Look what I bought for a pittance today!

[MicHughV]

I thought replacing a battery in an EPIRB would be a simple matter of trundling down to my local marine store, purchase a new battery, pop the old one out, put the new one in.

Not so at all I found out. The marine store does not carry these batteries, the EPIRB must be sent back to the manufacturer, who will take the old battery out, run a series of tests and put a new battery in. By which time, the total cost is close to just buying a new one.

This is a no brainer....get a new one !!

[Mr B]

Originally Posted by MicHughV

I thought replacing a battery in an EPIRB would be a simple matter of trundling down to my local marine store, purchase a new battery, pop the old one out, put the new one in.

Not so at all I found out. The marine store does not carry these batteries, the EPIRB must be sent back to the manufacturer, who will take the old battery out, run a series of tests and put a new battery in. By which time, the total cost is close to just buying a new one.

This is a no brainer....get a new one !!

Precisely,

[coopec43]

Originally Posted by MicHughV

I thought replacing a battery in an EPIRB would be a simple matter of trundling down to my local marine store, purchase a new battery, pop the old one out, put the new one in.

Not so at all I found out. The marine store does not carry these batteries, the EPIRB must be sent back to the manufacturer, who will take the old battery out, run a series of tests and put a new battery in. By which time, the total cost is close to just buying a new one.

This is a no brainer....get a new one !!

I've got a 20 year old life raft which the servicing people say is in good condition but I've decided to get a new one. I'll put a new battery in the epirb and I won't chuck out the flares as I will keep the epirb and flares as back-up.

The servicing people say a lot of the cost of getting a new battery put in is freight because they are deemed to be dangerous

(Just had a look on eBay and there are some real cheap Chinese epirb batteries)


Just noticed this eBay advt. The deal is that I have to send my epirb to them and then they send me one with a new battery.

[MicHughV]

I'd stick needles in my eyes before sticking a "cheap" Chinese made battery in my EPIRB....they day you need it, it will likely not work...and you'll have plenty of time to ponder your financial prowess....

[GILow]

Originally Posted by coopec43

I've got a 20 year old life raft which the servicing people say is in good condition but I've decided to get a new one. I'll put a new battery in the epirb and I won't chuck out the flares as I will keep the epirb and flares as back-up.

The servicing people say a lot of the cost of getting a new battery put in is freight because they are deemed to be dangerous

(Just had a look on eBay and there are some real cheap Chinese epirb batteries)[emoji2]


Just noticed this eBay advt. The deal is that I have to send my epirb to them and then they send me one with a new battery.

Mate, i was going to stay quiet, but you are digging yourself bigger holes here.

First, the old flares have no place on the boat. The water police take a dim view of them, even when you have new flares. Maybe you'd get away with one set of very recently expired flares, if you have a current set, but I wouldn't want to have that discussion with the authorities.

As for the EPIRB... just buy a new one. That battery price is ok, but that's not the same as having it recertified and you will be left with a bit of equipment that is an unknown at best, utterly worthless at worst. The thing is old, has an unknown history. The guys in Nairne may be totally legit but do they know how to inspect the thing for fatigued connections, micro corrosion or a main switch near failure? Possibly not. And what QUALITY of batteries are they fitting? Will they hold their charge for the next five years, the next two? And how will you tell? (Please don't tell me the test switch because it does not know how long the batteries will last.)

This is just friendly advice. This stuff is important and the consequences of its failure don't bear thinking about. I was perfectly capable of replacing the batteries on my old GME myself, and I knew where I could source high quality replacements. (Panasonic) But in the end I realised the smart thing was to buy a new one and know that I'd given myself the best chance of having a properly working EPIRB.

If I ever have to push that button, I want to KNOW it will work.

[sv_pelagia]

Originally Posted by Rucksta

Regarding weight of offshore vs coastal rafts

Offshore rafts would / should /may have a double floor to delay hypothermia onset of the occupants.

Additional / alternate protection can be "body bags" made from space blanket material.

When we bought our liferaft (a coastal version; Zodiac), we were told the differences were:
-coastal version did not have insulated floor
-coastal had only basic emergency kit with no rations or water

[Wotname]

FWIW...
Some (and maybe not all???) EPIRBs record the "on" time and will fail a self test once the total time exceeds 1 hour.

Each self test registers as 1 minute of "on" time. For such beacons, this means you only get 60 self test actions before it will fail. Some manuals advise not to self test more than once a month - which works out to be 5 years of monthly self testing before it will fail the test. Not surprisingly, such beacons often have a 5 year expiry date. I am unaware of how the 10 year battery life beacons record test times.

