Liferaft Lifespan.

[BurnitBlue]

On my new(ish) Prout; I inherited a 6 man Avon liferaft in a valise. Manufactured 1987, last serviced 2004. What is the chance of it inflating with the pull cord, can it be inflated manually if not. I ask because I would not buy a liferaft for a Prout 37 with her 4 watertight compartments. The liferaft is very heavy and in the way. However, if the chance is 50% or more I would be tempted to keep it as a 50% hedge. Thanks.

 

[capnsensible]

Some time ago, in Haslar Marina car park ( it was quite new then) I inflated a more than 20 year old liferaft. It didn't fully inflate and the bits that did only lasted an hour or so. Everything with line on, like the sea anchor, was rotten. The torch was a festering blob, the footpump fell to bits and the pyros were a mess.

Apart from that.......

Of course it might have been a Friday build.

 

[BurnitBlue]

Some time ago, in Haslar Marina car park ( it was quite new then) I inflated a more than 20 year old liferaft. It didn't fully inflate and the bits that did only lasted an hour or so. Everything with line on, like the sea anchor, was rotten. The torch was a festering blob, the footpump fell to bits and the pyros were a mess.

Apart from that.......

Of course it might have been a Friday build.

Thanks. That is a 100% failure rate up to now.

 

[Laysula]

Nothing to stop you or anything to lose by servicing it yourself. Plenty of videos on You tube. If nothing else you will either have something that you have confidence in skip it knowing that it's useless.

 

[fisherman]

For servicing they don't pull the cord, they use a blower. Then weigh the bottle and inspect its condition. Time the deflation, I think 20% a day is acceptable, not sure.
Last time I fired one it failed because the link in the pull cord, near the bottle, was too far from the bottle and came up against the inside of the canister. It fired after I opened it.

 

[Porthandbuoy]

I serviced my 4-man life raft last winter. 10 years since its last professional service. Inflated it using an electric pump used for inflatable mattresses. That put enough pressure in the tubes to pop the relief valves, so I know they worked. Left it up for a week with negligible leakage. Replaced the torch for two LED ones and replaced the canopy light and battery pack. Added some drinking water sachets which were never included. Weighed the gas bottle at my local Post Office. Flares were out of date but I left them in and added some new ones.
The hardest part was repacking it.
It’s worth doing, even if it’s only to familiarise yourself with how it all works.

PS. The electric pump also had a 'suck' connection. Without that I would never have got all the air out of the tubes and been able to repack it.

 

[fredrussell]

I was gifted a years out of date valise 4-man LR. It stayed inflated when manually pumped up and gas bottle weighed what it should. But, once deflated, I could not get it back in the bag. I ended up deciding that to do so would require removing every last bit of air from the tubes which would involve a decent pump of some sort.

 

[BobnLesley]

The trick, or tricks I found for getting them back in the box/box were:
Take a photo of every stage and unfold as you remove/open the raft, so you can check precisely how it went originally.
Use an air pump that also sucks and take the time to get every bit of air out of the raft.
Having refolded it correctly, squeeze it tight with three or four ratchet straps for twenty minutes, then pack away immediately after releasing them.

 

[MoodySabre]

I can’t see the point of carrying round one as old as the OP has. The point of safety equipment is that it works when you need it. If you need a life raft then things are getting serious. At that stage time wasted on a failing liferaft that might sink with people in it (that would scary enough in a swimming pool) could be better spent.
Are watertight compartments immune from fire?
Either you want one or you don’t.

 

[ashtead]

It surely depends on your intended voyaging plans and location currently-if the Solent is your choice the risks might less than voyaging say cross channel at night or down to med. you have the one you have so just keep it and save for a new one surely . Personally I would buy another but a cheap one -might invest in first class version if going on the ARC -

 

[fisherman]

They are also packed in a vacuum bag. I agree with the above, what's the point of a half possibility of it working? Either embrace the concept or not.
My bro and crew were not far off Salcombe when the engine room blew up. (Petrol engine though, had been running then a none start, so fumes probably). He tried to get the Avon tender off the foredeck, never got there, the others had the raft over already, so he got wet.

 

[BurnitBlue]

Between capnsensible and Fred Russel the percentage of failure is 50%. I will go with that.. The advice to open it up and service it myself is something I never even thought of.and worth a try. I have been cruising most of my life and never owned a liferafr nor ever thought of buying one. Especially a six-man example. If it was a zodiac or similar it would have been in the skip 4 month ago, but the one I inherited is a Hyperlon Avon.

Waste of spsce? Yes but so could a brand new one because I guess 98% of liferafts are never needed. While those new ones may, for many reasons,c may not work.

50% is a reasonable hedge

 

[PetiteFleur]

I Inherited a 4 man literature with my current boat, unknown German make and age, took it to a local liferaft dealer and it was inflated in the yard - it inflated with a VERY hard yank on the lanyard. The seams although not actually leaking were starting to peel so it was scrapped after slashing the tubes. I have not replaced it as we usually are only doing local sails nowadays.

 

[penberth3]

Nothing to stop you or anything to lose by servicing it yourself. Plenty of videos on You tube. If nothing else you will either have something that you have confidence in skip it knowing that it's useless.

That misses the point completely. Service it as much as you like, you've still got 36yo fabrics, 36yo adhesives. It's scrap, OP should get rid of it.

 

[SteveAus]

That misses the point completely. Service it as much as you like, you've still got 36yo fabrics, 36yo adhesives. It's scrap, OP should get rid of it.

BurnitBlue has said it is an Avon Hypalon liferaft. My Avon Hypalon tender is also 36 years old. It has been regularly used throughout its life and never needed attention to its seams, and only preventative maintenance to local abrasion of the material. I am sure there are many similar tenders still in use. I suspect his liferaft will be as good as new.

 

[emmalina]

Mine is 15yrs old I service it myself and change what is needed.. Started doing it after the first service cost half the price of a new one, You do need a vacuum pump to get it back in the bag though ! Normally leave it inflated a couple of days.

 

[BurnitBlue]

BurnitBlue has said it is an Avon Hypalon liferaft. My Avon Hypalon tender is also 36 years old. It has been regularly used throughout its life and never needed attention to its seams, and only preventative maintenance to local abrasion of the material. I am sure there are many similar tenders still in use. I suspect his liferaft will be as good as new.

I also have an Avon hypalon redstart tender on the Moody. Valve problems only. It is indeed why I am even considering opening the valise for a good look at the liferaft.

 

[capnsensible]

I like to sail and when I do, I load the dice in my favour wherever I can. Going to sea with a liferaft from last century is not for me. But good luck, hope you never need it...

 

[Helidan]

I'm a liferaft service engineer, I would strongly advise scrapping your old Avon. They were exceptional raft in their day but at that age quite likely to be suffering with fabric and adhesive degradation.

 

[Helidan]

For servicing they don't pull the cord, they use a blower. Then weigh the bottle and inspect its condition. Time the deflation, I think 20% a day is acceptable, not sure.
Last time I fired one it failed because the link in the pull cord, near the bottle, was too far from the bottle and came up against the inside of the canister. It fired after I opened it.

5% acceptable pressure loss over 1 hour after correcting for temperature change is the norm.