Liferaft failure

Four Suns

Four Suns

Not a pot stirrer
TECHNICAL Contributor
Oct 4, 2006
10,533
Williamsburg, VA
Boat Info
2003 480 DB
Engines
QSM-11 Diesels
In going through all my safety gear, I went ahead and took my Zodiac coastal (6 person) liferaft down to Vane Brothers to get inspected and repacked. I had it done it two years ago as well. It's usually around $500 to inspect and repack the thing.

They called and told me the thing failed it's pressure/inflation test and was leaking at some of the seams as well as through parts of the fabric. They said the fabric appeared to be deteriorating. The prognoses was it would cost as much to repair the life raft as just buy a new one. This raft is 10 years old and he said they typical life expectancy for a raft was 10-15 years.

I'm going to go pick up the old raft from them next week as well as buy a new one... but a couple of thoughts..

These things are obviously not something you can buy and forget about. Can you imagine the feeling of pulling the painter line to inflate only to discover the damn thing won't hold air? Also.. it's hard to say it gave me 10 years of good service as I never used it... but... is what it is...

I'm going to bring the old one home and blow it up in the shop just to see what the things are like since I've never been in one.. might be a fun thing to use to practice on once in a while...

Also, my old one had to be inspected annually to get certified and he said the new ones only need to be serviced every 3 years so it'll save some $$ there.
 
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I ordered a new Winslow 6person UL offshore for delivery in March, and they said it was good for a 3 yr service cycle. They have an optional foil lined vacuumed pack bag they say increases the cycle to 5yrs. Wonder what they do with the SOLAS fares that have a 42 month expiration date? I forgot to ask.

Good idea about using the old one to practice. Will you be able to repack it and recharge the CO2/N2 cartrige?

Rich
 
Ok....dumb question....but...I've got a million of those....and one more won't hurt...


I realize a leaking liferaft is better then no liferaft, but geesh...you could have been riding around thinking you were fully protected and possbily all last season your liferaft wouldn't hold air. And now they say that you can wait every 3 years to get it inspected? Did they also extend the life expentancy? You may want to have it inspected every year as you get closer to the 'life expectancy' date....
 
osd9 said:
Ok....dumb question....but...I've got a million of those....and one more won't hurt...


I realize a leaking liferaft is better then no liferaft, but geesh...you could have been riding around thinking you were fully protected and possbily all last season your liferaft wouldn't hold air. And now they say that you can wait every 3 years to get it inspected? Did they also extend the life expentancy? You may want to have it inspected every year as you get closer to the 'life expectancy' date....
Click to expand...

I'm going to go talk to the guy next week when I go pick up the old one. It is a scary thought thinking this thing was sitting there pretty much useless... I had the same thought about increasing the inspection period closer to the 10 year mark... and when do you just toss them? At 10 years? Surely you don't want to wait until you get the call like I just did.

The guy that is doing the work at Vane Brothers is actually up in Atlantic City this weekend for the boat show. If you venture over there in the blizzard, stop by and ask him these questions and say "I heard Four Suns' liferaft down in Norfolk is a piece of sh!t... what's the scoop?"...

I wasn't planning on getting the air cartridge refilled on the old one.. just want to blow it up and see how it works.. maybe stick it in the water this summer and have everyone try and get in the thing. I assume it's a "leak" and not a "rupture" but we'll see.
 
Mine's got another year to go (3 year) but for the life of me I can't imagine how they "go bad"...

They're shrink-wrapped in a waterproof enclosure, and when kept out of sunlight I don't understand how they can deteriorate when it's never even been outta the bag. I've got an inexepensive Quicksilver inflatable that's spent 3 years in the FL sun, never been deflated, and loses very little air.
 
10 years is a short time for the money those cost. I had an avon inflatable that was 25 years old when I gave it away, and it's still being used with no air loss whatsoever...Ric
 
Well... I'm not qualified to even offer an opinion on how they go "bad." But the company that I use for safety inspections/services ( http://www.vanebrothers.com/ ) is a well regarded group and has much bigger accounts and fish to fry than my little liferaft and fire suppression inspections. My wife and I kind of laughed when we took the liferaft into their shop as it was this little blue vinyl case against these HUGE canister liferaft systems they use on ships... One of those stainless hasps on those things probably cost more than my whole life raft.

Anyway, I was a little surprised as well... that's why I posted it here. The assumption they last "forever" and only need to be inspected once in a while may be a bad one... and one you don't want to find out at the wrong time.

I guess it just goes to show the saying "Three things you don't want to by used: 1. Parachutes, 2. Liferafts and 3. Condoms" is probably true.

Just an FYI.. don't shoot the messenger.
 
