Safety Equipment.

[coopec]

The local agent for RFD Liferafts are Servitect. I contacted them by email giving thm the Serial Number and photos of the liferaft and they replied.
"The raft in question is a Plastimo raft and we no longer service these at the WA Branch"

I then contacted Plastimo (with photos) by email and they replied:
"Yes we can service your life raft.

It’s a Plastimo Transocean which was marketed by RFD and branded a RFD Pacific.

If you bring it in we can work out the cost of servicing and from there we can work out the most economical path to get you your desired result.

If it is a Plastimo Transocean it an ISO 9650-1 (offshore) not an ISO 9650-2 (Coastal)

That sounds great but I'd like to know how old it is. (Apparently Plastimo liferafts have a 14 year warranty. Plastimo liferafts sold after 2012 have an 18 year warranty)




Plastimo Liferaft ISO 9650-1 Transocean

"Designed for navigation in extreme conditions : large capacity and quantity of ballast pockets, large area drogue anchors, -15°C inflation temperature (group A), double insulating floor, fluo orange canopy with automatically erecting arch tube, 4.3 cd. outside light and retro-reflecting stripes.

The Transocean ISO 9650-1 also features a ballasted reversible ladder and grab handle to ease embarking This system allows the victim to hoist himself up on the ladder and then topple easily into the raft.
Should the liferaft inflate upside down, the boarding ladder simply reverts, to allow the victim to pull himself on the capsized liferaft and make it easier to turn over the raft in its natural position.

Two types of survival equipment packs are available, depending on the expected time that the victim may spend in the raft waiting for the rescue teams : the emergency pack includes water and food (rescue forces expected after 24 hours) and a standard pack (rescue forces expected within 24 hours)
The survival pack can be completed with a grab bag..




Apparently they are not sold in Australia but the price in Euros is 2141,70€ and the price in
USA is USD 2475

If they were sold in Australia they would be $A3500

 

[Strikeliner]

SOLAS Liferafts don't have to be self righting and to be honest few are. Virtually no leisure spec liferafts are self righting. When launched correctly rafts normally inflate the right way up. Once deployed they wont invert. The best thing to do might be to attend a practical Sea Survival course . In the UK the RYA offer a very decent 1 day course that is almost entirely practical. I am sure something similar is available in Australia. Righting an inverted liferaft is very straightforward. Even a 25 man raft can be handled with no difficulty.

 

[dankilb]

Looks like you got a good deal there! No reason to suspect it won’t be good as new inside - apart from the canister and perishable supplies.

 

[coopec]

Looks like you got a good deal there! No reason to suspect it won’t be good as new inside - apart from the canister and perishable supplies.

Yes, I'm quite excited!

If you look at the table (above) listing items inside the "Coastal" version has more. For example the Coastal version has an epirb as well as X6 Solas hand flares.

I wonder how confident I would feel if they said "It is now out of warranty being 15 years old but it is in very good condition" Should I use it? (The canister is in excellent shape)

 

[dankilb]

The conditions it’s been kept in are probably more important than the age alone. I’m no expert (as I’ve said before!) but anecdotally you hear of older liferafts holding air just fine. And yours looks very well kept (by ‘canister’ I actually just meant the gas!).

To put it into context, our raft had sat on the coachroof outside in a combination of Mediterranean and North Wales (i.e. cold/wet!) climates potentially since 2002. The dates have worn off the case, so that’s an educated guess! I’m by no means suggesting it is safe to use. But... having assumed we’d just have to bin it, I’m now thinking of inflating it and leaving it in the living room (we live in an apartment!) for a few days to see if it holds air!

If it looks and works okay once inflated, I think we’ll have the gas changed and re-pack it for coastal use. We couldn’t afford a new one, for now, and the boat only needs to do a 12 hour delivery trip and a few subsequent ‘shakedown’ sails next season while we finish our refit. I figure that this would be better than having no raft (and just the dinghy).

Of course, we are thinking strictly coastal use and in an area well covered by SAR and with other emergency kit on hand. But my point being that plenty of serviceable rafts surely get thrown away unnecessarily...?

 

[pvb]

But... having assumed we’d just have to bin it, I’m now thinking of inflating it and leaving it in the living room (we live in an apartment!) for a few days to see if it holds air!

If it looks and works okay once inflated, I think we’ll have the gas changed and re-pack it for coastal use.

