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Category rules and inflatable pfds


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So my inspector for cat 3 has suggested they would like to see proof of life jacket servicing in the last 12 months.

 

I have 8 life jackets. At about $45 each at safety at sea this is going to be quite expensive. I can imagine others must be in this position, is anyone aware of alternatives such as an option to self service somehow?

 

@ $45 each for a service I'm tempted to buy new ones and sell my old ones on Trade me - I suspect the difference will be less than $45 and I'll at least end up with shiney new ones.

 

Any ideas?

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I test and service my own and fail to see, as long as you demonstrate your methods to the surveyor, why that shouldn't suffice. Come to think of it though, what's their lifetime, does anyone know? How many cycles of inflation are they designed for?

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As far as I know, only the Hutchwilco ones "allow" self service. Baltic etc (all the other bands I think) require return to dealer. All they do is visual inspection, inflate them overnight, and change the cylinder. I fully agree you can do this yourself, but as to whether or not that will pass your inspection I don't know. If you really want to check, call Ph: (09) 361 1471 or 

Email Angus Willison at YNZ

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It might be 2 years rather than one. Haven't had the requirement arise before. Certainly The cat 3 cert is for 2 years so having had them serviced I'm good for 2 years.

 

The service cost from safety at sea is plus parts so if they're replacing cylinder it'll be $65 ish, which makes just buying new ones look even more tempting.

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Would be tempting to have old style lifejackets that don,t inflate? At least you know they will work. Even if you test something today it doesn,t mean it will work again tomorrow.Or that something brand new will work. 

 Seems there is too much inflation already in the costs of boat ownership. 

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I have an old XM pfd that I bought from Burnsco back in 2001.  Still going strong.  Per Kevin, I do the same though just inflate and leave overnight under weight - every 12 months and always before a coastal or when I used to do SSANZ.  I've had it self-inflate on me, while asleep on the rail, awake on the rail, falling off my paddelboard while paddling, checking mooring lines while on paddleboard and jumping into the piss a bit to quick forgetting its on!  It's starting to show very slight wear and I am consdiering retiring it from service but its just so reliable in its ability to inflate when least expected!

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Just read the SR with regard to this.  It comes about because the SR (App. 4) requires that PFD's are to be serviced to manufacturer's requirements.  Seems then that if you want to manage your own servicing then you should only buy PFD's that allow that.  Keep yourself a boat log book and note in that the date of service, what you did etc.

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