Self-service Life Raft

[mattonthesea]

If the valves did not leak when capped probably bad rubbers in the valves but the caps should have been on for the initial inflation with only the over pressure valved liable to fail!

AFIK the internal top up valves, unless capped, would not take the initial pressure which is built up in the initial stages when the raft is exploding it's way out of the packaging...

I think I might have been unclear here: we pumped the LR up by dinghy pump until it was fully inflated and then left it for four hours (x2 for checking that it was not something we'd missed the first time). Both times it deflated to a soft squelch of a paddling pool. All the caps were on when we left it. If we took the inflation caps off then it leaked from them but not at a rate we couldn't cope with.

Given this leakage, the gas needing replacing, and the age, we have decided to buy a new one. What has surprised me is the low standard of the ISO 9650. It's like when you charter a yacht and find that the 'handheld VHF' is little more than a dead battery holder. It has made me re(up)-think my grab bag. I already have a 20 litre water carrier (filled to 18l so it floats) and a selection of tins of food ready but I will add in a whole lot of First Aid stuff plus bottles and cups etc. Basically, the small bags of stuff that I take camping and kayaking!

More than any of this though is probably my attitude: this really is a last resort - I don't want to ever need it; but if I do I want it to be more than just a place to die in.

 

[HTS]

I need some advise please
1 How do you deflate a Plastimo life raft? I dont want to damage the valves
2 Would you normally expect to get a rattling sound form the gas bottle....a bit like when you shake a paint can..weigh check is ok but it sounds like something loose inside

 

[pandos]

I need some advise please
1 How do you deflate a Plastimo life raft? I dont want to damage the valves
2 Would you normally expect to get a rattling sound form the gas bottle....a bit like when you shake a paint can..weigh check is ok but it sounds like something loose inside

In mine there was a small red plastic thing that fits into the valve to deflate..

IIRC I was told in the past the rattle is a pipe within the bottle designed to prevent condensation within the bottle freezing around the bottle top and causing a blockage..