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Cypres batteries

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Its happened to me before, more then once actually. Remember its not promised to last any amount of time. There are some things that will absolutely kill your battery life. Including jumping a lot, driving home with a lot of hills will kill the life of your battery as well. Don't forget using old (but in date) batteries will also show a shorter useful life due to the age of the batteries.
--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

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they barely lasted a year, rig has only left the DZ a couple of times, been to Eloy and Perris, otherwise hasn't been moved (it's my second rig, so maybe 250 jumps tops) and not shut off after jumps, just let go at end of day.
Now, it counts down, gives error code, and shuts off. Eloy nights been in the high 20's.

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Did you let the rig/batteries warm up and try rebooting the Cypres? That' has happened to me before as well.



yup. Even left it in the sun for an hour.
Has the local rigger baffled too. She looked at the data card and said "This can't be right."

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Assuming an original cypres......

Nothing to be baffled about. The battery is too low and it needs to be replaced. From the user guide:

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Replace the battery once the self test has stopped at 8998
or 8999 (voltage too low), after two years or after 500 jumps
whichever comes first.



The first condition requiring a new battery is failure of the self test, the second is 2 years and the third is 500 jumps. Everybody seems to have forgotten about the 500 jumps because a rigger can't control it.

All that being said batteries do usually last 2 years, but not always. There was a batch back in the 90's that seemed to have significantly shorter life times. Airtec believed it to be a problem from the supplier that was never admitted to by them (the supplier, French IIRC). Airtec did prorate the cost of a new set if they hadn't made it to a specific life time less than 2 years. I don't remember what that time period was, either 12 or 18 months I think. After that they said dying wasn't unusual.

Also improper storage prior to installation could have given them less useful life.

But again, no guarantee that they will last 2 years. Just a requirement if they make it they have to be changed.

It is worth a call to SSK to see if there have been any recent problems or if Airtec is willing to prorate the cost of a new set.
I'm old for my age.
Terry Urban
D-8631
FAA DPRE

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I had that on my 1999 expert cypres 2 times in a row :-(
On the first occurence the battery was just a little over 6 month old (with maybe 100-150 jumps on it).
I got a replacement Battery for the rest of the estimated lifetime for free!
It returned from the 8year inspection some weeks ago and I hope they did anything with the unit to avoid the problem in future!
Next year I will know if it has improved....

alex

--
www.tandemmaster.net
www.skydivegear.de

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not shut off after jumps, just let go at end of day.



SSK says that doesn't make that much of a difference, unless you drive home with it on:

http://www.cypres-usa.com/cyp16.htm

Gary Peek had a lot of curiosity, free time, and the desire to dispell the myth that turning it off uses more power than letting it turn itself off after 14 hours and did an experiment that seems valid:

http://www.pcprg.com/cyprespc.htm

So, consider that the unit uses about/at most around 100 times less power at 'rest' compared to when the LED is on/calibrating. Turning off the unit takes, say 10 seconds or so. So if the unit were on for 100*10=1000 seconds or about 16 minutes, then you are better to turn it off. Even with the assumptions that I haven't listed, or even if it is 1000 times less power, then it would be about 2.5 hours for the break even point. So I think it is fairly safe to make the obvious conclusion - if you want the battery to last slightly longer, turn it off manually even if you don't drive up/down hills on the way home.

As SSK says though, it really shouln't matter much. What should matter is how long it is in the active mode/during a jump/climb to altitude. So, the total time from takeoff to landing should matter more significantly.
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

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I had a set fail in the same way at about the same age / number of jumps. I explained to my rigger who contacted Airtec and they gave me a new set.

IIRC once 8998 has been given the cypres won't fireup again until the batteries have been replaced, even if it's warmed up since. (Not seen that written down but was told when it happened.)

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sorry, that's what I meant, just stops at 8998 each time and shuts down

I was quite happy to jump mine without also, except I was at an AAD only DZ. Was on a canopy course as well so I was less likely to need it either. Still the DZO lent me his container so all was good.

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...Another strange occurance that is worth mentioning also happened recently to 2 people. Yesterday a woman was in a 3 way head down round whe her Cypress2 fired at approx 9 grand. I saw the video several times and it is simply amazig that she wasn't injured or killed. Why it fired is unknown but the unit is new but it had been acting weird as it would come on and then the display screen would turn off. The woman thought she had turned it off as there was no readout in the display screen....



I wonder if the unit went back to SSK or Airtec they'd be able to learn more?

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About six of us had our batteries die early last year. Within a month, we all got 8988 codes. We haven't had problems since changing the batteries. We figured that we got a bad bunch of batteries. One good thing though...at least the units let us know the batteries were bad before we jumped with them.

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...Another strange occurance that is worth mentioning also happened recently to 2 people. Yesterday a woman was in a 3 way head down round whe her Cypress2 fired at approx 9 grand. I saw the video several times and it is simply amazig that she wasn't injured or killed. Why it fired is unknown but the unit is new but it had been acting weird as it would come on and then the display screen would turn off. The woman thought she had turned it off as there was no readout in the display screen....



I wonder if the unit went back to SSK or Airtec they'd be able to learn more?



I talked with the person in question, and the morning of that jump, she clicked her Cypres button once, no light came on, and she didnt continue with the arming process. It had turned its display off the day (or 2) before unexpectadly. Essentially: this unit should have been off (ie not armed) during that jump. Scary.
Remster

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Something to note, and something many jumpers don't realize, if an AAD is not functioning properly, and it's still packed in a rig, the rig is NOT airworthy.



What if the battery is dead? Wouldn't the only danger be that it would not fire when needed? If that is the case, why wouldn't the rig be as airworthy as a rig without an AAD?
... Marion

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why wouldn't the rig be as airworthy as a rig without an AAD?


Because it is no Rig without an AAD.
It is a rig with an AAD in non-funtioning condition. Non-functioning component = bad juju.
The mind is like a parachute - it only works once it's open.
From the edge you just see more.
... Not every Swooper hooks & not every Hooker swoops ...

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What if the battery is dead? Wouldn't the only danger be that it would not fire when needed? If that is the case, why wouldn't the rig be as airworthy as a rig without an AAD?



By regulation, an installed AAD must be maintained in accordance with manufacturer's instructions. The manufacturer says the battery must be replaced if it is dead. So by definition, the rig may not be jumped with dead batteries in the AAD, even if doing so would be no more hazardous than jumping with no AAD at all.

Mark

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why wouldn't the rig be as airworthy as a rig without an AAD?


Because it is no Rig without an AAD.
It is a rig with an AAD in non-funtioning condition. Non-functioning component = bad juju.



:)
----------------------------------------------
You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

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Something to note, and something many jumpers don't realize, if an AAD is not functioning properly, and it's still packed in a rig, the rig is NOT airworthy.



What if the battery is dead? Wouldn't the only danger be that it would not fire when needed? If that is the case, why wouldn't the rig be as airworthy as a rig without an AAD?



You don't know the battery is dead unless you open the reserve container, unscrew the Cypres battery compartment lid, and measure with your trusty DVM.

Until you've done that you don't know whether the Cypres battery is dead or the Cypres is on but functioning incorrectly with an inoperable display which might lead to a misfire.

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