Irish Rover
Well-Known Member
Why would I want to dispose of it?
Epirb recall
- Thread starter Fergus
- Start date
lw395
Well-Known Member
He should take it off your hands and dispose of it free of charge.
It's not really amazing that these things pass self test with a ten year old battery in them. What's amazing is that people would expect them to keep working long enough for somebody to find you.
I'm not sure when the unit in question would have been built, but we are talking about the era when the changeover to lead free solder changed electronics manufacturing processes, upsetting a lot of long term reliability.
GrahamM376
Well-Known Member
Our Pains Wessex battery was due to be replaced in 2011. It still self tests OK so it's there as a backup to newer one. Wouldn't hurt to have 2 going off - if it still works.
[70521]
Well-Known Member
And they say the Scots are tight!
It would appear the manufacturer is being reasonable in the extreme.
It would appear the manufacturer is being reasonable in the extreme.
Irish Rover
Well-Known Member
It was probably a mistake to resurrect an old thread from 2014. It’s clearly causing some confusion. All posts prior to #20 are from 2014. I’ll find out tomorrow what they’re going to say.
lw395
Well-Known Member
It seems foolish to operate something that long out of test, on the same channels, at the same time as something you expect to get you rescued.
Irish Rover
Well-Known Member
Pardon my ignorance of these units but logically would a self test not include a check on the battery condition and would the test not fail if the available battery power was not sufficient for proper operation.
lw395
Well-Known Member
I'm not intimately familiar with every make and model, but those I know about, the self test merely shows the battery is not flat and some transmit power is coming out more or less in the band. If the unit is damaged it could be transmitting gibberish. If the battery is on its last legs, it might only transmit for a very short while.
Because these things have to work on very limited batteries, the self test can only be simple. It's a pretty simple device, not a PC full of error correction etc. Apart from the GPS, EPIRBs probably have less 'intelligence' in them that the average remote unlocking car key these days.
The EPIRB system is very old now and kind of hampered by legacy requirements. It's not like designing mobile phones where we have a whole new system every 10 years or so.
When the standards were written, nobody intended two ships to sink in the same place at the same time, so the provision for two EPIRBs transmitting at once is pretty crude, the 406MHz bursts are at slightly random intervals, so not every burst will dump on (/get dumped on by) a second EPIRB.
If you want an EPIRB, buy a new one or get your old one properly tested and re-batteried. If that's not justified by the sailing you do, go for DSC radio or something.
Because these things have to work on very limited batteries, the self test can only be simple. It's a pretty simple device, not a PC full of error correction etc. Apart from the GPS, EPIRBs probably have less 'intelligence' in them that the average remote unlocking car key these days.
The EPIRB system is very old now and kind of hampered by legacy requirements. It's not like designing mobile phones where we have a whole new system every 10 years or so.
When the standards were written, nobody intended two ships to sink in the same place at the same time, so the provision for two EPIRBs transmitting at once is pretty crude, the 406MHz bursts are at slightly random intervals, so not every burst will dump on (/get dumped on by) a second EPIRB.
If you want an EPIRB, buy a new one or get your old one properly tested and re-batteried. If that's not justified by the sailing you do, go for DSC radio or something.
duncan99210
Well-Known Member
You'll almost certainly find the cost of fitting a new battery will exceed or be close to the cost of a new EPIRB. It's likely the one you have is not fitted with gps whereas most new ones are. Even if the Greek agent says he can fix it I'd tend to go for a new one, simply on the grounds that the thing is pretty long in the tooth.
Irish Rover
Well-Known Member
I left the unit with the agent in Lefkas this morning. He said he will speak with the distributor in Athens and get back to me. As well as the battery I’d need to have the unit reprogrammed as well to reflect my MMSI etc so definitely was never going to be cheap. I’m hoping however they may still offer me a discounted upgrade as the unit has a fault and was subject to recall.
GrahamM376
Well-Known Member
A bit foolish not to. Are you suggesting that in a situation where a boat has an epirb and the crew have plbs, only one should be activated?
lw395
Well-Known Member
No, I'm suggesting that any EPRIB should be modern and in date. Also properly registered.
There is probably no advantage in letting off more than one PLB if you are in a liferaft together for instance.
GrahamM376
Well-Known Member
The old 121.5 beacons are still useful as a homing signal when a search is underway but no use for initial alert. As far as modern models are concerned, in date just means changing the battery and putting the new sticker on. When I last had this done by Sartech, testing was an optional extra at additional cost of course.
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duncan99210
Well-Known Member
Which country is the EPRIB registered with? If it's a UK registered one, it won't have the MMSI in it as the UK doesn't require it and it's simply a case or re-registering it with the registry (Jersey uses the UK registry). If it's not UK registered by the time you've added the cost of reprogramming it to a UK number, the cost will approach or exceed a new one.
Irish Rover
Well-Known Member
It’s registered to Switzerland so it does need to be reprogrammed as well as the battery. I probably will replace it with a PLB if that’s cheaper than what they quote me. PLB will be useful when I’m alone and combined with the DSC/VHF will be enough for me as I won’t be venturing far beyond the Aegean and Ionian.
Irish Rover
Well-Known Member
Just an update on this. I took the bull by the horns a couple of weeks ago and sent an e mail to GME in OZ. They ignored me for a while but then I found e mail addresses online for a few named individuals in the company so they engaged with me. The initial response was that the recall didn't apply to units whose battery was more than 2 years out of date but after some correspondence they've now agreed to give me a new unit for the cost of a battery replacement £112. I have to say that's a fair and reasonable response in all the circumstances so thank you GME and also thanks to Joe Charlton of Contract Yacht Services in Lefkas for his assistance.