This is shipload tests done on the bench when a beacon is re-certified and one of these is there is zero current draw when the beacon is 'off' or at least the current draw has to below certain figure ( like 1 or 2 microamps) - I forget the actual number.

It has been a few years since I had to re-certify beacons on the test bench so some details are becoming hazy .

[ArmyDaveNY]

Originally Posted by GILow

I spent a bit of time researching this one two years ago before buying my life raft. Two of the manufacturers I spoke to stated that their over 24 hour rafts were much stronger in construction to handle the time at sea.

It’s pretty logical when you think about it. Practically any sub 24 hour life raft decision is made on the assumption you will be plucked from the water in under 24 hours which implies coastal use, in range of a nice big Augusta Westland.

Head out to the southern ocean and you are signing in for the likelihood of many, many days before a ship finally gets to you. So you need the raft to stick together for a long time, which means it needs to be a lot tougher.

The provisions have very little to do with it overall.

Thanks for the information. I suspected that might be the case but wasn't sure. Thanks again.

[ArmyDaveNY]

Originally Posted by GILow

Mate, i was going to stay quiet, but you are digging yourself bigger holes here.

First, the old flares have no place on the boat. The water police take a dim view of them, even when you have new flares. Maybe you'd get away with one set of very recently expired flares, if you have a current set, but I wouldn't want to have that discussion with the authorities.

I was perfectly capable of replacing the batteries on my old GME myself, and I knew where I could source high quality replacements. (Panasonic)

What is wrong with old flares as back up flares? I and many others keep old flares for back ups and I don't know of anyone who has had problems with them. I myself have used flares that were ten years old with nary an issue, and several U.S. Coast Guard people have said that is not a bad idea. In all fairness, it has been several years since I talked to any CG personnel about it though.

I don't believe they become hazardous when old.

You are spot on about cheap batteries from communist China. Many are improperly "reconditioned" if anything at all is done to them. I have read that with lithium batteries, some of the cheap ones don't have the proper safety measures in them that new ones from a reputable manufacturer have.

[GILow]

Originally Posted by ArmyDaveNY

What is wrong with old flares as back up flares? I and many others keep old flares for back ups and I don't know of anyone who has had problems with them. I myself have used flares that were ten years old with nary an issue, and several U.S. Coast Guard people have said that is not a bad idea. In all fairness, it has been several years since I talked to any CG personnel about it though.

I don't believe they become hazardous when old.

You are spot on about cheap batteries from communist China. Many are improperly "reconditioned" if anything at all is done to them. I have read that with lithium batteries, some of the cheap ones don't have the proper safety measures in them that new ones from a reputable manufacturer have.

First, I’d didn’t say anything about batteries from “communist China”. I mean seriously, what does their political view have to do with it? Please leave me out of that political nonsense.

I simply said batteries of a high quality. Junk batteries come from many countries, the same countries can produce great stuff. I believe Panasonic have good quality controls no matter where they do their production.

As for the flares, I cannot speak for other countries, or even all states in Australia, but here in South Australia, and in Victoria, I have heard from people I trust that there are water police who will fine you if you keep the out of date flares on board. The Tasmanian authorities state that they will in their Facebook posts.

I don’t know if this is reasonable or not, but I can see any mechanism that prevents boaters from hoarding a massive pile of expired flares on their boat has merit. Sadly, we cannot rely on all people to exercise common sense so rules are made to address this shortfall.

[coopec43]

Originally Posted by MicHughV

I'd stick needles in my eyes before sticking a "cheap" Chinese made battery in my EPIRB....they day you need it, it will likely not work...and you'll have plenty of time to ponder your financial prowess....

The reference to cheap Chinese batteries was meant to be funny. That's why I put a after the comment. Sorry if I misled you (I won't be so flippant in future)

[ArmyDaveNY]

Originally Posted by GILow

First, I’d didn’t say anything about batteries from “communist China”. I mean seriously, what does their political view have to do with it? Please leave me out of that political nonsense.

I simply said batteries of a high quality. Junk batteries come from many countries, the same countries can produce great stuff. I believe Panasonic have good quality controls no matter where they do their production.

As for the flares, I cannot speak for other countries, or even all states in Australia, but here in South Australia, and in Victoria, I have heard from people I trust that there are water police who will fine you if you keep the out of date flares on board. The Tasmanian authorities state that they will in their Facebook posts.

I don’t know if this is reasonable or not, but I can see any mechanism that prevents boaters from hoarding a massive pile of expired flares on their boat has merit. Sadly, we cannot rely on all people to exercise common sense so rules are made to address this shortfall.

