EPIRB Activation- Continuation of previous MOB equipment post

[JessicaMarais]

Hi All,
I posted a MOB Questionnaire a few weeks ago, thank you to everyone who took part, it has proved extremely useful . Following on from that, I have a question regarding the activation of EPIRB's. I know most new ones have an optional bracket with a hydro-static release, i.e. it deploys when below a certain depth (Category 1 EPIRB's). All have a manual activation method, a button or switch on the side (Category 2 EPIRB's). The ones I've come across also have a 'sea switch' meaning it will start transmitting when immersed in water. Is this just the new generation of EPIRB's or do most older ones also have this feature?

Thanks

Jess

 

[awol]

My 9 year old GME EPIRB needs manual activation.

 

[prv]

I think all those features have been around for some time. The most recent change to EPIRBs was when they started including a GPS so that the distress message could include a position. Before that, they could only be located via a form of direction-finding by the satellites, which was much less accurate and also took time (because they had to wait for multiple satellite passes). Many of the EPIRBs still in service (especially commercials, where they generally only update safety equipment when required by regulations) will be of the non-GPS type.

Pete

 

[l'escargot]

I have a McMurdo E3 which is a relatively old model, now discontinued, and it has a water activation function

 

[Ripster]

We have an ACR GPS global fix epirb about 7 years old now. It has a manual activation flip over switch on the top, it floats and has a Seawater activation switch too.

 

[lw395]

Sea water activation is general in yacht EPIRBs, with the exception of those sold in Australia AFAIK.
At least until a few years ago, they didn't allow it. That may have changed.
But many people these days are using PLB's instead, which are not far short of an EPIRB with no seawater activation and shorter battery life.

I would guess most UK yacht EPIRBs that are not time-expired on their batteries will have a seawater switch.

 

[KellysEye]

>a hydro-static release

We were parked in a marina in Trinidad when we were woken up by people on the boat next to us. The coastguard had arrived because the hydrostatic release had triggered the EPIRB due to torrential tropical rain. We had had a manual one.

 

[prv]

We were parked in a marina in Trinidad when we were woken up by people on the boat next to us. The coastguard had arrived because the hydrostatic release had triggered the EPIRB due to torrential tropical rain. We had had a manual one.

On all the EPIRBs I've seen, the hydrostatic release doesn't trigger the beacon, it just releases it from the bracket.

I'd place a small bet that your neighbour's EPIRB was activated by its water-sensor, possibly having been incorrectly mounted in the bracket (most brackets disable the water sensor to prevent activation by rain and waves, but only if the EPIRB is properly seated in it).

Pete

 

[GrahamM376]

>a hydro-static release

We were parked in a marina in Trinidad when we were woken up by people on the boat next to us. The coastguard had arrived because the hydrostatic release had triggered the EPIRB due to torrential tropical rain. We had had a manual one.

My Pains Wessex, around 14 years old, will activate if dropped in water but only if it's out of it's mounting bracket.

 

[charles_reed]

My ACR406 EPIRB, now 17 years old, has only a manual activation.
I would suggest that you contact Sartech to get a more informed (if less certain) view of when this changeover occured, rather than relying on the opinions of posters on this site.

 

[lw395]

My Pains Wessex, around 14 years old, will activate if dropped in water but only if it's out of it's mounting bracket.

The McMurdo ones are the same, there is a magnet in the plastic bracket which switches off the water-activation circuit.

 

[lw395]

>a hydro-static release

We were parked in a marina in Trinidad when we were woken up by people on the boat next to us. The coastguard had arrived because the hydrostatic release had triggered the EPIRB due to torrential tropical rain. We had had a manual one.

Hydro static release is 'released by the hydraulic pressure of being under water', it is not the same thing as water activation, which is switching the EPIRB on due to a conductive path between two contacts.

Releasing the EPIRB from the bracket on McMurdo beacons enables water activation, I don't know about other makes.

 

[rogerthebodger]

The McMurdo ones are the same, there is a magnet in the plastic bracket which switches off the water-activation circuit.

It actually disconnects the whole battery pack from the EPIRB electrics.

I took one apart once.

 

[KellysEye]

>Hydro static release is 'released by the hydraulic pressure of being under water', it is not the same thing as water activation, which is switching the EPIRB on due to a conductive path between two contacts. Releasing the EPIRB from the bracket on McMurdo beacons enables water activation, I don't know about other makes.

I didn't see what happened just quoted what our neighbour said , I did see the coastguard the because the EPIRB had activated.