Self examination of my life raft

[MrB18]

Mine is also an Avon 6 man valise.

I unpacked mine carefully, taking a video of the way it was packed, checking exactly how each part was folded.

I disconnected the trigger head from the cylinder and removed the cylinder and weighed it. I inflated the raft using a small compressor through the same line that the CO2 woudl have gone ( i heard of one guy that discovered the one-way valve was back to front and it could never have inflated. he had had it serviced multiple times and they never picked up on it!). I allowed the blow-off valves to operate. I left it inflated for 48 hours to check for leaks.

Checked the firing head operation and reset it.

I picked and pulled and poked at all the seams, to check the glue was fine. I bounced around on the tubes to convince myself it wasnt going to fall apart.

I checked the contents of the kit. Despite being ticked off on the last professional repacking, the flares and first aid kit were missing. I bought new. I replaced the SOLAS approved torch that had a bulb with the strength of a small firefly with two LED torches, each was around 10 times brighter than the SOLAS one, and current consumption was less than half, so they will last longer. I kept the packets of water, even though technically out of date, its just water. New sea sickness pills, new spare batteries, added some glucose tablets and foil blankets and a few other bits and bobs. Replaced the glue in the repair kit.

Checked the manual inflation pump, deflated it and double checked the deflation bung was correctly replaced and tight.

Repacked, reconnected the cylinder and repacked it. I reconnected the firing head only when I was confident it was packed and made sure the painter was in a direct line to the firing head so it would release when required, and the head was in a straight line to where the painter exited the case.

Re sealed, signed the card and put it back on the boat.

Given that the flares and first aid were missing, yet signed off on previous inspections, and similarly I have heard other reports of missing deflation plugs, untied painters, blah blah blah ... I would NOT trust anyone to do this job apart from either myself, or a professional packer ONLY IFF he/she allowed me to observe the whole process.

I did the same with mine, carefully recorded how it all came apart, had the cylinder weighed in a supermarket was fine.
The problem was repacking as getting all the air out was not easy but got there in the end, by leaving out some of the items which were added to a grab bag.

 

[PilotWolf]

and don't even dare to think about those who take friends sailing and don't carry a LR in the first place!

But I think it’s a case of if you have it it should work. If you don’t have it and aren’t required to you’d be OK.

Maybe I’ve just been living in the US too long!

W.

 

[PilotWolf]

I suspect that that's a question that could enrich a few lawyers. Did I use reasonable care doing it? Was it a manufacturing fault I couldn't reasonably expect to find?

I don't know if I'd do my liferaft if I had one, but I do know, I'd rather have my life jacket that I've serviced this year than an unknown one. I checked a friend's LJs a while back and they hadn't been touched since he bought them seven years previously. He got a bill for new cartridges and I made sure I did them for him every year. Incidentally, each of the expired cartridges went off with a satisfying pop when dropped in a bowl of water, so I've no reason to believe the LJs wouldn't have worked, but...

I agree but when it’s a commercial operation that requires certification of testing and compliance everything changes.

I am the most distrusting person believable so always check everything or just do it myself in the first place.

W.

 

[greeny]

I have witnessed mine being unpacked. A query to you regarding so called vacuum packing. My lifearft was inside a plastic bag which had a big hole for the painter to pass through, therefore it does not appear that the liferaft could be vacuumed packed. When returned to me, I peeped through the painter hole in the canister and it was again packed in a plastic bag. Did you find the same? While mine was packed snugly, it was not like other vacuum packed items I have seen which are very tightly packed. I suspect vacuum packing of a liferaft could force tight folds which stress the material and weaken it. Just curious.

Mine is a Plastimo Offshore Canister, 8 x man.

