Lifejacket Servicing

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Mwinda

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My Crewsaver lifejackets with Hammar mechanism x 2 are out of date.
Should I just replace the Hammar mechanism with a re-arm kit, or get them "serviced"?

On the assumption they look ok, and stay inflated once blown up (they did last time I checked), I can't see what else they would do when "servicing" them....

Also no idea about servicing costs, although the 28 day turn around time would be a pain!

Cheers

Jonathan
 
If they're say 5 years or more old it may be worth a service, but like you I can't imagine doing much more than an inflation test and service the hammars; when testing the jackets inflated though, I'd think they should be put under some strain, ideally floating with weights ?

Tricky to organise, and I wonder if service centres do it ?
 
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I 'service' our lifejackets every winter:

* wash any salt off with water and a sponge (avoiding wetting the auto firing mechanism, although I think Hanmar ones need about 1m of water pressure to set them off).
* check harness webbing, crotch straps etc for chafe.
* check light (replace if not working and/or over 5yrs old as battery might be half-flat).
* check bladder.
* manually inflate and check still fully inflated 24 hours later (some people say you shouldn't do this by mouth which lets moisture into the bladder; they use a dinghy pump).
* if the cylinder is well out-of-date, then I test the firing mechanism (I did this last week on a LJ where the cylinder had 'expired' eleven years ago - worked perfectly!
* on in-date cylinders, do check however that the firing mechanism is showing green and not red indicators, or has no green plastic parts missing (different manufacturer's mechanisms differ).
* use a permament ballpoint pen to mark the date of each 'service'.

I don't check the whistle - my 5yr old son does that for me!
 
The only authorised servicer is Crewsaver it self and they change 16 quid a shot and recommend an annual service. I agree with Babylon's checks above, this is what I have put in place with our 700 jackets in work. We only send them off to Crewasver if there are faulty or fail the annual check. Just write on the label as if on the jacket the pens ink may damage the material.

If you do need any parts you can buy them seperate, ie the green tags and be seperate instead of buying a full rearming kite etc..

Cheers

Stu
 
If you check out Yachting TV on the internet, there's a video demo on there of a routine LJ service performed by (IIRC) someone from the RNLI. It's pretty much as described above. Useful to see it demonstrated rather than just read it. I always do ours, and once you've done a few it's pretty quick and easy - and cheap!

Yachting TV is here: http://www.yachtingtv.co.uk/index.php

You have to register, but it's free and takes about 20 seconds to do so. Then if you look in the archive under 'Technology' you'll see 'Lifejacket maintenance'.

Steve.
 
Many thanks for the helpful comments.
I asked Crewsaver what they did in the service and they said....

"Once jackets are recieved seals are checked all operating devices and checked the jacket will be put on our rig for 24 hours to test the bladder.
We do have a 4-5 week turn around at the moment.
Cost for a general check is £16.81 + any extras"

They don't say whether their "rig" involves any special stresses being placed on the jacket, or whether its simply a hanging rack! The 4-5 week turnaround makes it a non-starter at this time of year anyway.
I shall follow the Babylon service schedule initially!
 
Nobody replied as to whether the hammar mechanism AND the CO2 cylinder should be replaced.
In my view the CO2 should be OK if it still weighs what is should and is not corroded. However, the replacement kits include the mechanism and cylinder; you dont seem to be able to buy just the mechanism.
I have emailed Hammar but no response.
Seems a waste to replace both, yes I know it's safety equipment not to be skimped on but...
 
jinglesfield said:
My Crewsaver lifejackets with Hammar mechanism x 2 are out of date.
Should I just replace the Hammar mechanism with a re-arm kit, or get them "serviced"?

On the assumption they look ok, and stay inflated once blown up (they did last time I checked), I can't see what else they would do when "servicing" them....

Also no idea about servicing costs, although the 28 day turn around time would be a pain!

Cheers

Jonathan
Click to expand...


This is a DIY job - inflate by mouth / pump and see if they stand up overnight, as you may have already done.

There is no testing of the inflation mechanism I know of - replace if dubious / long dated.

With life jackets there is a good case for seeeking out seasonal deals and replacing with brand new. Can't be wrong can it?

PWG
 
bobgarrett said:
Nobody replied as to whether the hammar mechanism AND the CO2 cylinder should be replaced.
In my view the CO2 should be OK if it still weighs what is should and is not corroded. However, the replacement kits include the mechanism and cylinder; you dont seem to be able to buy just the mechanism.
I have emailed Hammar but no response.
Seems a waste to replace both, yes I know it's safety equipment not to be skimped on but...
Click to expand...

The CO2 cylinder is bonded to my Hammar unit.
 
st599 said:
The CO2 cylinder is bonded to my Hammar unit.
Click to expand...

I think with a bit of persuasion the cylinder will unscrew from the release mechanism. The new Hammar units seem to come with the cylinder pre-attached to the black plastic backing piece.
I'm pretty sure that the release unit can be purchased as a separate unit, we carry quite a lot of spares on my ship.
BTW, the service as carried out by crewsaver will be the same as described as others, dont forget to weigh the cylinder.
Company I work for has a couple of guys who have undertaken training by the lifejacket companies and then they come around the ships to carry out the annual service, no special rig is used
 
Babylon said:
I 'service' our lifejackets every winter:

* wash any salt off with water and a sponge (avoiding wetting the auto firing mechanism, although I think Hanmar ones need about 1m of water pressure to set them off).
* check harness webbing, crotch straps etc for chafe.
* check light (replace if not working and/or over 5yrs old as battery might be half-flat).
* check bladder.
* manually inflate and check still fully inflated 24 hours later (some people say you shouldn't do this by mouth which lets moisture into the bladder; they use a dinghy pump).
* if the cylinder is well out-of-date, then I test the firing mechanism (I did this last week on a LJ where the cylinder had 'expired' eleven years ago - worked perfectly!
* on in-date cylinders, do check however that the firing mechanism is showing green and not red indicators, or has no green plastic parts missing (different manufacturer's mechanisms differ).
* use a permament ballpoint pen to mark the date of each 'service'.

