Our liftraft has inflated itself within it's canister

[nicholat]

We were sitting in our cockpit at anchor this evening when we heard a hissing sound followed by a pop. What on earth? Look around and spot the canister on our liftraft which sits on deck, had been pushed up and cracked and the hissing was air escaping from around the crack. We kept well away until the hissing stopped in case anything went bang.

The air cylinder had fired but the metal retaining clips of the cradle in which the liferaft sits had held causing the plastic canister to crack under the pressure. The outer bag around the liferaft had popped and air was comng out of the hole. We haven't opened the canister as we don't want to risk any further damage.

The life raft was professionally serviced only 2 months ago and is stored in the same place it has been for the 7 years since we bought it, we have kept to all the service intervals. The liferaft does not have a hydrostatic firing mechanism. The cylinder was tested and serviced as part of the recent service.

We will be contacting the servicers tomorrow (it happened too late this evening to call them) and having done a search on t'internet to see if this was something that 'occasionally' happens, found nothing.

Wanted to hear if others have had this happen to their liferafts.

 

[Strikeliner]

Is it a BFA Liferaft? What was the test done on the cylinder and who did it?

 

[[29051]]

We were sitting in our cockpit at anchor this evening when we heard a hissing sound followed by a pop. What on earth? Look around and spot the canister on our liftraft which sits on deck, had been pushed up and cracked and the hissing was air escaping from around the crack. We kept well away until the hissing stopped in case anything went bang.

The air cylinder had fired but the metal retaining clips of the cradle in which the liferaft sits had held causing the plastic canister to crack under the pressure. The outer bag around the liferaft had popped and air was comng out of the hole. We haven't opened the canister as we don't want to risk any further damage.

The life raft was professionally serviced only 2 months ago and is stored in the same place it has been for the 7 years since we bought it, we have kept to all the service intervals. The liferaft does not have a hydrostatic firing mechanism. The cylinder was tested and serviced as part of the recent service.

We will be contacting the servicers tomorrow (it happened too late this evening to call them) and having done a search on t'internet to see if this was something that 'occasionally' happens, found nothing.

Wanted to hear if others have had this happen to their liferafts.

Yes, we had exactly that happen to ours. It was about 4 years old at the time but had been serviced annually. We were not on board when it happened, but someone cleaning the boat next door witnessed it. To be honest until I read your post we had wondered if he had accidentally caught the firing line when cleaning our boat.

We had it repacked and serviced annually for several years after that, and were surprised they passed it given that there was a crack in the canister about 4 inches long.

 

[nigelmercier]

Surely they are meant to burst the canister?

 

[prv]

Surely they are meant to burst the canister?

Yes, but the OP's raft was secured in a metal cage, which it couldn't burst.

Pete

 

[Deleted member 36384]

I assume these cages open automatically if the boat sinks, say by a hydrostatic release device?

 

[sarabande]

I'd be slightly worried that the tubing has burst somewhere as a result of the cylinder firing off. Normally the pressure relief valves let excess CO2 out, but they may have been constrained in action.

 

[prv]

I assume these cages open automatically if the boat sinks, say by a hydrostatic release device?

Many do, but the OP says his doesn't. He would have to release it manually.

Pete

 

[nicholat]

Yes our liferaft is manual release via a pull cord, if we needed to use it we would have to unclip the cradle straps and move the liferaft canister before pulling the cord. The cord is coiled up within a tube inside the canister with an access hole to pull it through for use.

The liferaft unexpectedly fired all by itself, we were not near the raft at the time and were sat quietly at anchor.

For the moment we've left the liferaft within the canister but we are concerned what damage might have been caused inside. We don't want to take it out and inadvertently cause more damage so we're waiting to see what the service company response is.

Not sure what the cylinder test entailed, our service certificate simply says it was serviced.

 

[Bosun Higgs]

You might be better taking it to another service company to find out what has gone wrong.

 

[Bosun Higgs]

Is it a BFA Liferaft? What was the test done on the cylinder and who did it?

Why BFA? Is there a problem with them? My raft is BFA and them being German I always assumed it would be better than anything made in the UK. Like Bavaria yachts are apparently.

 

[oldbilbo]

You might care to report this to the MAIB people via the harbourmaster. While there's no statutory obligation ( I think ), we're now aware of two occurrences, so this has implications for others. Clearly something is wrong.