liferaft lifespan

[jon and michie]

Hi - I have recently bought a seago 4man life raft from someone - which requires a service.
I had it dropped it off at a service centre and have spoke to them on the telephone and the chap said to me "was I aware that it was last serviced in 2009 and was manufactured around 2004 and that seago only give a warranty for 12 years".
They haven't opened the liferaft up yet so cannot say whether its serviceable or not.

so my question is - even though seago give a 12year warranty doe this mean that it should be binned like pyrotechnics have a shelf life - surely if the raft itself is in good condition then its serviceable or am I missing something?

jon

 

[BruceK]

I'm just guessing here but it may have something to do with the rated lifespan of whatever polymer compound or part such as glue or stitching was used as a base material to construct it from. As such it may not then meet relevant or any current standards that may have changed since manufacture and they cannot service it and return it without accepting liability. I'd query it with them and if that is the case then yes, bin it.

 

[jon and michie]

Thanks Bruce - as I said they haven't opened it up yet - they said that if it's good then they can service it but maybe only good for a year.
Jon

 

[bedouin]

Ask them to give you a firm price before going ahead - then based on that decide if it is worth it.

My liferaft is now 12 years old and needs servicing - if the bill is more than say £300 I will probably not bother

 

[Firefly625]

had mine 2005 Valise LR serviced a few months back, always use ADEC marine as Seago service agents, very funny little place near Dartford, always seem incredibly knowledgably. Will actually service them in a few hours so you can drop them in, go collect later in the same day. At no point did Bill tell me mine was out of warranty..

I will share invoice, its not cheap...

LIFERAFT SERVICE –TULANA
NO. QTY ITEMS REQUIRED PRICE EACH TOTAL PRICE
To Annual Recertification of 1 x 4 person Offshore inflatable liferaft with RORC Survival pack, all
in valise. S/N G0504033. Manufactured by Seago. See attached Report & Repair Schedule No.
Q/309. Date of Next Service – 24TH JULY 2020
1. 1 x New Repair Kit £22.50
2. 1 x new Anti-seasickness tablets £7.95
3. 1 x set of Red Hand Flares, expiry 07/20 £33.50
4. 1 x safe disposal of old pyrotechnics £10.00
5. 1 x new Vacuum Bag £19.90
6. 1 x new Torch Cells £6.50
7. 1 x Transport £15.00
8. 1 x Documents and Certificate £9.90
9. 1 x 4 man Survey Fee £95.00 £220.25
Plus VAT @ 20% £44.05
£264.30

plus you get a very full report with inflation pressures etc and certificate;

CERTIFICATE OF RE-INSPECTION FOR INFLATABLE
LIFERAFT This is to certify that the liferaft detailed below has been surveyed, controlled and tested in compliance with
requirements from SOLAS/MCA and the Manufacturer and in accordance with IMO Resolution A:761(18) where
applicable

Where did you take yours?

edited bit, I should add I dropped mine off and they posted it back, 5 day turnaround, hence charge of £15+vat for delivery

 

[penberth3]

...I will share invoice, its not cheap...

It's a big chunk of money - but looking at the break-down I wouldn't say any single item is excessive - apart from the VAT!

 

[ctva]

At that age, I'd 'self-service'. Search on here you'll find a few threads about it. My Seago 4 man canister is now 12yo and I self serviced it three years ago. really simple and I gained the knowledge of what it looks like, how it works, removed the bits you are better having in a grab bag and more importantly see the bits that were NOT serviced by the professionals at the previous service.

The Seago was still rock solid after 4 days of inflation with absolutely no sign of any material or seam deterioration.

 

[Firefly625]

It's a big chunk of money - but looking at the break-down I wouldn't say any single item is excessive - apart from the VAT!

agreed Penberth3, I look at it as this, a new one is £695 and still needs servicing after 3 years, if I ever needed it, it would be the best £265 I ever spent. Therefore it is just a cost of boating I am happy to deal with.

I am just a little concerned the OP is being lead down the path of being told to buy new rather than service..

