Liferaft service cost?

[coopec]

It appears that Seago may have instructed 'Licenced Service agents about 15yrs as I posted earlier ... but kept their official documented 18yr statement ... I've tried verifying by online search but cannot find anything to confirm or not.

I accept that at 15 / 18 yrs its prudent to replace .... but I also suggest that unless the item has been subjected to poor storage / mishandling etc. - that 18yrs may be well short of its real end of life.

I couldn't agree more.

Of course a Life raft manufacturer will be conservative when recommending a warranty period. Imagine the situation if they warrantied a L/R for 18 years and it failed at 17 years drowning 4 people. The reputation of the L/R manufacturer would collapse and the damages bill could be many millions.

If a failure of a particular product was of little consequence manufacturers can be less conservative

 

[Pete7]

agree that at year 12 it is time to get a new one

Which we are approaching later this year. I will have the raft serviced again and think about what to do in 3 years time as the 15 year point approaches, possibly one more service and take it to the 18 year point. Its a valise, so not subject to the rigors of the pushpit rail.


Pete

 

[RivalRedwing]

Which we are approaching later this year. I will have the raft serviced again and think about what to do in 3 years time as the 15 year point approaches, possibly one more service and take it to the 18 year point. Its a valise, so not subject to the rigors of the pushpit rail.

They will only certify it for 1 year at the 12 year service.. as a private individual it is up to you how you play that one.

 

[Pete7]

They will only certify it for 1 year at the 12 year service.. as a private individual it is up to you how you play that one.

Yes, that's fine by me, certainly not paying for annual servicing beyond that date, just strikes me as a method of depleting my bank account and increasing someone else's pension pot.


Pete

 

[Pete7]

I'm a Seago qualified service engineer - trust me it's 15 years. A raft 10 years and older is subject to annual servicing anyway which doesn't make financial sense.

So to help answer the original question, what is the going rate today for a 3 year service?

Thanks Pete

 

[westernman]

So to help answer the original question, what is the going rate today for a 3 year service?

Thanks Pete

See post #2 for link to prices.

 

[westernman]

See post #2 for link to prices.

3 x one year service is greater than purchase price for a valise liferaft and within 25 quid of the price of a cannister liferaft.

Liferaft prices:-
Seago Sea Master Liferafts ISO 9650-1

Service prices:-
Seago Servicing - Seago Yachting Leisure

So I will always change liferafts when the service interval changes from 3 years to 1 year.

 

[Refueler]

3 x one year service is greater than purchase price for a valise liferaft and within 25 quid of the price of a cannister liferaft.

Liferaft prices:-
Seago Sea Master Liferafts ISO 9650-1

Service prices:-
Seago Servicing - Seago Yachting Leisure

So I will always change liferafts when the service interval changes from 3 years to 1 year.

Forgive my mindset - but isn't that the intention of Seago ? To influence the purchase of a new LR ? They make nothing from services ...

Be interested to know if any difference in actual service between a 3yr and a 1yr version ... I doubt it very much ...

Next question. Lets say you have your 16yr old LR serviced by a non Seago Licenced centre .. who could be a registered independent service company ... and they stamp for 3yrs ... You sail into a location that requires valid inspection ... would it be refused or accepted ? I suggest before people jump on the keyboard on this ... take a minute to think about it ...

 

[Daydream believer]

Surely the point of a 1 year service is to check for deterioration of seams etc that may occur with age.
As for a "registered independent service company " ---I would not expect one to actually , knowingly, falsify a test just to save someone some money. Thus risking the terms of the country's registration & loss of that certification. ( assuming there are any) Why would they?

 

[Refueler]

Surely the point of a 1 year service is to check for deterioration of seams etc that may occur with age.
As for a "registered independent service company " ---I would not expect one to actually , knowingly, falsify a test just to save someone some money. Thus risking the terms of the country's registration & loss of that certification. ( assuming there are any) Why would they?

Think you misunderstood ... I'm not saying a company to just stamp a bit of paper ... I was meaning an independent service carrying out full inspection and issuing a 3yr ticket.

Of course replace LR and have all the accredited bumf ... but I was just posing the question ...

 

[westernman]

ets say you have your 16yr old LR serviced by a non Seago Licenced centre .. who could be a registered independent service company ... and they stamp for 3yrs ...

If it is a properly licenced centre they won't stamp for 3 years.
They will follow the manufacturers requirements to the letter. And then may be some more.

 

[Refueler]

If it is a properly licenced centre they won't stamp for 3 years.
They will follow the manufacturers requirements to the letter. And then may be some more.

Seems people are misunderstanding my post ...

I am not suggesting people go out and 'flout' Seago Service .... my post had the question of whether if boat is checked in a location that requires a Certificate for the LR .... whether an independent certificate would be accepted.
I think it would be.

"If it is a properly licenced centre" ..... implies a Seago Accredited Service.

