EPIRB battery replacement

[CHM]

Rustic Charm. Everyone has an opinion. Yours is well stated. I disagree with it.

I have a type 1 ACR Epirb which requires replacement of the water activation mechanism every 2 years and a battery service at 5 years. The water activation thing is easy to replace. The battery is replaced at a factory authorized service center. I'm sure one could figure out how to do it themselves but why take the chance?


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[Stumble]

Originally Posted by Wotname

OK I'm …
Is this really all tongue in cheek or…

There is such a mix of fact and fiction I'm not sure…

Greg, you are usually very factual and straight to the point but this time - maybe; maybe not.

And the sky diving reference, presumably many have their pack done by others yet many also insist of doing the packing themselves. At least that is how it is among the few sky diving people I associate with.

Yes it was all supposed to be young in cheek. Add in a massive failure of auto-correct and it was almost unintelligible. I would delete it, but it would mess with the rest of the thread.

I am a big proponent of doing as much as is reasonable yourself. But there are certain systems that should only be done by professionals. Particularly those that require specialized equipment, hard to acquire skills, and well equipped and specialized work spaces. Changing EPIRB batteries, replacing life rafts, and packing parachutes all fall into this catagory.


Sanibel, I Have had a lot of maritime jobs over the years. They helped pay my way through law school with no student loans.
- 15 years cruising (grew up on a boat)
- 10 years Commercial captain license 100 ton (licensed at 23) currently inactive
- 3 years general boat maintenance
- 2 years mate/maintenance Andrew's 70 maxi sled program
- currently a business law attorney with an interest in Maritime law.

[Rustic Charm]

Originally Posted by CHM

Rustic Charm. Everyone has an opinion. Yours is well stated. I disagree with it.

I have a type 1 ACR Epirb which requires replacement of the water activation mechanism every 2 years and a battery service at 5 years. The water activation thing is easy to replace. The battery is replaced at a factory authorized service center. I'm sure one could figure out how to do it themselves but why take the chance?


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IN this post, I'm not sure what we disagree with. I wouldn't take the chance either

We are in disagreeance in how to dispose of unwanted beacons, yes.

[cabo_sailor]

That seems to be a very relevant question. No matter what one might think of the relevance of an outmoded EPIRB, what is the proper way to take one out of service whether it be an old style 121.5 or a newer 406 EPIRB.

Since I just bought an upgraded 406, what is the best way to take my old 406 out of service and not generate false signals?

By the by, when I still was able to fly, I kept the second nav com on 121.5. Maybe today that would be a waste of time. Does anyone know if the crash beacons on small aircraft send on 121.5 or some other freq.

It was a long long time ago when I had flight school but the EPIRBS in the aircraft responded to g-force for activation. I know I had at least one landing as a student that made me check 121.5. Whoops, happily no one saw me bounce a Cessna 152 about 75 ft into the air because I was too high and too hot for landing.

First time, last time. In the rare case those conditions prevailed I did a go around. Same thing on my boat, if it ain't right, I abort and go around. I ain't proud.

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[Rustic Charm]

Originally Posted by cabo_sailor

That seems to be a very relevant question. No matter what one might think of the relevance of an outmoded EPIRB, what is the proper way to take one out of service whether it be an old style 121.5 or a newer 406 EPIRB.

Since I just bought an upgraded 406, what is the best way to take my old 406 out of service and not generate false signals?

By the by, when I still was able to fly, I kept the second nav com on 121.5. Maybe today that would be a waste of time. Does anyone know if the crash beacons on small aircraft send on 121.5 or some other freq.

It was a long long time ago when I had flight school but the EPIRBS in the aircraft responded to g-force for activation. I know I had at least one landing as a student that made me check 121.5. Whoops, happily no one saw me bounce a Cessna 152 about 75 ft into the air because I was too high and too hot for landing.

First time, last time. In the rare case those conditions prevailed I did a go around. Same thing on my boat, if it ain't right, I abort and go around. I ain't proud.

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The correct way to dispose of an old one I guess is up to your local authorities. Over here (Australia) the authorities discourage people from pulling apart their own. Possibly in case they set them off whilst disabling them. But, I pulled my old 121 apart. It was quite easy. I then disconnected the batter and hit the electronic car with a hammer. The authorities here recommend handing them into the local authorities and I think at one stage you could hand them in at certain shops, battery suppliers. But that was cancelled I think. Given the amount of old ones going off at tips and in peoples homes and farms as they get old, the authorities here are reconsidering how best to have them disposed. Over here, any epirb pretty much begins a full blown search, whether over land or sea.

