Life expectancy of life rafts

[Sneaky Pete]

As has been discussed on here a few times. What would be the life expectancy of a life raft? Yes it is serviced at the appropriate times and the consumables are replaced but the material/fabric that the life raft is made from (PVC) when is it time to say it has reached the end of its working life time for a new one. I am thinking mainly of the entry level life raft, Seago etc. Is there a difference between that of a canister and a valise?

 

[NormanB]

About 2 days in a Force 10.

 

[ghostlymoron]

Usually seems to be after 2-3 services.

 

[pvb]

As has been discussed on here a few times. What would be the life expectancy of a life raft? Yes it is serviced at the appropriate times and the consumables are replaced but the material/fabric that the life raft is made from (PVC) when is it time to say it has reached the end of its working life time for a new one. I am thinking mainly of the entry level life raft, Seago etc. Is there a difference between that of a canister and a valise?

Most of the cheaper rafts now have a 12 year warranty. I can't see that there'd be any great difference between canister and valise versions.

 

[johnalison]

I've put my 17yr old XM raft in for servicing, so in a few weeks I'll know if it has been rejected.

 

[ashtead]

Our Seago which lives in its valise which only makes an apearance on cross channel trips is due a second service and based on comments have decided to put it in later this year but useful to know that many seem to last longer than expected so on average 3 services might be reasonble and 4 a good life ? Or is there a record for even more services out there?

 

[Tranona]

Up to 12 years it is economical to service, but then it changes to annual and with the low cost of rafts these days it quickly becomes uneconomical.

Not a coincidence that Seago are offering a "scrappage" scheme with a discount on a new one - roughly 10 years after they entered the market!

 

[Saguday]

We have an original Avon 4-man offshore liferaft bought new in 2006. It's on 3-year service intervals and had a service last summer. The service company said it was probably good for at least one more service after which the issue may well be getting spares (especially the gas canister) rather than anything intrinsically wrong with the raft itself.

So if we get one more service that will be about 15-16 years of life and if we manage to squeeze any more that would be good but it may too expensive. We're likely to replace it with something a bit more contemporary before that I suspect (the self-righting Vikings look tempting).

I have to say though the Avon seems to be a pretty good quality bit of kit, I doubt that the cheaper rafts (we had a second fairly basic one carried over from a previous boat until we sold it) would be good for much more than 10-12 years.

 

[GrahamM376]

Up to 12 years it is economical to service, but then it changes to annual and with the low cost of rafts these days it quickly becomes uneconomical.

Depends on the make, quality and the country - some have age limit. Our Plastimo Offshore had its last 3 year service at 17 years and we scrapped it when 20 years old although it would most likely have passed another service.

 

[Tranona]

Depends on the make, quality and the country - some have age limit. Our Plastimo Offshore had its last 3 year service at 17 years and we scrapped it when 20 years old although it would most likely have passed another service.

The OP specifically asked about Seago type rafts. The economics of basic rafts have changed dramatically in the last 10-15 years. previously the cheapest rafts cost the equivalent of £1500 in today's money - nearly 3 times the price of a Seago or similar, so servicing was a much smaller proportion of replacement cost. However now that the annual service for older rafts is over one third of the cost of replacement, the raft becomes a disposable item.

Of course if you go up the specification ladder the economics change, as does the servicing regime in different countries.

 

[fisherman]

I'm going to fire my 25year old Plastimo that hasn't been serviced since 2006, for the grandkids to play in. I'll take a vid.

 

[Sneaky Pete]

It’s at the 12 year mark. It’s a disposable throwaway society that we live in probably time to buy a new one with a warranty.

 

[Sybarite]

In France they used to be limited by law to 12 years with annual servicing. IIRC now there is no specified age but the annual servicing (after the initial three years) is still obligatory.