"Make sure you rotate your three rings while you are checking your risers!"

[mark 102]

I was surprised to see this statement on a major manufacturer's web site. I e-mailed to ask why they recommended rotating* the rings, but received no response. Speculation?

Mark

*rotating... My original thought picture was rotating like you rotate your tires: take the rings off the right riser, install on the left; take the left rings and install on the right...

[MarkM 0]

I do this every time I change the oil in my Mirage. I only clean my Hornet's injectors every 200 jumps though.

[Hooknswoop 19]

Bill Booth's opinion on spinning 3 rings:

" Spinning the rings was never necessary. All you do when you spin the rings, is put salt from your hands on the hardware. By the way, each opening rotates the rings a little anyway. If you will look at cadmium plated middle rings with over 100 jumps on them, you will see a slight "compression" of the plating evenly all around the "back" side of the ring. Flexing the webbing was a good idea when we used 1 3/4" Type 12 webbing to attach the smallest ring on "large" 3-ring systems. (We've used 1" square weave for over 20 years now.) On mini-rings, flexing the webbing was never really necessary. We left it in the generic 3-ring instructions only because not all risers are made with the correct webbings, and it doesn't hurt anyway."

Derek

[Guest]

[newbie post]

SIM 2005 Cat H, section D.

1. Owner maintenance of three-ring release system:

a. Disassemble the system every month to clean the
cable and massage the ends of the risers.

(1) Nylon riser webbing develops a memory,
especially when dirty.
(2) When disassembled, twist and massage the
nylon webbing around the two riser rings.

b. Clean the cables.

(1) Most three-ring release cables develop a
sludge-like coating that causes them to bind,
increasing the required pull force.
(2) Refer to the manufacturer’s instructions for
cleaning.

(edited to replace my post about nylon memory)

You can have it good, fast, or cheap: pick two.

[wardhessig 0]

Just thought I would chime in. Most people rotate their rings to know and feel that they are still circular. In the past there have been cases of hard openings bending the rings to an oval or off circle shape which would make a cutaway harder or prevent it worst case. When you spin them you would feel that they are oblong.

And as far as undoing your risers and massaging the memory out of them, its a good idea. Makes for cleaner cutaways.

Another reason for spinning the rings is to know that they are not attached to each other, and what I mean by that is they are not rusted together. Believe it or not I have seen a set of main risers with regular hardware where the rings had rusted together after humidity or water had soaked the rings and they had sat unjumped for some time.

[heidihagen 0]

i JUST read a post a few days ago.. it was a few years old, but i can't find it now.
it said rotating it bad (oils on fingers)
you can't bend them, but you can put wear on the material if you rotate/not necessary with modern rigs.

noob here too---but go find the post, i know for fact billvon and skymonkeyone were in there somewhere. and it was old.. like 2003.

edit: got the link... i came across this yesterday while looking for handle checks in freefall. not what i wanted but interesting nontheless- http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=557643#557643

i didn't lose my mind, i sold it on ebay. .:need a container to fit 5'4", 110 lb. cypres ready & able to fit a 170 main (or slightly smaller):.[/ce

[Tonto 1]

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and it was old.. like 2003.

That's funny!

I'll go with Bill Booth on this one. He invented the 3 rings. O'm sure he has some idea of how and why they work.

t

It's the year of the Pig.

[f1shlips 2]

Yea, but he's...like....old.

--
drop zone (drop'zone) n. An incestuous sesspool of broken people. -- Attributed to a whuffo girlfriend.

[BIGUN 1,068]

Quote

Yea, but he's...like....old.

He got that way for a reason.

Nobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard.

[wmw999 2,145]

Quote

Yea, but he's...like....old.

I don't think he swoops, either Too much wind drag on the beard

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[EvilLurker 2]

Quote

In the past there have been cases of hard openings bending the rings to an oval or off circle shape which would make a cutaway harder or prevent it worst case. When you spin them you would feel that they are oblong.

That's the reason I was given, too. It seems that at one time there were some rings manufactured that were not properly treated and got misshapen. I doubt anyone is going to run into these bad rings at this late date, though. I still do it, just to make sure there's no grit or grass trapped between the rings and the webbing, but if Bill says it's worse than leaving them alone, I ain't going to argue. I probably mess mine up with hand oil feeling them in the plane to make sure the cable is seated through the loop, but there's no sign of damage yet, and it gives me a warm fuzzy.

[wardhessig 0]

Well I certainly don't have the expertise that Bill Booth does but here is another angle. I don't think that stainless hardware are affected by the hand oils on the hardware so in my opinion feel free to spin the hell out of them.