 

[Firefly625]

At that age, I'd 'self-service'. Search on here you'll find a few threads about it. My Seago 4 man canister is now 12yo and I self serviced it three years ago. really simple and I gained the knowledge of what it looks like, how it works, removed the bits you are better having in a grab bag and more importantly see the bits that were NOT serviced by the professionals at the previous service.

The Seago was still rock solid after 4 days of inflation with absolutely no sign of any material or seam deterioration.

eek... I am not sure I could do that... but well done for doing it yourself &having a go.

There again I don't service my own engine either and technically I am capable but since I rely on both for the ultimate safety of my family I just could not bring myself to..

 

[bedouin]

At that age, I'd 'self-service'. Search on here you'll find a few threads about it. My Seago 4 man canister is now 12yo and I self serviced it three years ago. really simple and I gained the knowledge of what it looks like, how it works, removed the bits you are better having in a grab bag and more importantly see the bits that were NOT serviced by the professionals at the previous service.

The Seago was still rock solid after 4 days of inflation with absolutely no sign of any material or seam deterioration.

If you self service how do you reseal it? (I did try a search but the forum search is worse than useless)

 

[Bandit]

I have a playtime (Plastimo damn spellchecker) raft it got to 12 years old this year.
At 12 years the raft goes from servicing every 3 Years in the U.K. To annual.
In France a life raft is condemned at 12 years old.
In view of the above and Servicing at about £300 per time I decided buy a new raft as being the most economical solution.

 

[Firefly625]

is Playtime a spellchecked Plastimo by any chance?

 

[prv]

so my question is - even though seago give a 12year warranty doe this mean that it should be binned like pyrotechnics have a shelf life - surely if the raft itself is in good condition then its serviceable or am I missing something?

What usually happens is that at 12 years it's supposed to be serviced annually instead of every three years, and the additional cost of that means it's better to buy a new one. That's almost certainly why it's been sold on to you at exactly this point

So not economical if you want to stick with "official" servicing guidelines, up to you if you want to have it professionally serviced but stretch the intervals, or DIY.

Pete

 

[jon and michie]

I am just a little concerned the OP is being lead down the path of being told to buy new rather than service..[/QUOTE]

I have thought of this - but if the company does try to go this route as I would buy another from another company anyway.
Jon

 

[MoodySabre]

At that age, I'd 'self-service'. Search on here you'll find a few threads about it. My Seago 4 man canister is now 12yo and I self serviced it three years ago. really simple and I gained the knowledge of what it looks like, how it works, removed the bits you are better having in a grab bag and more importantly see the bits that were NOT serviced by the professionals at the previous service.

The Seago was still rock solid after 4 days of inflation with absolutely no sign of any material or seam deterioration.

How does that work - if you are going to France (at least) then servicing needs to be in-date. You can't self-certify it can you?

 

[jon and michie]

What usually happens is that at 12 years it's supposed to be serviced annually instead of every three years, and the additional cost of that means it's better to buy a new one. That's almost certainly why it's been sold on to you at exactly this point

So not economical if you want to stick with "official" servicing guidelines, up to you if you want to have it professionally serviced but stretch the intervals, or DIY.

Pete

If I only get a couple of years out of this one - then I would get a new one
The one I have at the service company didn't cost me a lot of money in the first place - so haven't lost a great deal even if the company advises to bin it
Many thanks for the replies so far
Jon

 

[Bandit]

is Playtime a spellchecked Plastimo by any chance?

Yep damn spell checker!

 

[jon and michie]

well as an update the service company has emailed me saying that the raft was manufactured in 2003 and according to seago these liferaft has a 12 year service life and therefore must be condemned at this point.

 

[Firefly625]

well as an update the service company has emailed me saying that the raft was manufactured in 2003 and according to seago these liferaft has a 12 year service life and therefore must be condemned at this point.

Funny adec marine made no mention of that to me. My life raft is 2005. It passed all its tests. Not sure what to think now.

Well actually I will think again in 2020 when it's next due and it may not be in my ownership.