Life Jacket question

[Erin]

Left my Hammar life jacket in my console over the winter and found it today fully opened out but not actually inflated. Now as far as I know these things aren't meant to go off unless they're actually submersed so a bit of winter dampness shouldn't have set it off. The little indicator still shows green. So has it gone off? or has it somehow opened itself up. What should I do? How can I test it without pulling the cord?

[Daniel TD5]

get a new service kit for it thaey are about £15 quid well worth being safe than sorry

dan

[Erin]

Found out what must have happened. The manual pull cord must have got tugged somehow, enough to fire it but not enough to pull the cord right out. I found the crewsaver CD which came with the jacket which explains how to get the hammar head off and withdraw the gas cylinder. It's definitely been fired so I will get the re-arming kit as you suggest.

Cheers

[Richard B]

If it's only been fired manually, then you won't need a new Hammar mechanism, but check the expiry date before deciding on this.

Once you take it apart, you should be able to see that the CO2 cylinder has been pierced at the end.

Strange thing, though - I thought that if the manual pull had been activated then the Hammar indicator would go red?

[Erin]

Apparently if the jacket has been set off manually then the green indicator stays green. The only way you know is that the cord will have been pulled out. Are you sure I don't need a new Hammar unit - how do I get the pull cord back in and fed round the spindle?

[Richard B]

Ah... sounds like I'm wrong then! Sounds like you do need a new Hammar unit.

[Mike C]

Don't know how the automatic bit works but if you're just bothered if the CO2 has been fired then weigh it. The gross weight will be stamped on the bottle. If its lighter than that then throw it...

As I say, I don't have an auto jacket so if I am talking though my pull cord for your jacket system then apologies...

I weigh my CO2 cartriges each year!

Mike C

[Swifty]

Whilst your looked at it, Its definately worth the bother of blowing it up manually and checking for leaks.

Tim'mers.

[Tim M]

I weigh my CO2 cartriges each year!

Surrly it's easier to just check that the cylinder doesn't have a hole in the end where it's been let off??

[Erin]

Yep... the cylinder has a hole in the end. I've also found out that the plastic bits come apart so that I can wind the pull cord back round, so I think all I need after all is the cylinder. Thanks Richard, you were right all along.

Keith