Graham_Wright
Well-Known Member
As long as I don't pull "the string", is there any reason why not?
I want to examine the "sealed" insides.
I want to examine the "sealed" insides.
Opening a canister liferaft
- Thread starter Graham_Wright
- Start date
rob2
Well-Known Member
Well, I guess that depends on your situation. If the raft is due or a service anyway, then you can't do much harm (probably). The raft itself will be inside a heat sealed bagso if you open that to check the entire contents, it will no longer be weatherproof for storage on board. Also the tape which seals the canister is a weather seal which is selected to burst open when the raft inflates. If you can replace both those items, then go ahead, but preferably in a large enough room that an accidental inflation is not too big a deal!
If the raft is due for service, then why not ask the service agent to open it up for your inspection at their place?
Rob.
If the raft is due for service, then why not ask the service agent to open it up for your inspection at their place?
Rob.
fisherman
Well-Known Member
Ha! My friend's dad used to mend gear for him, but was always scrounging for materials. He ran out of twine one day:
"I found a nice bit of braid under the bench, pulled out a length, then another, nice stuff, there was loads of it, then all of a sudden it jammed, I give it a good yank....you know my shed used to be square, well it's round now, only just got out in time. Silly b ugger didn't tell me he stowed the liferaft in there"
"I found a nice bit of braid under the bench, pulled out a length, then another, nice stuff, there was loads of it, then all of a sudden it jammed, I give it a good yank....you know my shed used to be square, well it's round now, only just got out in time. Silly b ugger didn't tell me he stowed the liferaft in there"
macnorton
Well-Known Member
My dad set one off in the dining room years ago, scared the s*** out of the dog and had to phone a friend to help deflate it.
Graham_Wright
Well-Known Member
It was cheap - very cheap - history unknown and, yes, it is (over)due for a service.
I guess I should be patient and wait for the service. They cost money don't they?
fisherman
Well-Known Member
It was cheap - very cheap - history unknown and, yes, it is (over)due for a service.
I guess I should be patient and wait for the service. They cost money don't they?
In that case open it up and have a good look, if it seems ok service it. They don't fire the bottle for a service anyway.
prv
Well-Known Member
A friend of my dad set off a 25-man one under someone else's table during a mess dinner night
Pete
Graham_Wright
Well-Known Member
A friend of my dad set off a 25-man one under someone else's table during a mess dinner night
Pete
Are you a friend of your Dad?
prv
Well-Known Member
Are you a friend of your Dad?
Heh. Yes, but not that friend.
The nearest I got was when my mum had some leftover party poppers and decided to put them on the Christmas dinner table, when I was about 12. I secretly opened a couple up and replaced the streamers with tomato ketchup...
Pete
Graham_Wright
Well-Known Member
Reading round various reports, I might open it up myself and inflate manually. If it is obviously rubbish, I can save the cost of a service station reporting the same result. If it is not, do I repack it? I know others have done servicing themselves.
D
Deleted member 36384
Guest
Quality prank!
prv
Well-Known Member
macd
Well-Known Member
You don't say how you did that, but for anyone in the same position I've found that deflating a dog is easy: just rattle its lead and then don't take it for a walk.
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Talulah
Well-Known Member
It was cheap - very cheap - history unknown and, yes, it is (over)due for a service.
I guess I should be patient and wait for the service. They cost money don't they?
Personally, as it is old and it is due for a service I would open it up and have a look.
I wouldn't want to waste money on sending it to a service agent only to be told "We condem all liferafts over a certain age."
I understand one of the main failures on old rafts is them coming unstuck at the glued seams.
One of the things about DIY repacks is you are motivated to get it right instead of money driven. A vacumn cleaner can sometimes be a good way of extracting air. I've used it to pack sleeping bags in bin liners but never liferafts.
I should add that if you are going to inflate it don't use the gas bottle. Use another source. Recharging bottles and replacing firing mechanisms can be pretty expensive.
Murv
Well-Known Member
Another perfectly good keyboard ruined by coffee spray!!
Graham_Wright
Well-Known Member
I have access to one but we did take a double bed size 2" thick memory foam by air as cabin baggage having vacuum packed it with a vacuum cleaner. It turned into a mini ironing board and took two days to recover.
ghostlymoron
Well-Known Member
If it's old and hasn't been serviced for years, I would carefully open it and inflate with a dinghy pump or somesuch. Remember to take some photos of each stage of unpacking. Check the contents (water, sea sick pills, torch, paddle etc. there's a list of what it should contain somewhere on t'internet). Weigh and examine the gas cartridge then if you're happy it should sustain life if called upon, repack it. If the gas cartridge looks at all suspect, replace it. I don't know where you get replacements from.
prv
Well-Known Member
So what are you going to use for the bag? I guess if you have access to a machine it has some kind of bags with it, but do they have an airtight exit for the pull cord / painter?
My vote is for unpacking it yourself for curiosity and to see if it's worth continuing with, then take it to a service station for re-packing.
I wouldn't dream of paying someone to service my lifejackets, and I also service my Jon Buoy each year, but I think modern liferaft packing has developed to the point of being a specialist task.
Pete
Graham_Wright
Well-Known Member
I will go with that.
Neil_Y
Well-Known Member
I remember a food fight that was started with party poppers full of mashed potato, quite effective
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