That's a plan; the problem with older rafts is that they become slightly porous and won't hold pressure for any length of time. My last boat, a Hallberg-Rassy, came with an Autoflug canister liferaft - a high quality raft from a well-respected maker, and regularly serviced. When it was 15 or 16 years old it was condemned by the service agent because it wouldn't hold pressure, so I bought a Zodiac raft to replace it. The service agent reckoned that 15-20 years is about the maximum life of most rafts.

 

[coopec]

If it looks and works okay once inflated, I think we’ll have the gas changed and re-pack it for coastal use. We couldn’t afford a new one, for now, and the boat only needs to do a 12 hour delivery trip and a few subsequent ‘shakedown’ sails next season while we finish our refit. I figure that this would be better than having no raft (and just the dinghy).

Of course, we are thinking strictly coastal use and in an area well covered by SAR and with other emergency kit on hand. But my point being that plenty of serviceable rafts surely get thrown away unnecessarily...?

I agree there could be serviceable liferafts thrown away particularly by professional fishermen and other maritime workers who are bound by ISO9650 standard.

I'm trying to draw some conclusions from the email I got the other day.

Yes we can service your life raft. (Is he assuming it is worth servicing?)

It’s a Plastimo Transocean which was marketed by RFD and branded a RFD Pacific.

If you bring it in we can work out the cost of servicing and from there we can work out the most economical path to get you your desired result. (He seems to be assuming it is a worthwhile going ahead and doing a service? Maybe he'll take one look at it and say it is past its' "use by" date and try to sell me a new one?)


Thank you for the opportunity to be of service.


Yours faithfully,

Chris Castle

 

[coopec]

That's a plan; the problem with older rafts is that they become slightly porous and won't hold pressure for any length of time. My last boat, a Hallberg-Rassy, came with an Autoflug canister liferaft - a high quality raft from a well-respected maker, and regularly serviced. When it was 15 or 16 years old it was condemned by the service agent because it wouldn't hold pressure, so I bought a Zodiac raft to replace it. The service agent reckoned that 15-20 years is about the maximum life of most rafts.

Maybe the Service Agent will take one look at what I have got and condemn it? If it is not condemned I will have it serviced and I won't complain too much about the cost of the service as the liferaft has cost me bugger-all so far. (If I can get three years out of it I will be happy.)

I'm surprised Plastimo are now giving a 18 year warranty on their life-rafts.

Plastimo Design Innovation reflected in new 18 Year Warranty ...
www.amisales.com.au › new-plastimo-liferaft-18yr-war...

Plastimo Design Innovation reflected in new 18 Year Warranty Terms. 17-01-2018. Such is the confidence in the quality of their product, Plastimo has now announced an 18 year warranty now applies to all Plastimo liferafts manufactured and sold after January 2012.

 

[dankilb]

I agree there could be serviceable liferafts thrown away particularly by professional fishermen and other maritime workers who are bound by ISO9650 standard.

I'm trying to draw some conclusions from the email I got the other day.

Yes we can service your life raft. (Is he assuming it is worth servicing?)

It’s a Plastimo Transocean which was marketed by RFD and branded a RFD Pacific.

If you bring it in we can work out the cost of servicing and from there we can work out the most economical path to get you your desired result. (He seems to be assuming it is a worthwhile going ahead and doing a service? Maybe he'll take one look at it and say it is past its' "use by" date and try to sell me a new one?)


Thank you for the opportunity to be of service.


Yours faithfully,

Chris Castle

Maybe worth asking/checking whether they will just inflate it for (ideally with..) you first. That should give the best idea of its condition. You can deduce that a big part of the servicing is checking for inflation and visual condition of seams etc. (there are videos of people doing services on YouTube).

Depending on what they say... how about inflating it yourself at home first?! You might not be able to re-pack it properly (without a pump to remove the air), but you should be able to get it into the back of the car at least!

 

[[163233]]

Looks like you got a good deal there! No reason to suspect it won’t be good as new inside - apart from the canister and perishable supplies.

...and the general experience of people who've set off old rafts and seen them go down slowly, albeit a week or so.
If it can be serviced then it'll be fine.

Is it the version with loads of water in? It must weigh a tonne!

That's a plan; the problem with older rafts is that they become slightly porous and won't hold pressure for any length of time. My last boat, a Hallberg-Rassy, came with an Autoflug canister liferaft - a high quality raft from a well-respected maker, and regularly serviced. When it was 15 or 16 years old it was condemned by the service agent because it wouldn't hold pressure, so I bought a Zodiac raft to replace it. The service agent reckoned that 15-20 years is about the maximum life of most rafts.

