What does "12-Year Warranty" mean for Plastimo ?

For Plastimo, "12 Year Warranty" means 12 years without any surprise : for 12 years, as from the date of purchase, you will never have to pay any operation (parts and labour) carried out on the inflation or buoyancy systems. You will never have to pay for repair or maintenance on the structure of a Plastimo liferaft ; this warranty only applies provided your liferaft has been serviced every year in one of our authorised stations, and provided it has been stored in normal conditions..

Can a Plastimo liferaft accept a 3-year servicing interval ?

Yes, our liferaft structure is designed to accept a 3-year servicing interval. However, this is subject to national regulations that may exist.

What does a Plastimo servicing session consist of ?

In all the Plastimo authorised stations, servicing consists of :
. the careful inspection of the gas bottle, including checking for possible leaks, by weighing the bottle
. the inspection of the firing head
. the inflation of the raft, in order to check the airtightness of the chambers
. the scrutiny of the general condition of the raft structure and valves
. the free-of-charge overhaul or replacement of all the parts of the raft which would justify it
. the inventory and checking of the products with expiry date, and replacement when necessary
. the vacuum-packing of the liferaft.

Labour times are calculated on a contract basis. There is no extra cost for "spares". You will never have an unpleasant surprise : a detailed list of the various operations carried out on your raft is given to you.

Can my liferaft be used again if it has been blown open accidentally ?

Yes, if it can be repaired. In case your liferaft would be blown open, either deliberately (to rescue a man overboard for example) or accidentally, you can indeed have it serviced and overhauled in our of our authorised stations.
Here again the "tube-within-a-tube" construction definitely makes the difference : the inner chambers are better protected, therefore less exposed to handling and damaging (pulling the raft back on the boat, deflating and transporting the raft) ; this of course means a considerable impact on the cost of overhauling and repacking the liferaft.

When do you replace the equipment with expiry date ?

When the date is due... If the replacement is not due when the raft comes to us for servicing, but becomes due before the next servicing session, then we replace the equipment only if it expires before the Summer time. Otherwise, we leave it and we remind you of the actual expiry date.
You can easily spot those products by yourself, by looking at the check-list which you are given after every servicing session.