It appears that you misread my comment. There was nothing political about the comment. I was simply agreeing with you about the need to buy quality batteries and avoid the cheap ones. The overwhelming majority of lithium batteries come from communist China, and they produce a huge number of cheap versions. Per a Forbes article of 4 August 2019, they account for some 73% of all lithium batteries produced, and it is likely that that number has increased since then. As a side note, the U.S. is second at around 12%. Other articles have listed similar figures. My comment was simply a recognition of the source of the vast majority of the batteries.

The Chinese are also known for selling a huge quantity of cheap batteries, including those that are supposedly reconditioned. There are over 100 factories in communist China that produce Lithium batteries. My comment was about how many of these are known to be sold with poor quality control as well as missing safety features. In addition to the known safety issues of many Chinese manufactured batteries, there are the issues of the batteries not providing the specified performance.

You are correct that some of their factories produce quality products, but it is also a fact that many do not. There have been a number of articles that discuss this, however I think those reading this thread might find this one article interesting. https://www.mpoweruk.com/china_batteries.pdf

As a further side note, those reading this may find www.MPowerUK.com a useful side. It is an electropaedia with over 185 web pages of information about energy and batteries, along with a little history.

I apologize if you thought I was making something political when I was not.

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by ArmyDaveNY

It appears that you misread my comment. There was nothing political about the comment. I was simply agreeing with you about the need to buy quality batteries and avoid the cheap ones. The overwhelming majority of lithium batteries come from communist China, and they produce a huge number of cheap versions. ........



My comment was simply a recognition of the source of the vast majority of the batteries..............


I apologize if you thought I was making something political when I was not.

In the interests harmony, let me help you out here ArmyDaveNY.

If it was written as "come from China" - then there is no political statement.
If it was written as "come from the People's Republic of China" - still no political statement.

We can say "batteries from America" and "batteries from the United States of America" without making any political statements.

However terms like "communist China" or "capitalist America" are political statements whether they are intended to be or not.

I'm not intending to argue with you or change you mind, rather just saying how words are read by others.

FWIW, this explains the Chinese systems. The Chinese government is currently controlled by the Chinese Communist Party so yes, a description using the word "communist" is a political.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China

Now back to life rafts and EPRIB batteries.

[GILow]

Originally Posted by ArmyDaveNY

It appears that you misread my comment. There was nothing political about the comment. I was simply agreeing with you about the need to buy quality batteries and avoid the cheap ones. The overwhelming majority of lithium batteries come from communist China, and they produce a huge number of cheap versions. Per a Forbes article of 4 August 2019, they account for some 73% of all lithium batteries produced, and it is likely that that number has increased since then. As a side note, the U.S. is second at around 12%. Other articles have listed similar figures. My comment was simply a recognition of the source of the vast majority of the batteries.

The Chinese are also known for selling a huge quantity of cheap batteries, including those that are supposedly reconditioned. There are over 100 factories in communist China that produce Lithium batteries. My comment was about how many of these are known to be sold with poor quality control as well as missing safety features. In addition to the known safety issues of many Chinese manufactured batteries, there are the issues of the batteries not providing the specified performance.

You are correct that some of their factories produce quality products, but it is also a fact that many do not. There have been a number of articles that discuss this, however I think those reading this thread might find this one article interesting. https://www.mpoweruk.com/china_batteries.pdf

As a further side note, those reading this may find www.MPowerUK.com a useful side. It is an electropaedia with over 185 web pages of information about energy and batteries, along with a little history.

I apologize if you thought I was making something political when I was not.

Well, I'm still confused why you'd call it "communist China". After all, you didn't talk about the batteries produced in "Capitalist America".

I don't feel the need to talk about the boating rules in "mildly socialist, predominantly Capitalist with undertones of Facist Australia".

Seriously, it's just China. End of story.

[ArmyDaveNY]

Originally Posted by Wotname

In the interests harmony, let me help you out here ArmyDaveNY.

If it was written as "come from China" - then there is no political statement.
If it was written as "come from the People's Republic of China" - still no political statement.

We can say "batteries from America" and "batteries from the United States of America" without making any political statements.

However terms like "communist China" or "capitalist America" are political statements whether they are intended to be or not.

I'm not intending to argue with you or change you mind, rather just saying how words are read by others.

FWIW, this explains the Chinese systems. The Chinese government is currently controlled by the Chinese Communist Party so yes, a description using the word "communist" is a political.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China

Now back to life rafts and EPRIB batteries.

Also used to differentiate it from the other China, aka the Republic of China. I supposed I could have said Red China. That might have been easier.