The hole the painter goes through would have to be sealed to get a vacumn. So it looks like another service agent didn't do it right.
When I watched the repacking they used a semi transparent plastic envelope that compressed the liferaft inside as the air was evacuated. It certainly had a seal at that stage. Then the canister was closed and I didn't look inside again as I had no need. On the occasions that I've opened them after "remote" servicing, the vacumn pack seemed no where near as vacumned as I would have thought it should be but its very hard to hold a vacumn for any length of time.
In order to inspect the inside, I cut the packaging carefully and then when closing it up again I just used a few strips of tape to close it up. I didn't try to vac it down. Doubt that I could have. I sail in a relatively dry, warm climate and they get serviced every 3 yrs. If I have to replace them a few years early because of cylinder or mechanism corrosion I can live with that. I can't live with painter lines being tangled or other stupid deficiencies from the service agents. I also don't think that the vacumn packing can be that effective other than to suck them down so you can get them back into the case.
Strangely enough, thinking about it, I inflated an old liferaft last year , that was being disposed of, to show a few other boatowners what would happen when they pulled the cord and what the raft contents were likely to be. I'm certain there was no vacumn packing on that one. The last service date was only 8 yrs ago so maybe not all liferafts are vacumn packed.
As an aside, during a past life I was involved in arranging the changeout and servicing of approximately 90 commercial liferafts on a three year cycle. These rafts were of differing manufacturers. It was amazing the different tales that the service agents told of the other suppliers standards, and why their own raft was the best and the only one that could save your life. Surprisingly they recommended that all the rafts were changed to their manufacturer. We used to inflate 4 or 5 a year of these on the deck for training purpose, over a period of maybe 30yrs we never had one fail to inflate. None of these were vacumn packed as such, they were encased in a plastic envelope.

 

[superheat6k]

Well I took my immaculate 25 year old cylinder to my factory today, where I weighed it upon our calibrated parcel scales. It had actually increased in weight by ~ 200 grammes since 2000 when it was last inspected and weighed. So just waiting for the new SOLAS approved torch to arrive and time for the final repacking, for which I wil be using a vacuum bag. I intend to insert the entire thing inside the bag and then once it is in the valise I will cut the vacuum bag off.

I will retest it again in one year, and for that test I might simply test it by tugging the painter and seeing what happens.

 

[LadyInBed]

But I think it’s a case of if you have it it should work. If you don’t have it and aren’t required to you’d be OK.

Problem solved, lable it Unserviceable, for show only

Maybe I’ve just been living in the US too long!

W.

Could well be! Litigation19 is also contagious.

 

[Kelpie]

Well I took my immaculate 25 year old cylinder to my factory today, where I weighed it upon our calibrated parcel scales. It had actually increased in weight by ~ 200 grammes since 2000 when it was last inspected and weighed. So just waiting for the new SOLAS approved torch to arrive and time for the final repacking, for which I wil be using a vacuum bag. I intend to insert the entire thing inside the bag and then once it is in the valise I will cut the vacuum bag off.

I will retest it again in one year, and for that test I might simply test it by tugging the painter and seeing what happens.

Presumably the only thing that could make the cylinder gain weight is corrosion. Very odd!

 

[sarabande]

I have had a mysterious increase in weight of 25g on a 165g LJ cylinder. In that case some corrosion of the external plating was noticeable. When the new one arrives, I will trigger the one with the extra weight to see what happens.

Is there anyone on the forum who knows about CO2 gas cylinder weights ? It would be rather re-assuring to know what causes such increases in cylinders with no corrosion.

 

[Aeolus]

will retest it again in one year, and for that test I might simply test it by tugging the painter and seeing what happens.

Do you know where you can obtain a replacement / refill cylinder? I googled but couldn't find anywhere.

 

[Beneteau381]

I

I have had a mysterious increase in weight of 25g on a 165g LJ cylinder. In that case some corrosion of the external plating was noticeable. When the new one arrives, I will trigger the one with the extra weight to see what happens.

Is there anyone on the forum who knows about CO2 gas cylinder weights ? It would be rather re-assuring to know what causes such increases in cylinders with no corrosion.

It’s your scales, Got to be, the bottle ain’t defying all the laws of physics.

