Lifejacket service

[pcatterall]

Worth noting that our 'group boat' is in the Med. Crew dont usually bring their LJs but rely on the ones that are on the boat. We felt the need to have some sort of record of service and 'rules to skippers'.

 

[MikeCC]

Most lifejackets also have a tab inside for writing service dates/initials on.

 

[KompetentKrew]

How much would such a service cost?

I can't help thinking than in many cases it wouldn't be much less than buying a new one

I recently bought two 1-year-old lifejackets secondhand from a Solent boating school because he indeed just replaces them instead of having them serviced.

He told me how much it costs to get them done and, although I can't remember the exact figure, I think it comes pretty close to the cost of new ones. Add in the cost of shipping or being without them for a week and it's probably a done deal. Also, he seemed to sell the old ones for cash-in-hand…

 

[ithet]

I have always checked them annually myself. But I have recently discovered that Seago have a fixed charge service scheme (including parts) that is not much more than the cost of a rearming kit. There is no postage cost if sent via an agent, i.e. force4. My plan is to send jackets to Seago for professional service when capsules expire. They service any make btw. I recently had my 15yr old danboy serviced by them - New cartridge and light and repacked, about £35.
No connection, satisfied customer.

 

[Stemar]

I've long believed that a good amateur will always be better than an average professional, because the amateur can take as much time as he needs find out how do do a job properly and then take more time to get it right, while the professional has to do X jobs per day to pay the bills, and no time to look up something that's a bit out of the ordinary. An poor amateur, OTOH, is a public danger because of all the things he doesn't know he doesn't know. A poor professional is worse, because if he does know, he doesn't care.

I hope I never have to deal with Pump-Out's barrister, but I reckon I can make a good case for my competence - unless I got it wrong, in which case I was negligent, just like the professional assemblers of LJs who fail to screw in the cylinders correctly, something far from unknown. Not to mention well-documented cases of liferafts canisters being found be missing essential kit or to contain nothing but rocks after a service.

"You were negligent in not having your lifejackets professionally serviced."

"What would a professional have done with my lifejackets"

"Examined them carefully for damage then inflated them"

"Did that. There was no visible damage and they stayed inflated for 24 hours"

"Checked the mechanism was in date"

"Did that"

"Checked and weighed the cylinder"

"Did that"

"Screw in the cylinder to the correct tightness"

"Did that"

"Repack correctly"

"Did that. Where was I negligent?"

 

[Spirit (of Glenans)]

The sailing school/organisation/club in which I was a volunteer instructor had a rule that only their LJs could be used by trainees, for insurance reasons. The lifejackets were serviced annually at the start of each season, by a combination of paid staff and members.
At the start of each course the trainees were each allotted a numbered lifejacket to use for the duration (which was logged ) and were briefed on various aspects of LJs, including a daily check of their condition, including cylinder tightness and status of firing mechanism. They were shown how to adjust the fit, so that one could only just insert a closed fist between the harness and one's sternum, and how to tighten the crotch straps sufficiently to prevent the LJ riding up around one's ears in the event of a going overboard. There was never an incident in which a LJ malfunctioned.
I check and service the LJs used on my own boat, and a friend who is a RNLI volunteer (and my first instructor in said sailing school) recently helped me with this task and had no criticism of my work, so I'm confident in my opinion that a trained amateur can do it competently.

 

[lw395]

I recently bought two 1-year-old lifejackets secondhand from a Solent boating school because he indeed just replaces them instead of having them serviced.

He told me how much it costs to get them done and, although I can't remember the exact figure, I think it comes pretty close to the cost of new ones. Add in the cost of shipping or being without them for a week and it's probably a done deal. Also, he seemed to sell the old ones for cash-in-hand…

Sailing school LJs will get more wear in a year than most get in 5 years.
It makes sense for them to move them on. It avoids paying customers being expected to use very worn kit.
They will also be buying a dozen at a time and getting a good deal.

 

[rogerthebodger]

Sailing school LJs will get more wear in a year than most get in 5 years.
It makes sense for them to move them on. It avoids paying customers being expected to use very worn kit.
They will also be buying a dozen at a time and getting a good deal.

It will also be tax deductible, as will any service work on their vessels.

 

[Fimacca]

I do mine myself, weighing cartridges etc.
I recently had an outboard serviced professionally as it was very old, and I could not free up the gear oil screw. it came back to me not working and with the wrong sparkler in it !!