Servicing your own liferaft - economy or drowning risk?

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David52

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Morning all,

I have recently been given a 4 man life raft by a friend selling up and moving on to land. Apart from this obvious lapse in good taste I was wandering if anyone knows about life raft servicing.

I recall some years ago reading an article about self servicing involving simple inspection, inflating and leaving for 48 hours or so, replacing gas cylinder/hammer valve perishables, re packing.

There were clever bits like weighing the cylinder etc but replacement sounds more sensible to me.

The last service I think was 5 or 6 years ago.

Also if I wanted a replacement case (this one is slightly tatty) is there somewhere to buy these things or do I simply track down the manufacturer.

Any ideas and observations gratefully received.
 
Agreed, but then it's pretty silly to put to sea at all!

Over the years I have managed to replace and service engines, masts, gel coat, outboards sails, cookers, bulkheads and god knows what else.

Is there any particular reason liferafts are tricky? Does servicing come with some guarantee of emergency operation or insurance?
 
Interesting remark. Presumably someone, somewhere, teaches people how to service liferafts and what specialised tools and equipment might be needed or do they always get eturned to the manufacturer? If the latter then I agree that DIY is probably very foolish. If "service agents" know what to do then suitable training/information is probably in existence. What do blue water sail off into distant waters types do? I assume that sailing round bits of Polynesia or wherever can mean some DIY on your liferaft becomes a seropis option.
 
With out going in to too much detail, I used to service liferafts so speak with some idea of what I am talking about.

You will need to quite a bit more than DIY flair to service your raft, specialist tools are required. You will need to accuratly weigh the cylinder and check that is ok, you may need to have it refilled or re-conditioned. You will need to measure the raft in a temperature stable environment. You will need to know how to handle the cylinder safely, these can go off like 15kg missiles through brick walls!!!! and much more.
Repacking the raft can be a bitch to!
 
If you do service the liferaft yourself, you are in control of quality. There have been stories of liferafts not inflating, even one once I remember of a liferaft filled with old inner tubes or something ( that WAS serviced somewhere abroad), all anecdotell of course.

Whilst the professionals will have the experience, whos to say the guy who actually does the job either has his mind on the task properly, has had a row with his boss, is not well etc etc.

Dont loss sight of the fact that Titanic was built by professionals, the Ark was built by amateurs.
 
not difficult to do. If you are reasonabley diy competent you will easily be able to do it. you will also learn that i the whole thing is not a black art but very simple. you will also be sure that everything is absolutely right because your life will depend on it..........
but the downside is that if anything needs replacing, reconditioning, refilling etc you will spend the next few weeks/months trying to find people to do it. even big life raft servicing companies send the cylinders away for filling servicing etc. getting a pressurised cylinder transported will cost and arm and a leg. all in all i dont think its worth it. COI ex diy liferaft servicer
 
Have you been on a sea survival course at all?
Would recommend if you have'nt.

1) Some courses (UKSA) may show you the basics of servicing.
2) The incredible difficulty involved in ingressing a L/Raft from a warm swimming pool, will impress in your brain, that you would only launch if never any other alternative. So, you will pray for it to work 1st time. Do you want to take the risk with your crew's (& obviously your own) survival.
4) Would you have any crew to sail with, if they were told this L/Raft is a DIY job?
5) As well as the emotional repercussions, perhaps in a Coroner's Court, would the families of any crew lost due to failure of L/Raft be happy with this economy? Would you enjoy the painful financial effects when they take you to the cleaners.
6) Parachutists pack their own.

Hope this helps.
 
Funny I was just thinking I used to pack my own parachute and then someone says it!

I was there to observe and check, when my liferaft was serviced, the only area that would concern me would be the possibilty of getting moisture either in the raft or packaging which could cause damage over time. Mine was opened and packed in a climate controlled room (dry air) and was inflated with dry air. This is something that would be difficult to do at home.

However having heard one horror story (new boat bought in Spain, liferaft with in date service sticker, sailed back across Biscay, liferaft opened for service checking in UK and found to be perished) I would always want to be there at least when it was re-packed to see the condition for myself.
 
I would suggest that with the cost of liferaft servicing that if you DIY you will be more inclined to do it more frequently.( and in fact to carry one ) And of course you have no one but yourself to blame if it idoesn't work.
Of course if you need a servicing certificate to satisfy racing rules etc then you have no choice.
You need a suitably large carpetted area. You need a pressure guage often a long U tube of fluid will suffice. This is used to monitor pressure over a period of of 24 or more hours. The bamount of pressure loss will be described in the manufacturers manual but in any case you will know if there is a problem with leaks.
You can use the existing cylinder to inflate the raft then get the cylinder filled and tested by a gas bottle company. Get one that has the expertise in actuating valve servicing. These valves do give a bit of trouble.
I will just rattle on here (so ignore) One raft was mounted in the door of a helicopter. It decided to go off (Valve failed inflating the raft) it damaged the helicopter as it forced the door open and bent the seat and controls. The other was to be used for demo after finishing it's 12 months in service only to find the valve had leaked with cylinder empty.

The final trick is to get it packed again. It would be worth while video ing the unfolding (before you inflate) so that you can reproduce the process in reverse. Of course you will need to replace consumables although you may choose to carry many things in a grab bag. good luck olewill
 
As the raft was last serviced over 5 years ago, the cylinder will need to be tested and refilled. This you cant do yourself.
 
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