Indeed that was my experience of setting off an older canister raft. It stayed up for about a week, which you would hope would be sufficient...

 

[TernVI]

The trouble with older rafts is that the service interval tends to get shorter. Which puts the annualised cost up to the point you're better off trading it in at some point.
It's made worse when some race authorities add in their own servicing/inspection requirements.
Buying new and ebaying it when the first service is required can be economical and low hassle!
They're heavy things to get delivered, don't forget to factor in the cost of driving around getting it serviced.

 

[coopec]

I am starting to get an understanding why servicing costs the earth

RodtheRebel

Cost to service a liferaft - Cruisers & Sailing Forums

​

Re: Cost to service a liferaft I just wrote a long reply to this thread and lost it somewhere between seeing it posted and clicking the submit button. Here's the short version....I work in the life raft business and our company manufacturers many different brands of life rafts (and other life saving products). All or products meet IMO, USCG and other regulatory standards which means they are tested to extreme conditions before they are sold. To ensure the quality and reliability, we can only service your raft with the parts that proved to work and they are expensive. The price includes the quality of materials and testing they endure. Some rafts cost more than others because of the material that is used and the method of construction. DBC rafts use a composite material that stinks like vomit but have welded seams and last for many many years. Other brands use a rubber material that is glued together and lasts a long time but is subject to copperization, and will degrade if exposed to anything with copper in it. Polyurethane is another material that is used and is inexpensive. They are glued together but are very prone to glue degradation when exposed to a combination of water and temperature changes. There are lots of different rafts out there and you get what you pay for. Unfortunately, the perfect raft does not exist. They all have advantages and disadvantages. Servicing rafts is very regulated and service technicians are liable for the work they do. We have to use OEM parts and replace expired items. This is to ensure your raft performs as if it were brand new, despite the rafts age. Depending on the age of your raft, certain tests have to be conducted to ensure its reliability. When your raft gets to ten years, you're looking at a gas inflation, hydro test of the cylinder, floor seam test, necessary additional pressure test, working pressure test, and hose blast test. As a raft ages, the material and parts become less reliable and need more testing to ensure it will work. That's about the time you need to weigh the cost of those additional tests against a new raft. When you get to that point, PLEASE talk to your service station and negotiate a good deal for yourself if you decide to buy a new raft. Our organization bends over backwards to earn your trust and business. We (and most other service stations) are more than willing to work with you. Sometimes we have to condemn a raft and we hate doing that. If your raft is condemned, you can almost always work out a good deal on a new raft for the price of servicing your old raft, or at least, close to it. In the mean time, there are a couple of things you can do to minimize the costs of servicing. Keep your container as dry as possible. Some people pressure wash the containers and we open the raft for inspection and find a raft that is soaking wet and falling apart. Some containers have drain holes to let water and condensation out but they're plugged up or stowed up-side-down. When your raft is serviced, it should be returned to you looking brand new. We clean your raft and container as a courtesy but some places charge a cleaning fee. Cleaning the raft is required but not the container. That's something you can negotiate. Another thing is the labels. We have to replace those ridiculously expensive labels if they are damaged or illegible. That's subjective sometimes and if you are happy with how the labels look, and the authorities can read them, then keep the old ones and save some money. Finally, talk to your service station manager about options. Some of our customers only need a raft for a short period of time. Instead of enduring the costs of owning and maintaining a raft for years, look into renting a raft for that crossing. If you choose to buy and maintain a raft, you're likely to find some savings if you talk with your service station. You can often get discounts for first time service, loyalty/repeat business, trade in (our brand for that other brand) or any other reason you come up with. Bottom line is we want you to like doing business with us.​

​

 

[Graham376]

I wonder how confident I would feel if they said "It is now out of warranty being 15 years old but it is in very good condition" Should I use it? (The canister is in excellent shape)

We were in that situation a few years ago, but not worried about claiming under warranty if it didn't work . Our Plastimo Offshore was serviced at 18 years with clean bill of health but we were advised to replace at next service date, solely because of age and question of just how long the seams would last. Replaced at 20 years with a Seasafe self-righting.

 

[coopec]

We were in that situation a few years ago, but not worried about claiming under warranty if it didn't work . Our Plastimo Offshore was serviced at 18 years with clean bill of health but we were advised to replace at next service date, solely because of age and question of just how long the seams would last. Replaced at 20 years with a Seasafe self-righting.