But....I have seen regular hardware risers come in with the hardware plating chipping and chipped off. There have even been a few cases of riggers grounding them because the chipping was so bad. The customer wanted us to replace them as a defect but unfortunately that is a characteristice of cadium plating, they don't last forever, they can chip. Another reason to spin them could be to feel that they are rotating smoothly and there are no chips, but a look at them will reveal that as well. But if you are rotating them to reveal the chips you are putting hand oils on them.....so you're screwed either way....

The moral of the story is......buy a new Mirage with stainless hardware and spend the time that you would have spent in the plane spinning hardware trying to get the cutie across from you to get extra altitude.

[sundevil777 94]

The rings that were bad were the harness rings, not the rings on the risers.

They were marked RW-1, I believe, and now the tooling is different so the rings have a noticeably different shape. I think it was a heat treating issue. You could do a load test, or cut them off and install the clunky looking harness ring with a long seperable link, not so elegant.

People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

[sundevil777 94]

I really wonder if they still use cadmium plating, or if they have gotten so used to saying it that it is just automatic. My understanding was that environmental regs (rightfully) now result in a huge cost and general pain in the ass penalty, so that alternative treatments are used. Maybe someone more 'in the know' can confirm it.

People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

[Hooknswoop 19]

Quote

I really wonder if they still use cadmium plating, or if they have gotten so used to saying it that it is just automatic.

They still use it.

Derek

[skydiverton 0]

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I do this every time I change the oil in my Mirage. I only clean my Hornet's injectors every 200 jumps though.

Do not forget the braking fluid in your cypres. The presence of braking fluid is very critical for the question: Does my AAD function of not

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Using your droque to gain stability is a bad habit,
Especially when you are jumping a sport rig

[skydiverton 0]

Quote

I really wonder if they still use cadmium plating, or if they have gotten so used to saying it that it is just automatic. My understanding was that environmental regs (rightfully) now result in a huge cost and general pain in the ass penalty, so that alternative treatments are used. Maybe someone more 'in the know' can confirm it.

Cadmium is restricted but still used in aerospace applications, although it will be replaced more and more, for example with nickel. Unfortunately nickel is not so good for corrosion protection. I can explain you why, but that will be a very long posting and is not relevant for this subject.

It is a very good point you state and this is one of the reasons why a lot of manufacturers offer Stainless steel as an option of even standard.
No Cadmium required

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Using your droque to gain stability is a bad habit,
Especially when you are jumping a sport rig

[billbooth 10]

Go ahead and play with your stainless steel riser rings if you must (I do). It won't do any good, but the oil or sweat on your hands won't hurt stainless. By the way, riser rings, when loaded toward failure, "potato chip", they do not "oval". In every case I've seen (with type 17, 1" risers), the riser webbing fails before the rings are damaged. The harness ring, which you can't rotate, is the only ring that will oval. We did have a problem with large (RW-1) harness rings which the manufacturer fail to heat treat, but that was back in 1981.

[bob.dino 0]

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Unfortunately nickel is not so good for corrosion protection. I can explain you why, but that will be a very long posting and is not relevant for this subject.

If you have the time, I'd be interested in reading a post on this subject...

[tso-d_chris 0]

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I have seen regular hardware risers come in with the hardware plating chipping and chipped off. There have even been a few cases of riggers grounding them because the chipping was so bad. The customer wanted us to replace them as a defect but unfortunately that is a characteristice of cadium plating, they don't last forever, they can chip.

How is that not defective materials?

[Hooknswoop 19]

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How is that not defective materials?

Cadium plating isn't indestructable. You bang 2 pieces of cadium plated hardware together enough and the plating will come off.

Derek

[wardhessig 0]

Just as Derek said. It's not defective materials, the materials are perfectly good that can wear or be subject to damage over time. If your bright red cordura fades over time in the sun or your type 17 risers stretch and lose strength after many jumps, they are not defective. They are just subject to wear and damage....know what I mean? I tell this to all my customers who want standard hardware.

[EvilLurker 2]

Quote

buy a new Mirage with stainless hardware and spend the time that you would have spent in the plane spinning hardware trying to get the cutie across from you to get extra altitude.

I can do both at the same time and maybe teach that cutie to make sure her cutaway cable is seated in the risers correctly to boot. That's the beauty of it.

[benpat 0]

You', are downright disrespectful......I hope I never know you, or your Ilk.

[tso-d_chris 0]

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It's not defective materials, the materials are perfectly good that can wear or be subject to damage over time.

If it chips due to abuse, that is one thing. If it chips under normal use, that is defective materials. If it is offered on a rig, it should be durable enough to survive several thousand openings.

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