I cannot name one - but I would not be surprised to find there are Services that do not have Seago Accreditation - but still do a full job ...

I regard this sort of thing as similar to Volvo telling me I should use a Volvo Accredited Service ... (we'll ignore that fact that my local non Volvo accredited service is half the cost, did a far better job and showed where Volvo Dealer had failed to service !).

 

[oldmanofthehills]

Users of failed liferafts like users of failed parachutes rarely come back to complain. If you need a liferaft then unless you are a professional then employ such to service it. Scrap it if they so advise and in any event get a new one after 12 years

 

[Graham376]

Users of failed liferafts like users of failed parachutes rarely come back to complain. If you need a liferaft then unless you are a professional then employ such to service it. Scrap it if they so advise and in any event get a new one after 12 years

Unfortunately, professional servicing by authorised agent can fail as we found out. Next service elsewhere proved the raft wouldn't have inflated as both inflation valves were damaged, as well as other problems.

 

[oldmanofthehills]

Unfortunately, professional servicing by authorised agent can fail as we found out. Next service elsewhere proved the raft wouldn't have inflated as both inflation valves were damaged, as well as other problems.

Now that is worrying. Ours has been serviced by Seago, so I hope that was not the rubbish servicer.

However for those of us in British waters we would be dead of hypothermia anyway inside our half filled liferaft within a short time even if it inflated, unless somehow we had arranged to sink in calm weather during that rare British summer. We service our EPRIB & PLB in hope for recue before that happens, but who knows how well it would work?

 

[Daydream believer]

Seems people are misunderstanding my post ...

I am not suggesting people go out and 'flout' Seago Service .... my post had the question of whether if boat is checked in a location that requires a Certificate for the LR .... whether an independent certificate would be accepted.
I think it would be.

"If it is a properly licenced centre" ..... implies a Seago Accredited Service.

I cannot name one - but I would not be surprised to find there are Services that do not have Seago Accreditation - but still do a full job ...

I regard this sort of thing as similar to Volvo telling me I should use a Volvo Accredited Service ... (we'll ignore that fact that my local non Volvo accredited service is half the cost, did a far better job and showed where Volvo Dealer had failed to service !).

I went to Premium Liferafts in Burnham on Crouch & had a chat to their MD about a new LR . Now some may have heard of that company. They had a claim when a LR serviced by them failed when needed in an emergency. Fortunately the crew all survived. If I remember the conversation correctly ( 4 years ago now) it went like this-When the investigation team studied it, Premium Liferafts could have been well & truly stuffed. It seems that the gas bottles they used were filled by a third party. It was possibly due to the filling adaptor being faulty, as supplied to the filling company. ( possibly by the LR manufacturer, but he would not go that far.)The one on the LR in question had not been filled correctly.

When I asked Premium if they would service a Seago they flatly refused. They said that they had managed to maintain acreditation for commercial LR use & no way would they consider doing anything to jeopordise this. I asked if they knew anyone else. Their MD told me that a UK company would be very unwise to do such a thing if not accredited by the manufacturer. He mentioned that most LRs have their own special parts & these must be used when servicing. He was happy to sell me a Seago but it would have to go back to Seago for servicing.

 

[Daydream believer]

Now that is worrying. Ours has been serviced by Seago, so I hope that was not the rubbish servicer.

However for those of us in British waters we would be dead of hypothermia anyway inside our half filled liferaft within a short time even if it inflated, unless somehow we had arranged to sink in calm weather during that rare British summer. We service our EPRIB & PLB in hope for recue before that happens, but who knows how well it would work?

I seem to recall that the average time for victims in a LR in UK waters prior to rescue is 45 minutes. Personally I would be so sea sick by then, I would have probably drowned myself on purpose

 

[Graham376]

Now that is worrying. Ours has been serviced by Seago, so I hope that was not the rubbish servicer.

Plastimo Offshore serviced by their agent (at that time) in Lisbon. Insulated floor was also missing and old torch batteries had leaked.

 

[oldmanofthehills]

I seem to recall that the average time for victims in a LR in UK waters prior to rescue is 45 minutes. Personally I would be so sea sick by then, I would have probably drowned myself on purpose

45 minutes probably right for Lake solent and hobby fishers off local harbours, but 50 miles of Irish, French or English coast, any rescue craft would take much longer to get to us and actually find us, even after alarm raised by relevant CG. I cant see rescue likely in much less than 24hrs, but hope never to have to find out - like you my seasickness might induce a death wish even if fatigue and dehydration dont actually kill me

 

[westernman]

45 minutes probably right for Lake solent and hobby fishers off local harbours, but 50 miles of Irish, French or English coast, any rescue craft would take much longer to get to us and actually find us, even after alarm raised by relevant CG. I cant see rescue likely in much less than 24hrs, but hope never to have to find out - like you my seasickness might induce a death wish even if fatigue and dehydration dont actually kill me

The Turkish earthquake disaster shows that people can survive a long time in the cold with no hydration.