Lifejacket cylinders - corrosion prevention?

[MM5AHO]

I seem to get only 1 year from my main lifejacket cylinder.
It's not that it looses weight (leaks), but it corrodes. The standard cylinder is yellow passivated electroplated zinc. I almost always get wet with salt water, several times a year (not immersion or the auto inflate goes off), but with spray and waves over the boat. This causes the cylinder to get wet - salt water wet!

I wonder how to increase the life. Painting? Wrap with insulation tape?

Any ideas?
Any (good) reason not to protect them better that the puny corrosion protection they come with?

 

[duncan99210]

I've just serviced the lifejackets for the gig club (all 20 of them) and I found that the ones which didn't corrode all had a cover of some sort over the cartridge. Some were just a simple wrap round affair of soft plastic, others were a sleeve of the same material as the lung. This seems to both provide a measure of protection against water ingress and also against friction wearing away of the protective coating (such as it is).
As to improving the corrosion resistance, you could try nail varnish. Apply to a new cartridge, weigh to get a new value for the weight of the cartridge and that might help.

 

[sarabande]

Hammerite ? and reweigh, as noted above.

 

[DannyB]

Wrap in cling film ?

 

[Kelpie]

Cut a finger off a rubber glove?

 

[CJU]

Wrap in cling film ?

+1 but smear silicon grease over the cylinder first.

 

[nigelmercier]

Plastidip? I think Hammerite dissolves in water BTW

 

[sarabande]

I am slightly wary of the suggestion about cling film.

Originally, cling film was PVdC, and was pretty much a barrier to water vapour, atmospheric gases, and smell. However around 10 years ago, cling film started to be made from LDPE, which is more environmentally kind. But LDPE is more 'transparent' , and will allow water vapour and gases through - albeit slowly.

I suspect that using cling film will increase the possibility of surface corrosion.

In contact with material containing bacteria from e.g. oil or grease, LDPE is known to degrade

http://www.rroij.com/open-access/bi...ne-by-bacteria-isolated-601-610.pdf?aid=39978

 

[bbg]

I have proceeded on the basis that the metal is quite thick and the corrosion is only on the surface so I just weigh it and if it is still ok I am happy to use it.

 

[GrahamHR]

There's a wonderful anti corrosive spray available in the USA. "Boeshield" Recommended for aircraft frames. I havent't actually looked for it in Europe as I have a can already, it does work very well though.

 

[Sailingsaves]

Plastidip? I think Hammerite dissolves in water BTW

That sounds like a great solution and the best solution.

I have never had rusty cylinders, but then I do rinse and dry my lifejackets every time because I don't want to buy any more

 

[Plum]

I seem to get only 1 year from my main lifejacket cylinder.
It's not that it looses weight (leaks), but it corrodes. The standard cylinder is yellow passivated electroplated zinc. I almost always get wet with salt water, several times a year (not immersion or the auto inflate goes off), but with spray and waves over the boat. This causes the cylinder to get wet - salt water wet!

I wonder how to increase the life. Painting? Wrap with insulation tape?

Any ideas?
Any (good) reason not to protect them better that the puny corrosion protection they come with?

I painted my cylinders with one coat of hammerite smooth paint 8 years ago and they are all good. Do leave the paint to dry at home for at least a week in case any of the fumes/volotiles may affect any of plastics before refitting the cylinder. I smeered a little lanolin grease on the threads and the small section of the kneck not painted. As others have said, weigh and write weight on paint with a felt tip pen.

Colin. Www.solocoastalsailing.co.uk

 

[awol]

Have you tried galvanising them?

 

[coliholic]

Like the idea of fingers from a rubber glove, though could also be an alternative use for a condom

 

[JimBrown]

As has been said, Boeshield T9 is perfect for this, as well as lots of other uses on a boat including electrical components and the internal workings of your sewing machine. It dries without any stickiness.

http://www.boeshield.co.uk/category/corrosion-protection-waterproof-lubricant-for-boat/

But at the moment I'm using Lanocote as it's what I had to hand several years ago when I first noticed some corrosion on the cylinders. Warm it up a bit, rub it on and then try to remove as much as possible with a dry cloth and that's the end of corrosion.

Any sort of loose physical cover is likely to trap moisture and make things worse.

 

[Lodesman77]

A spray with ACF50 works for me.

 

[Spirit of Glenans]

Like the idea of fingers from a rubber glove, though could also be an alternative use for a condom

Troops involved in amphibious assaults during WW2 were issued with condoms to put on the muzzles of their firearms. (Nearly said "weapons" there, but would not like to be misconstrued )

 

[Mistroma]

I have 2 cylinders in Crewsaver lifejackets that must be 30 years old. I remember that they started to corrode after one season. I cleaned them up, put on some blue car paint I had lying around and then wrapped them in cling film. I did both at once and twisted them in opposite directions until they looked like a short string of sausages. Then I snipped the twisted section joining the ends.

They are still in perfect condition and haven't lost any CO2 and the lifejackets are also in good order. They sit in a locker and only come out when I have too many guests on board. They are still serviced annually and stay inflated for a week before I give up and re-pack. I'm certain that the cylinders would just be piles of rust by now if I'd left them alone.

 

[Yngmar]

I cleaned up a lightly corroded one and sprayed it with some clear lacquer (Hycote) I had sitting around (same stuff I used to coat the brass barometer case after polishing). Hasn't corroded one bit since, although I imagine it'll rub off eventually.

 

[Hydrozoan]

Like the idea of fingers from a rubber glove, though could also be an alternative use for a condom

Be warned. I read of the condom approach but found it quite impossible to grip the wrapped cylinder tightly enough to screw it in properly (lubrication, I presume). A rubber glove finger may be better in that regard.