You confirm what I have only started to realise (being new to life rafts) Just because a raft is out of warranty doesn't make it unsafe to use.

STOWAGE AND SERVICING
Raft manufacturers warranty most life rafts for 10 or 12 years, based on servicing according to their recommendations. In fact, a raft that is kept dry and is regularly repacked may last for 20 years or more until it is condemned by a factory-authorized service station

https://www.bwsailing.com/cc/2015/01...nd-deployment/


I've been trying to find out what material the Plastimo life raft is made of but to-date no success.


17-01-2018. Such is the confidence in the quality of their product, Plastimo has now announced an 18 year warranty now applies to all Plastimo liferafts manufactured and sold after January 2012.

Great Circle Life Rafts
Our confidence in the quality, workmanship and reliability of our life rafts allow us to provide a 12 year guarantee for all the life rafts we manufacture, provided they undergo inspections at required intervals in a Great Circle Life Rafts approved service facility.

RFD has been manufacturing life rafts for over 60 years. Manufactured to strict international standards in their own factories, RFD says their rafts are specifically designed for quick boarding in emergency situations, and are supplied with comprehensive emergency packs. They carry a conditional 12 year warranty.

Ocean Safety ISO 9650-1 liferaft (ZODIAC???)
Warranty. Our products are designed to be of a high quality. That’s why we offer a 20 year warranty from the delivery date of your product against [faulty workmanship and materials, system and mechanical defects] provided you register the product with us

Seasafe
All Sea-Safe rafts come with a 12 year warranty when serviced at least every three years by an authorized Sea-Safe service facility. Comprehensive canopy and openings that allow easy access for boarding, spotting, fresh air, etc. All while keeping the inside dry.

AVON
Guarantee and servicing. 12-year Guarantee. Avon life rafts demonstrate outstanding quality and reliability and are supported by a worldwide network of ...

http://www.avalonrafts.com/raft_service.htm

 

[coopec]

Know Your Life Raft Inspection Requirements


This is a worry!

I think this guy hits it right on the head when he says these companies make their money out of servicing (not the sale).

Know Your Life Raft Inspection Requirements - Practical Sailor

 

[coopec]

Some people asked me to keep them up to date with further developments regarding my life raft.

I took the raft to the experts this morning and stated "Here is the Transocean liferaft" He sounded a bit dubious and said "it is not actually a Transocean but one made up for coastal work. Mind you Coastal means up to 200km".
"If you wanted to sail to Africa you'd need SOLAS- different types of flares, more rations.......blah blah blah.

My thoughts were that if it is OK for 200km it must be OK for 2000km offshore and the difference is in the provisioning? I'm going to have to do more research to work that one out.

Anyhow they charge $145 to open up and inspect the raft to see how old it is and if it is still serviceable. If it is serviceable then it would cost around $1200 for labor and new parts (incl battery for epirb) and provisions.

I'll let you know what happens.

 

[coopec]

This is exactly what I was looking for!

Liferaft Selection Guide

Liferaft Selection Guide - Jimmy Green Marine

 

[Graham376]

When selecting a raft, make sure it can be serviced in proposed cruising area as postage significantly increases costs. Using unauthorised service centre invalidates warranty.

 

[coopec]

When selecting a raft, make sure it can be serviced in proposed cruising area as postage significantly increases costs. Using unauthorised service centre invalidates warranty.

Yes I checked that and if I do go for the Plastimo I won't have any trouble.

Thanks Graham

 

[coopec]

I am having second thoughts about the 20 year old raft. Apparently these rafts have a long shelf life: Plastimo rafts are now sold with a 18 year warranty. (Another brand is being sold with a 20 year warranty) Someone on this(?) thread said his life raft is 30 years old.

If the experts servicing life rafts have had a look at mine and tell me it is in "good condition" who am I to argue? If there was the slightest element of doubt I'm sure they would not encourage me to have it serviced.

I'll be picking up the life raft from their servicing facility in the next few days and there are two facts I want answered when I talk to them.

• is the raft suitable for open water (I'm sure it is)
• can it be serviced to >24hr standard.

Also I'll get her to expand on her statement "Most people take a "grab bag" with them. I think she may have meant with extra food and water?

When it comes to safety I will not skimp. But I think my previous decision to "retire" the life raft was based on emotional rather than rational reasons