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sfergson727 said:
Gary, might I suggest something. Provided you have the means to inflate the old raft, hold off on getting rid of it. When it warms up, conduct a abandon ship drill with the family using the old raft. Then you can toss it, but in the meantime, you can get some meaningful training out of it.
Click to expand...


That is actually a great idea Scott! You could actually get a bunch of people who not only boat with you but boat in your area and they can try a mock survival. Take a few boats out and practice getting in the "throw away" until the air is out. I bet you one out of 1,000 or more boaters have ever tried to get in a survival craft.

Of course this is followed by a nice dinner and cocktails dockside... :thumbsup:
 
The manufacture's recommendation is to inspect every 3 years. I probably would do it more often. Your case proves my point.

Small price to pay when you see your rudders vertical and you are sitting in a life raft.

I have the "Gumby" cold weather survival suits. The admiral complained a little about the price, $350. I asked her what her life was worth when she would have to jump into 40-50f water.

I also made sure she knew where they were and how to put it on in 45 seconds or less. I would not take her out fishing until she could accomplish this task. She beat me with 28.5 seconds to my 35 seconds. I think the knowledge the salmon were showing up and she wanted to go fishing had something to do with it too.:grin:
 
Ok guys time for the stupid questions....

Knowing nothing about these matters I read the thread just to learn. Then I went to the website to lay eyes on this thing and to find out how big it was when packed. Obviously I will have no need for these, I just wanted to know. So anyhow I see that Gary's model comes with a sea anchor & a quoit.

WTF ?????.... wikipedia was of no help.
 
I don't know anything about glue chemistry, or chemistry period, but I work a lot with old tapes. After about 15 years the glue that holds the oxide to the mylar backing starts to break down. As it breaks down, it starts to absorb water and then it turns gummy. It usually happens quicker to tapes that are stored without use for long periods of time in non-climate controlled storage.
 
My Revere coastal is 3 years old had it serviced and is now scheduled for the next service in 2 years. Cost here is about 400 bucks.
 
mwph said:
Ok guys time for the stupid questions....

Knowing nothing about these matters I read the thread just to learn. Then I went to the website to lay eyes on this thing and to find out how big it was when packed. Obviously I will have no need for these, I just wanted to know. So anyhow I see that Gary's model comes with a sea anchor & a quoit.

WTF ?????.... wikipedia was of no help.
Click to expand...

A quoit is a small rubber ring about 6-8" in diameter that floats. It looks like a dog toy... and it's tied to a floating line... it's used to toss to people so they can grab it and you can pull them in... sorta like a small life ring but easier to throw. If you google "rescue quoit", you'll see how to buy one...

A sea anchor is essentially a small parachute that drags in the water so your life raft doesn't get tossed around by the waves... it's like dragging a chair on a rope...
 
Thanks Gary, I knew about the sea anchor but felt stupid when I couldn't picture the quoit. Sounds Like I get (25) points for not studying the boating glossary pages enough. Come to think of it, minus 100 points for not considering this item in my safety plan.
 
mwph - I always thought a quoit was equal to 2 pints....shows what I know.

Anyway, if these inflateable life rafts have a service life, what about the inflateable PFD's? I've never messed with one, I presume the fabric is a lot less durable than a life raft.
 
Rafts nowadays are typically vacuum bagged which preserves them and extends the service interval to 3 years. Prior to that they did have to be inspected every year. I'm talking rec rafts, not commercial ones. The new Zodiacs as well as Revere and Winslow all vacuum bag now. Gary, didn't you keep your raft on the aft end of your bridge? I might be thinking of someone else but this is a common place to store it. In this spot a non-vacuum bagged raft is subject to sunlight, salt air and even salt water. So it will significantly shorten the life. Even if your raft makes it to 9 or ten years this repack often costs about as much as a new raft. So its rare to keep a recreational raft in service over ten years. You'll often see them for sale for cheap.
 
I'm also thinking the place I kept this thing may have killed it. I posted this picture on another thread but you can see the blue Zodiac life raft and the red ditch bag behind the chairs on the bridge:

DSC_0277.jpg


It probably gets 120-130 degrees on that bridge in the summer when the boat is not being used and I bet the thing cooked up there. The ditch bag has even faded and some of the material is failing on it... Have I mentioned the speakers on the bridge also sound like sh!t now? Probably cooked those as well...

Live and learn... I need to move the life raft and ditch bag down to a "cool dry place" like one of the staterooms when not using the boat.
 
It must really cook in their, you are probably right. On a boat that size I am sure you will find storage for while at the dock. I could see why the glue might fail in that high of a temperature for months every year. Good catch!
 
Back to the old raft,I belive most areas have power squadrons that have flare nights and are accompanied by other festivities .Possibly your old raft could be a valuable training tool for many other boaters in your area also.And a good time to meet and greet with those you share your local waterways with.
 
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