What Viking Liferafts do not tell you!

[KD8NPB]

Originally Posted by steve77

We had our Revere life raft serviced in Italy. One of the things they did was an eight hour leak down test with the raft inflated. Other than this, there was only a couple hours of labor, but the leak down test turned it into an overnight job.

If you really want more details and photos of the inspection, there is a posting on our blog "Time to Service the Raft".

Cheers!

Steve

It takes less than 15 min to do a pressure test.

I don't pay people to watch paint dry.

I service liferafts btw.

[JPA Cate]

KD8NPB,

That's interesting, for the pressure test. But, do you not also do a leak down test, and is that not a specified period?--although obviously your employees don't have to do anything to it while it is just sitting.

@ messias: Some friends of ours serviced their own liferaft, and it was a rather daunting job to get it back in its case. They did it on their catamaran, and the difficulty came from not being able to get all the air out. They had used a vacuum cleaner to try and suck it down.

Ann

[KD8NPB]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

KD8NPB,

That's interesting, for the pressure test. But, do you not also do a leak down test, and is that not a specified period?--although obviously your employees don't have to do anything to it while it is just sitting.

@ messias: Some friends of ours serviced their own liferaft, and it was a rather daunting job to get it back in its case. They did it on their catamaran, and the difficulty came from not being able to get all the air out. They had used a vacuum cleaner to try and suck it down.

Ann

Pressure test is done per manufacturers standards. Usually it's a full inflation, followed by a 1 or 2 hour stabilization, then a top-off and initial reading. Wait a set period of time, then check readings again. Measurements are taken for temperature and barometric pressure to correct for deviation, before and after.

DIY service will do more harm than good. Improper folding will destroy the raft. It will also neglect the inflation system, which is the most important part of the service. A raft is no good if it doesn't inflate. Corrosion will quickly jam a non-return valve, or cause a leak on one of the hoses.

[ALLAN WARD]

This brand would be one to avoid .

[svrevelations]

Here are the photo's of the items that were replaced and returned to me in a box. I also notice that a hefty fee (250 US$) was charged for 5 labels. What a rip-off!!! My head is still buzzing from this. The company that did the inspection;

Marine Consultants (Trinidad) Ltd.
43 Charles Street
Port of Spain
Trinidad

[ALLAN WARD]

The same guys who punished my wallet .

They claimed mine was one of the first non-commercial liferafts they had serviced that year and that was in December 2016 .

What was surprising is that no other service centre in Trinidad was prepared to look at a Viking , a real captive market .

[The Apprentice]

I had my 'Ocean Safety' (canister) 4 man (ISO 9650) first service completed in June 2017 in the UK. Total price GBP381.99.... GBP63.68 of that was VAT.
Next service 4 years...Dutch flagged and living in Spain

[barnakiel]

Do other manufacturers tell you this?

It is NOT a Viking problem and the thread should be renamed to something along "what liferaft manufacturers do not ..."

Cheers,
b.

[KD8NPB]

Originally Posted by Revelations

Here are the photo's of the items that were replaced and returned to me in a box. I also notice that a hefty fee (250 US$) was charged for 5 labels. What a rip-off!!! My head is still buzzing from this. The company that did the inspection;

Marine Consultants (Trinidad) Ltd.
43 Charles Street
Port of Spain
Trinidad

Viking tends to be very fee heavy. Those labels are probably sold at MSRP.

Good news though, those are the best waters and best flares on the market in my opinion. You can jump on those water satchets and they won't burst.

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

Do other manufacturers tell you this?

It is NOT a Viking problem Cheers, b.

Yet Allan states that other service agents won't touch a Viking. Smacks of protectionism.

Pete

[barnakiel]

Yes. In LP, where we are, a raft check costs nearly as much as anew raft does.

Whatever the 'technicians' do with the raft during the check remains a huge mistery, the invoice DOES NOT list the jobs done. Typical Spanish attitude to time and accuracy. Funny. Funny? NOT. Possibly dangerous to you and your crew. Avoid.

I could quote stories that you humans would never believe. Just let me say this: if you have a raft check, get it done in NZ, Sweden or any other such country where work standards and work ethics are known to be high.

Or else buy a new one.

(?)

Cheers,
b.

[svrevelations]

Originally Posted by KD8NPB

Viking tends to be very fee heavy. Those labels are probably sold at MSRP.

Good news though, those are the best waters and best flares on the market in my opinion. You can jump on those water satchets and they won't burst.

Yes, but those are the expired ones! So who knows what now inside the canister!?