I don't check the whistle - my 5yr old son does that for me!
Click to expand...

Much the same, except I also weigh the cylinders on a small but quite accurate scale. If you compare a new one with a used one you will see the obvious difference of about 30-35 grams. I don't think you will ever find a half-empty cylinder. If the cylinders weigh OK but look significantly corroded I use them to "fire" an inflation: I have never had one fail to do so, but they then get changed anyway.

I use a dinghy pump to inflate fairly hard, and leave 24 hours. Any doubt about pressure loss and I replace LJ. As this is for charter use I keep a log of ages, serial numbers and checks made. My lights have replaceable batteries, and batteries get replaced every year.

After a few weeks of chartering it is surprising how many LJs have had the gas mechanism "fired", and repacked without being replaced! It simply is not realistically possible though to check every LJ in the window between charters, as well as all the other things that need doing. And there are always two brand new LJs with lights kept as spares in a sealed package as well as the "in-use" ones.
 
st599 said:
The CO2 cylinder is bonded to my Hammar unit.
Click to expand...

nigel1 said:
I think with a bit of persuasion the cylinder will unscrew from the release mechanism.
Click to expand...

It might do, but then it wouldn't be bonded any more!

As I understand it, Hammar re-arm kits (and presumably new jackets by now) are supplied with the cylinder glued to (a replaceable part of) the mechanism. The idea is to prevent the relatively common problem of the cylinder unscrewing during use.

Deliberately unscrewing the cylinder would completely negate the whole thing.

Pete
 
nigel1 said:
Company I work for has a couple of guys who have undertaken training by the lifejacket companies and then they come around the ships to carry out the annual service, no special rig is used
Click to expand...

I'd be very concerned then, especially if the jackets they're servicing are for commercial use, where the servicing method and period is compulsory. The minimum "rig" that is to be used is a digital calibrated manometer to test the pressure in the jacket over at least a 5 minute period to ensure that there is no pressure loss. Although obviously Crewsaver go belt and braces and leave the whole jacket out for 24 hours to check it does the job to the end.

the Hammar cylinders are screwed into the rear piece of the Hammar unit - the bottle goes up into the inside of the bladder if I recall my training correctly (and an interesting service job they are too!) - the Hammar bottles have to be screwed into the unit at a specified torque so it really isn't a "do at home" job.
 
Talulah said:
When Crewsaver are charging £16 a jacket it is very much a "do at home job".
N.B. I got rid of my Crewsaver LJ's. I now have 8 Baltic auto LJ's. The last service bill was £96 which included 3 new lights and 2 firing mechanisms.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't dispute that at all and appreciate the sentiment, [edit : comment removed until I have established facts!]

The main reason for me saying it's not a "do at home" job, was because of the well documented problems some years ago with the cylinders unscrewing inside the bladders on jackets using hammar mechanisms, given that the cylinder and internal mechanism cannot be easily checked, they have a specified torque for the cylinder to be attached into the mechanism to stop that from happening. [edit : correction, this appears to be for the older Hammar mechanisms, newer ones are indeed glued as prv mentions]

I am suspecting that Hammar jackets will have a higher servicing cost vs UM or HR mechanisms due to the slightly more complex system (and possibly more expensive parts for the firing head) - I don't like the Hammar system personally but that's just me! ;)
 
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FishyInverness said:
I'd be very concerned then, especially if the jackets they're servicing are for commercial use, where the servicing method and period is compulsory. The minimum "rig" that is to be used is a digital calibrated manometer to test the pressure in the jacket over at least a 5 minute period to ensure that there is no pressure loss. Although obviously Crewsaver go belt and braces and leave the whole jacket out for 24 hours to check it does the job to the end.

the Hammar cylinders are screwed into the rear piece of the Hammar unit - the bottle goes up into the inside of the bladder if I recall my training correctly (and an interesting service job they are too!) - the Hammar bottles have to be screwed into the unit at a specified torque so it really isn't a "do at home" job.
Click to expand...

A digital manometer is used, I just did not equate that to a "rig".

Interesting about a specified torque for the cylinder to unit connection.
I can see why, but Hammar don't seem to mention it on their service instructions
 
nigel1 said:
A digital manometer is used, I just did not equate that to a "rig".

Interesting about a specified torque for the cylinder to unit connection.
I can see why, but Hammar don't seem to mention it on their service instructions
Click to expand...

Got ya, I was probably re-defining the term for a rig! ;)

I'll take a look into the specified torque on hammar's as well. It's in my servicing training notes, but I can't find anything more on it.
 
prv said:
It might do, but then it wouldn't be bonded any more!

As I understand it, Hammar re-arm kits (and presumably new jackets by now) are supplied with the cylinder glued to (a replaceable part of) the mechanism. The idea is to prevent the relatively common problem of the cylinder unscrewing during use.

Deliberately unscrewing the cylinder would completely negate the whole thing.

Pete
Click to expand...

I can see the reasoning for "glueing" the cylinder into the backplate, and yes, the new kits from hammar come like this.
On the ship, we still have plenty spare of the older type with a separate cylinder.
I guess a dab of thread lock would also do the trick.
 
Incidentally, when I contacted Crewseeker about servicing LJ's they quoted the same price of about £16. (I didn't even mention if they were hammer, auto, or manual so they may well charge the same irrespective of type.)
However, they did say they will only service their own make.
 
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