 

[Beneteau381]

See

Do you know where you can obtain a replacement / refill cylinder? I googled but couldn't find anywhere.

my post above, H Roberts of Liverpool will do it, hydrotest, refill, its a special mix of CO2 and N2 and reset the trigger

 

[sarabande]

It’s your scales, Got to be, the bottle ain’t defying all the laws of physics.

Have you heard of reference masses ? The scales check out consistently OK, and other gas cylinders have weights near as dammit the same as when last checked and noted on the cylinders with Edding aircraft marker.

When I say there is one cylinder which has increased in weight, and I have identified a possible cause (external corrosion) I am left with the impression that either the odd cylinder is somehow linked to its own nano-sized black hole/singularity, or you are rushing to conclusions.

I use my lab balance

 

[rib]

Have you heard of reference masses ? The scales check out consistently OK, and other gas cylinders have weights near as dammit the same as when last checked and noted on the cylinders with Edding aircraft marker.

When I say there is one cylinder which has increased in weight, and I have identified a possible cause (external corrosion) I am left with the impression that either the odd cylinder is somehow linked to its own nano-sized black hole/singularity, or you are rushing to conclusions.

I use my lab balance

Lot of dust on them there scales ?

 

[Iliade]

iron 55.845 g/mol
iron oxide 159.69 g/mol

Either about 100 g of iron has corroded or perhaps someone painted it?

 

[peterf]

Liferafts stored in a hardcase have plastic straps around the outside of the case (like hard plastic packaging straps) . If I was to look inside my liferaft, I would have to cut that strap. Any idea what these straps are called and if I was to peer inside, how I would re-instate something similar?

 

[PetiteFleur]

When I bought my boat several years ago, it came with an old unknown make of liferaft with no documentation. I took it along to our local servicing agent in Ipswich and we inflated it while the technician watched - it inflated ok but when closely inspected, all the seams were coming unstuck and on their advice we scrapped it straight into the skip. We have not replaced it.
I also do all my own lifejacket servicing as I like to know it's been done properly.

 

[superheat6k]

I

It’s your scales, Got to be, the bottle ain’t defying all the laws of physics.

Certainly someone's scales ! Anyway I am satisfied it hasn't lost weight and their is no degradation of the cylinder at all.

 

[STATUE]

So to cure boredom this weekend do I open up and examine my Avon 6 man valise life raft ?

It was last inspected in ~ 2000 as it is marked next inspection due July 2002.

I figure it is better to understand if it has a chance of working than purely taking a random chance on the thing working.

Last time I opened one it went to the dump as there was not a chance it was ever going to get re-packed by me !!!

This is one of the most facinating posts I have read in my 40 years of sailing. Liferaft self servicing have always been in my "Here be Dragons" file !

Mine is 4 man in a canister. But I'm not going to have a go as my Victoria Frances 26 is up for sale, stating the Life raft is due a service.

Thank you.

 

[Deleted member 36384]

Liferafts stored in a hardcase have plastic straps around the outside of the case (like hard plastic packaging straps) . If I was to look inside my liferaft, I would have to cut that strap. Any idea what these straps are called and if I was to peer inside, how I would re-instate something similar?

A common system is by Band-It (see Home link below) and they have different styles, materials and strengths for banding packages. I have use their stainless systems frequently. The plastic straps are usually glued. I assume on the life raft either the length of glue is designed to shear or the strap itself is designed to yield. The ends of the strap on my life raft are glued and have heat shrink over them, I assume they are glued. It’s probably easy to do but also easy to get wrong.

Home

Thanks for the vacuum packing information, good to see the video. That is not how mine is packed, but in the opaque bag style mentioned later.

Edit
Plastic Strapping The Plastic Strapping Company Ltd - PALLET AND CARTON STRAPPING MACHINES PRINTED STRAPPING
There is quite a lot to it, tensioning devices and friction welding machines.

 

[peterf]

Huge thanks for your answer!
Given that a DIY guess of glue and breaking strain is out of the question it leaves two options:
1. Don't put a strap back on after you cut it off.
2. Create a new permeant link that joins the strap where you cut it (and leaves in place the original breaking section.

I guess superglue and similar plastic would work for (2).
What have others done?