Life raft age

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pandos

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Does anyone know how to interpret numbers on liferafts to work out their age...is it possible without contacting manufacturer? Ideally I'd like to know age of this one. Seller says he has it since 2014.
Screenshot_20211130-233824.png
 
A life raft should come with various safety certificates - both from original supply and servicing records (initially every 3 years, latterly often require annual).
Without paperwork I might be tempted to walk away. Compare prices of servicing vs purchase and it can be cheaper to buy new than service an old raft annually. I dumped our old raft and bought new for that reason.
 
dunedin said:
A life raft should come with various safety certificates - both from original supply and servicing records (initially every 3 years, latterly often require annual).
Without paperwork I might be tempted to walk away. Compare prices of servicing vs purchase and it can be cheaper to buy new than service an old raft annually. I dumped our old raft and bought new for that reason.
Click to expand...
I am aware of all that, in fact my first raft was bought as new from a respectable service centre. Having heard stories about the supplier I rang the manufacturer to be told the raft was actually 3 years old.

I opened it up to discover that it was bundled up in plastic and not vacuum sealed as it ought to have been and according to the card it had been serviced.

I had it serviced at a substantial cost by another service centre.

A few years later I opened it up to discover that the batteries and some of the pyros supplied by the second centre would have expired within the 3 year service life. And no foam protection had been put in to protect the vacuum bag so that it had worn through in places. (The battery packages had been clipped but the manufacturers batch numbers showed the truth.)

On that ocassion I inflated the raft and discovered that it would not fully inflate using a compressor connected via the connection to the bottle because a valve was inserted incorrectly/stuck.

It was inflated previously but AIUI some stations use the deflation/topup valves to inflate when testing.

So I'd prefer to pay for a used raft and have it serviced by somewhere that will allow me to watch, than buy new .

If I can find someone to refill the bottle in my current one I fire that off and would bring that along too...

I fired off a 30 year old raft last year and it worked perfectly...the moral of the story in my view is that a good raft is unlikely deteriorate in a reasonable period, whilst a bad raft will not improve no matter how long it is packed

And until you pull the painter as the water is getting above your boots, you won't really know if you have a functioning raft...
 
pandos said:
......I fired off a 30 year old raft last year and it worked perfectly...the moral of the story in my view is that a good raft is unlikely deteriorate in a reasonable period, whilst a bad raft will not improve no matter how long it is packed

And until you pull the painter as the water is getting above your boots, you won't really know if you have a functioning raft...
Click to expand...

You really shouldn't trust 30 year old fabrics.
 
pandos said:
I am aware of all that, in fact my first raft was bought as new from a respectable service centre. Having heard stories about the supplier I rang the manufacturer to be told the raft was actually 3 years old.

I opened it up to discover that it was bundled up in plastic and not vacuum sealed as it ought to have been and according to the card it had been serviced.

I had it serviced at a substantial cost by another service centre.

A few years later I opened it up to discover that the batteries and some of the pyros supplied by the second centre would have expired within the 3 year service life. And no foam protection had been put in to protect the vacuum bag so that it had worn through in places. (The battery packages had been clipped but the manufacturers batch numbers showed the truth.)

On that ocassion I inflated the raft and discovered that it would not fully inflate using a compressor connected via the connection to the bottle because a valve was inserted incorrectly/stuck.

It was inflated previously but AIUI some stations use the deflation/topup valves to inflate when testing.

So I'd prefer to pay for a used raft and have it serviced by somewhere that will allow me to watch, than buy new .

If I can find someone to refill the bottle in my current one I fire that off and would bring that along too...

I fired off a 30 year old raft last year and it worked perfectly...the moral of the story in my view is that a good raft is unlikely deteriorate in a reasonable period, whilst a bad raft will not improve no matter how long it is packed

And until you pull the painter as the water is getting above your boots, you won't really know if you have a functioning raft...
Click to expand...
Glad you are aware of all that. Then ask to see the official paperwork from the vendor.
 
dunedin said:
Glad you are aware of all that. Then ask to see the official paperwork from the vendor.
Click to expand...
if you read my post you would realise that I was asking a question about interpreting the numbers...obviously I could ask for what ever I liked but I consider that it may be useful to know the answer just by looking at a photo.

I am glad that you are glad.;)
 
Donegal might be the answer...

There is a service centre there and also my personal smuggling route has a branch there? for Bxxxxt busting so postage/courier is a possibility. I'll make some phone calls tomorrow...
 
I got my life raft from a recycle depot (rubbish dump) for $200!

I took it along to the re-servicing people who said it was nearing 20 years old but nothing wrong with it :they were happy to re-service it. The life raft belonged to a commercial rock lobster fisherman who, by law, had to have the LR serviced every year but he had just bought a new boat so he tossed my LR out.

The LR service people pointed out a lot of people are just hiring a LR these days for a specific period rather than buying one. Maybe the way to go?

LEISURE Racing : Universal Safety
 
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