.

Pete
 
Just had mine done professionally. Cost just over £200 all in, which seems to me to be good value by comparison with many boaty things (say) the placcy box you mount instruments on the binacle or Dubarry £200 boots.

The pull cord goes through a convoluted opening in the bag. Interestingly, the bag still looked "vaccuumed" after 5 years so there is a good seal round the rope.

My cylinder had lost some pressure going from the weight of it, so the valve needed replacement. Would you know this if you DIYd it?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top