Our flight beacons for small aircraft and general aviation are the same as on a boat. Though your also permitted to carry a PLB in lieu of a fixed unit. They are all 406 now days.

I'm not conscious of them going off due to hard landings or bumps. Gee, the amount of times I have dropped a plane or bounced it along the runway, I should of set a few of them off. Personally, given the type we purchase for a boat, I can't see how they would be prone to accidentally being set off like that.

[GILow]

Well, as a person in the middle of replacing the batteries on my 6 year old 406 EPIRB I see it this way...

I no longer TRUST the unit I am doing the work on, mainly because even the manufacturer was only willing to give it another year of warranty if they performed the somewhat outrageously overpriced battery replacement themselves. Clearly their actuaries have crunched the numbers and told them the device is no longer trustworthy. Either that or their sales guys.

Luckily for me a really super-cool user of C.F. pointed me in the direction of an alternative local manufacturer from whom I bought a new 406, for about the same price as the original battery replacement quote, with a ten year battery life (longer than I'm going to need) and a very reasonable battery changeover price at that time. Ok, the new unit fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down, but it's not a fashion parade people.

So I am still replacing the batteries on the original unit, because at the price it will make an excellent FALLBACK device, and I will hide it in my socks so that no mindless water-nazi law enforcement type can take exception to my desire to carry a second string to my bow.

I really worry that I have to think like this...




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[GILow]

Originally Posted by Rustic Charm

I then disconnected the batter and hit the electronic car with a hammer..

I like your style. Same way I dispose of old hard drives when decommissioning computers.


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[Rustic Charm]

Originally Posted by GILow

I like your style. Same way I dispose of old hard drives when decommissioning computers.


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gee my spelling was appalling

I intended to remove the 'battery' and hit the 'card' with a hammer

[GILow]

Anyone who regularly uses a touchscreen keypad gets very good at working out what someone MEANT to type.


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[Rustic Charm]

Originally Posted by GILow

Anyone who regularly uses a touchscreen keypad gets very good at working out what someone MEANT to type.
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yep, I'm on an iPad too

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by Stumble

... No doubt about it paying an expert to confirm the functionality of life saving gear is just rediculious. This is also why if I ever go sky diving I am just going to pack my parachute myself. No reason to pay someone to or me. After all how hard is it to stuff some fabric in a bag.

Well:

The FAA’s Parachute Rigger Handbook is 338 pages long.
➥ https://www.faa.gov/regulations_poli...-H-8083-17.pdf

The US Military’s job training for a parachute rigger requires 10 weeks of Basic Combat Training and 16 of Advanced Individual Training with on-the-job instructions.
Part of this time is spent in the classroom and part in the field.
➥ 92R - Parachute Rigger

Also, one doesn't just "go" (solo) skydiving.
After 7-Jump “tandem” program, a student is allowed to jump by him/herself or usually with a coach. There is a checklist card that must be completed along with performing a minimum of 25 skydives before you can receive your "A" License (First Level skydiving license). There is also a 6 - 8 hour ground school.

[sanibel sailor]

I have done two tandem jumps. I saw guys packing their own chutes each time. Despite the headlines. it is a pretty safe sport.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by sanibel sailor

I have done two tandem jumps. I saw guys packing their own chutes each time. Despite the headlines. it is a pretty safe sport.

They were either practicing packing, or had an "A" license or better.
➥ USPA Skydiver's Information Manual

[amytom]

Originally Posted by GILow

Luckily for me a really super-cool user of C.F. pointed me in the direction of an alternative local manufacturer from whom I bought a new 406, for about the same price as the original battery replacement quote, with a ten year battery life (longer than I'm going to need) and a very reasonable battery changeover price at that time. Ok, the new unit fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down, but it's not a fashion parade people.

Care to share the make and model of this ugly duckling?


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[Wotname]

Originally Posted by amytom

Care to share the make and model of this ugly duckling?


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Manufacturer is KTI
Model is SA1G

Dunno about "super-cool" though