Rivertrace Oil Content Monitor
Spare Parts Supplier
Rivertrace Limited, an English company that makes oil-in-water monitors, built the SMART BILGE and the earlier OCD CM found at the outlet of bilge separators. A request for either starts from the rating label and the calibration certificate kept by the ship.
Rivertrace types that reach a request
Rivertrace Limited is registered in Hailsham, England, and makes instruments that measure oil in water. On board, its 15 ppm monitors sample the separator discharge before it goes over the side. Three names come up on requests. A part is matched to the name and serial printed on the label in front of the engineer, never to a family name heard in conversation.
SMART BILGE
The Rivertrace bilge alarm type built for MEPC.107(49). Copy the type exactly as the rating label prints it, with any sign or letter after the name, and add the serial and the supply voltage. Any part for it, from the cell to a board, is matched to all three, not to the name alone.
SMART CELL
The name is met in two places. Rivertrace material uses it for the measuring cell of the SMART BILGE, while trader listings use Smart Cell or Smart Cell Bilge for a whole monitor. Say which item carries the name on your ship, the cell or the monitor housing, and photograph that label; the two lead to different lines.
OCD CM
An earlier Rivertrace monitor, built to MEPC.60(33), the resolution that MEPC.107(49) later superseded. OCD CM units are still met behind separators. A part for an OCD CM is never assumed to fit a SMART BILGE, or the other way round; each type is quoted from its own label.
Calibration certificate
Under paragraph 4.2.11 of MEPC.107(49), as rewritten by MEPC.285(70), the alarm is calibrated and tested only by the manufacturer or persons it has empowered, no more than five years apart, counted from commissioning, or sooner where the manufacturer's instructions set a shorter term. The certificate stays on board, and a calibrated alarm may be fitted instead. Paragraph 4.2.10 seals the alarm: opening it for anything past the simple drift, repeatability and zero checks means breaking a seal.
Deckma OMD · Seaguard · OWS-COM
A Deckma OMD alarm is read on the Deckma page, a Seaguard on the JOWA page and an OWS-COM on the RWO page. None of their cells or boards is offered for a Rivertrace monitor.
Why a Rivertrace monitor ends up on a request
Most requests begin with paperwork or an inspection, not with a broken part. Three common starting points follow.
The calibration date comes round
As the certificate date approaches, send the label and that date early, and say whether the ship wants the monitor calibrated on the maker's route or replaced by a calibrated one. IACS UI MPC 127, summarised by Lloyd's Register, makes clear that the five-yearly check does not have to coincide with the IOPP renewal survey.
Readings that drift or jump
Note the figure shown on clean water, the date the cell was last cleaned, and whether sample flow actually arrives at the monitor. With those three answers a dirty cell or a starved sample line can be told apart from a fault in the cell or the controller before anything is bought.
A seal is missing
Photograph the place where the seal should be and the monitor as it stands, write down what is known about when it went, and do not touch the settings. A broken seal is settled by calibration on the maker's route or by fitting a calibrated monitor, so the request is built around the certificate rather than a part number.
Rivertrace items that appear on RFQ lines
Every line names the monitor type and serial it serves, and the item's own label where it has one.
- Measuring cells, identified from the cell label or the monitor label
- Controller and display parts for the type, serial and supply voltage on the rating label
- Solenoid valves and sample-line parts from the parts list for the type
- Wiper parts and cell cleaning items named for the type
- A replacement calibrated monitor when the ship chooses it over calibration
- Calibration arranged on the maker's route, ending in a new certificate
- Pipe fittings and O-rings on the sample side that sit outside the sealed parts
- OCD CM parts on their own lines, apart from SMART BILGE parts
What to send for a Rivertrace monitor
These details pin the request to one monitor, one supply voltage and one calibration:
- Rating label of the monitor: type, serial number and supply voltage, exactly as printed
- The measuring cell label, if the cell carries its own
- Last calibration date, read from the certificate on board
- Options fitted to the monitor, as the label or the manual names them
- The separator it serves: make, type and serial
- The reading on the display today and the alarm limit it is set to
- Photographs of every seal and of the monitor in place
How a Rivertrace request is handled
Each line is quoted either as a genuine item or as a checked alternative, and the reply names which before a price is given. Cells and electronics for a Rivertrace monitor stay on the OEM-route.
What the rules cover
MEPC.107(49), with the MEPC.285(70) amendment, settles three things for the alarm: calibration by the maker's side, the interval, and the certificate kept aboard. Its seal rule, mirrored in the US bilge alarm specification, settles who may go inside. IACS UI MPC 127, in Lloyd's Register's summary, adds that the certificate has to be valid. None of these texts names a single spare part.
Cells and electronics on the OEM-route
Since calibration stays with the maker's side, a cell, controller or display for a SMART BILGE or an OCD CM is quoted only as the item for the type, serial and voltage on its label. Cells of other makes, and repaired cells that come without a fresh certificate, are left out.
Checked alternatives for loose items
Pipe fittings and O-rings on the sample side, outside the sealed parts, are often standard items. If the owner agrees, they can be quoted as a checked alternative after their size and material have been checked; the O-ring size finder helps settle an O-ring size before the request goes out.
Rivertrace monitor parts — questions engineers ask
Does the supply voltage matter for a spare?
Yes. Send it together with the type and serial from the rating label. Parts that take mains supply are matched to the voltage printed there, and the match is confirmed in the reply before any price.
The measuring cell is due. What is the route?
That depends on the type and the maker's instructions for it. Send the monitor label, the cell details and the date on the certificate; the reply sets out what suits that monitor: calibration on the maker's route, a calibrated cell, or a calibrated monitor. Crew members do not calibrate the monitor or open sealed parts.
We still have an OCD CM. Do SMART BILGE parts fit it?
Not by assumption. The two types are quoted separately, each from its own label. If no part can be traced for the older type, the reply tells you so directly, and the options for the monitor are discussed with the separator data in hand.
Our monitor says Smart Cell. Is this the right page?
Yes. Say whether the name is on the measuring cell or on the monitor housing, and send both labels if both exist; the lines are opened from what they say.
Is a cheaper non-Rivertrace cell an option?
No. For a Rivertrace monitor, cells and electronics are quoted only for the type and serial on its label, on the OEM-route. When that item cannot be traced, the reply states it and no substitute is put forward.
Is Vessel Core connected to Rivertrace?
No, and there is no agreement of any kind. Vessel Core holds no distribution, representation or partnership agreement with Rivertrace, and quoting a component against one of its designations implies no approval by the maker and no claim of interchangeability.
Start with the label and the certificate date
Send the rating label, the cell label if there is one, the certificate date and the separator plate. Missing one of them? Start the request anyway and add the rest later.
