duncan99210
Well-Known Member
I serviced a Seago raft. The straps holding the canister together used Velcro to secure the ends together. So you could make up fabric straps with a decent length of Velcro to fasten them together.
Self examination of my life raft
- Thread starter superheat6k
- Start date
pandos
Well-Known Member
That is one of my questions also but if you consider the power of compressed air to lift trucks etc I suspect any kind of plastic banding would not be too strong.
I would consider cutting the bands before I threw it over the side, if I was in any doubt...
Beneteau381
Well-Known Member
Use to use those doing physics in grammmar tech when I was a lad 60 year’s agoHave 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
superheat6k
Well-Known Member
My new SOLAS torch arrived today, so this afternoon I repacked the raft.
Now how the f**k do they do that at the examiners I wondered !
Well using a vac bag and my belt I eventually got the thing back into the original bag (2 hours of massive exercise - this would defintiely qualify for daily exercise under lock down rules), OK the velcro joint on the bag does have a slight gap in places, but as it wil return to the dry locker under our bed, not going to lose sleep over that.
Fully re-armed now and ready to go. So all I now need is at least an opportunity to put myself and all at suitable risk of needing the thing !
Now how the f**k do they do that at the examiners I wondered !
Well using a vac bag and my belt I eventually got the thing back into the original bag (2 hours of massive exercise - this would defintiely qualify for daily exercise under lock down rules), OK the velcro joint on the bag does have a slight gap in places, but as it wil return to the dry locker under our bed, not going to lose sleep over that.
Fully re-armed now and ready to go. So all I now need is at least an opportunity to put myself and all at suitable risk of needing the thing !
greeny
Well-Known Member
When I did mine i juat put some tape round it to hold the
Precisely.
Having probably inflated 40 or 50 of the commercial rafts in my days offshore , for training exercises, I can assure you that the raft will inflate regardless of whatever you put round it, within reason of course. When I do mine, I just put a couple of wraps of insulation tape around in the two locations. This serves to keep it together for transport and once it's in the cradle its fine. If you are worried about transporting it, then put a roofrack strap round it for security whilst in transit.
Precisely.
Having probably inflated 40 or 50 of the commercial rafts in my days offshore , for training exercises, I can assure you that the raft will inflate regardless of whatever you put round it, within reason of course. When I do mine, I just put a couple of wraps of insulation tape around in the two locations. This serves to keep it together for transport and once it's in the cradle its fine. If you are worried about transporting it, then put a roofrack strap round it for security whilst in transit.
KAM
Well-Known Member
Not sure if this has been mentioned yet but the big advantage of self servicing is you get to see what's inside and become familiar with it. The other point is that it's inconvenient if it doesent inflate as advertised but it's not the end of the world. It's easy enough to pull the container apart and manually operate the cylinder. Even if this fails depending on the circumstances (probably not if your keel has detatched) you have a third chance as you may be able to inflate the raft with a pump.
Aeolus
Well-Known Member
Actually, it could be the end of the world - at least for the people needing to use it.
KAM
Well-Known Member
Much more likely to be a problem if you're not familiar with the contents and how they work.
Aeolus
Well-Known Member
I agree - I'm all in favour of DIY servicing and would be doing it right now if I could get to my boat.
Graham376
Well-Known Member
Not so with some faults. There was a recall of some makes not too many years ago because of cracked inflation valves which would stop the raft being inflated by any means or holding any pressure. Both of ours were found to be cracked on service, the raft wouldn't have worked although it had been given a clean bill of health 3 years earlier. Packed in container so not caused by handling damage which can happen with a valise.
peterf
Member
How do people replace/reseal the vacuum bag and what material is the vacuum bag made from?
Rubble-sack?
Rubble-sack?
Beneteau381
Well-Known Member
My va
cuum bag on the Seago is miles oversize, I cut off the end nearest the inflation trigger and then resealed it afterwards with duct tape. There is a nipple on the bag which I made a connection to fit my vacuum cleaner. It worked OK
Beneteau381
Well-Known Member
PS, the o
You say you weighed your liferaft bottle on those? All 6 kilos of it? My recollection of them is that they were pretty delicate, and I question whether they would have dealt with that much weight.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