[Mike Barrio]

we just bought a new caravan

Dave

Don't tell Jeremy!      

[t1viper]

Salt  thats ridiculous , who tolds you that. The correct answer is there is a small pixie inside , when you fall in and he gets wet , he pulls the cord 

 

Jim

Just so you know there is infact a small tablet inside (it may be salt, i dont know) which dissolves and releases a spring which in turn makes the co2 cylinder inflate the jacket.

I only know this because I just watched them make and test one on How its made on Discovery Science channel 

Tom

[Mike Barrio]

Just so you know there is infact a small tablet inside (it may be salt, i dont know) which dissolves and releases a spring which in turn makes the co2 cylinder inflate the jacket.

I only know this because I just watched them make and test one on How its made on Discovery Science channel 

Tom

You watch too much telly Tom

Interesting, thanks for that, I knew the cylinder had to be under water rather than in contact with water via a splash, but didn't know anything about the salt ..... you learn something every day

Cheers
Mike

[Hamish Young]

Spoke to a guy today and he said that the auto ones are very easy to go off some even with rain.

Hmmmmm - don't think so.
You'd have to be in a monsoon, immersed in water and already in difficulty for the auto-inflate model to go off.
It is a requirement of most classes of comemrcial fishing vessels these days that they carry self inflating life jackets. On all the inspections I've done I have yet to find a single instance of one going off accidentally...... and the chances are these guys get a damn site more wet than the average angler in the rain.
 

Apparently they're operated by a block of salt that melts with water (i cant see it myself).
How do they operate?

Although I like Jims 'pixie' idea hugely  to be honest the self inflate function is indeed operated by a dissolvable tablet built into the activation chamber by the Co2 cannister. But this needs to be completely immersed in water for it to activate, getting wet isn't enough for it to activate.

It is important that if you do get a life jacket with auto-inflate that it is serviced by a dealer annually...... a trivial expense when ones safety is on the line.

Hamish 

[Dave Mundie]

So how long would the salt/tablet take to dissolve

Dave

[Hamish Young]

Less than a second to activate the CO2 cylinder 

[Dave Mundie]

Now hats fast

Dave

[t1viper]

You watch too much telly Tom

your not the first one to say that mike 

[Barry Robertson]

So how long would the salt/tablet take to dissolve

Dave

3 hours of Rain 
I had the nice experience of my automatic jacket going off with me while in the tube on loiriston last night!
Felt like a right choclate 
Now how does one go about getting it recharged and ready for action again , is it expensive?

[Rob Brownfield]

What jacket is it? Seems to ve several different re-charge kits out there, from about £7 to about £18.

My jacket came with instructions on hoe to re-set and fold away plus the part number for the spares.

[Dave Mundie]

3 hours of Rain 
I had the nice experience of my automatic jacket going off with me while in the tube on loiriston last night!
Felt like a right choclate 
Now how does one go about getting it recharged and ready for action again , is it expensive?

So was it just the rain then or was it something more serious that set it off?

Dave

[Barry Robertson]

Just the rain so dont worry i was not swimming 

And Rob the jacket was an Englands Proffesional Automatic

[Iain Goolager]

 

3 hours of Rain

Sorry Basil