Avon Liferaft Service -- No More?

[Dockhead]

I have two 4-man Avon Ocean life rafts which are due for service.


I am in Sweden waiting for parts for my mainsail furler and thought I would try to do it here. There is a big liferaft service center where I am, and when I called them, I was told this disturbing thing -- "Parts are no longer available for Avon life rafts so they can no longer be serviced and certified."


Yikes, what is this? What "parts" are needed? Avon only makes the rubber parts; everything else is generic.


Anyone encounter this? My rafts are a bit long in the tooth by now but have been serviced regularly and are in perfect condition, of a very high quality which is hard to find these days. I'd like to keep them for a few more years.

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

I have two 4-man Avon Ocean life rafts which are due for service.


I am in Sweden waiting for parts for my mainsail furler and thought I would try to do it here. There is a big liferaft service center where I am, and when I called them, I was told this disturbing thing -- "Parts are no longer available for Avon life rafts so they can no longer be serviced and certified."


Yikes, what is this? What "parts" are needed? Avon only makes the rubber parts; everything else is generic.


Anyone encounter this? My rafts are a bit long in the tooth by now but have been serviced regularly and are in perfect condition, of a very high quality which is hard to find these days. I'd like to keep them for a few more years.

Website down and domain hijacked by other sellers. The archived website shiws these Swedish service centers:

[nigel1]

Avon inflatables Ltd was made insolvent in 2016.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by nigel1

Avon inflatables Ltd was made insolvent in 2016.

But none of the spares are proprietary. Why would that prevent them from being serviced?

[nigel1]

At a guess, as there is no longer any contract between Avon and the various service centres, they are not willing to service an Avon raft, all part of the risk aversive society we find ourselves living in, where common sense does not prevail.

[JPA Cate]

Cameron, talk to the Service Mgr. at each of the places. Unless you need a certificate of service, for legal reasons, you may be able to convince someone to do it for you; otherwise, you'll have to renew the spares and re-pack it on your own. We've known folks to try this. Take pictures as you disassemble it, so you get it right when you re-assemble it.

Good luck with it. It really is a shame they don't want to do it, but maybe someone will take mercy on your predicament and help out.

Ann

[CarinaPDX]

I had the same thing happen with my old Lifeguard liferaft, only in North America. The re-packers have contracts with the manufacturers which requires their personnel to be factory trained on that manufacturer's rafts, and authorizes them to certify the rafts. IIUC this is also a source of liability insurance. In my case, Lifeguard never sold very many liferafts in North America, and when the company was bought out and the products discontinued re-packers stopped renewing their contracts. I found one in Vancouver, B.C., but before I got around to going north they ended their contract. I heard there was one re-packer left in L.A. but that was years ago so I doubt they would still do it.

Of course this is outrageous. My raft is made of butyl rubber, which is very robust and easy to repair with glue, if needed. Everything else is standard and in every re-packer's inventory or available to order. As long as the rubber is in good condition there is no reason that the raft can't be serviced indefinitely. But the dependence of re-packers on the manufacturers, and those contracts, means they won't/can't go off the reservation and do unsupported service. The last repack was in Gibraltar, and the re-packer commented that the liferaft was in exceptionally good condition and should last for many years. But now it is needing major servicing (hydrostatic test for gas cylinder, flares, medical kit, batteries, etc) and either I do it or it is EOL. Very annoying...

Greg

[JPA Cate]

VERY annoying. AND doable, for someone for whom it matters. There's nothing magic about the guys who work for re-packers. And, something to be said for the prospective user to do for oneself, nobody else to blame....

Ann

[s/v Jedi]

All certification business is a scheme designed to extort money from end users after the purchase.

[GreenHeaven]

totally agree

[JPA Cate]

And in a way, that doesn't matter. What matters is if someone tries to use Dockhead's self-packed liferaft, and something bad happens. Would DH then be liable for whatever damages he might be sued for?

On the other hand, since he has an excellent product, how can he mitigate the risk. If you're playing "suit for fun and profit", sue someone wealthy, 'cause you can't get blood out of a turnip.

There really IS too much greed in the world.


Ann

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

And in a way, that doesn't matter. What matters is if someone tries to use Dockhead's self-packed liferaft, and something bad happens. Would DH then be liable for whatever damages he might be sued for?

On the other hand, since he has an excellent product, how can he mitigate the risk. If you're playing "suit for fun and profit", sue someone wealthy, 'cause you can't get blood out of a turnip.

There really IS too much greed in the world.


Ann

The problem is that at over 15m load line I am obligatory carry, one of the few legal requirements for UK registered non-commercial vessels. The life raft must be in-service. Not that anyone was ever checked in 14 years, but still. I guess I'm going to have to sail to the UK and do it there.

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

The problem is that at over 15m load line I am obligatory carry, one of the few legal requirements for UK registered non-commercial vessels. The life raft must be in-service. Not that anyone was ever checked in 14 years, but still. I guess I'm going to have to sail to the UK and do it there.

I don’t think you can, they are bankrupt and service has been discontinued…

[JPA Cate]

Good luck with it, Dockhead. What a nuisance!

Ann

[nigel1]

If the rafts are close to 15 years old, they might be considered too old to service.
For rafts on commercial vessels, 15 years is considered end of life.