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Fingo86

Battery Acid Damage

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I posted awhile ago about battery acid damage to my rig. The rig was left in the boot of my car where, not to my knowledge, battery acid had leaked. Anyway I noticed damage to the rig and left it with my rigger outlining what had happened. Its over 6 months later and my rigger has informed me that there is no damage to the main, reserve or cyprus. I trust this rigger and he is well respected in the club. I was just curious as to other peoples opinions on the gear?

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If the rigger says it's OK and you trust your rigger, then it should be OK.
Do you have big damage on the rig ?

Cyprus is an island in the mediterranean.
Cypres is a German AAD
scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM

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The container was fairly badly damaged, no holes but the material had become stiff due to the acid and also any metal had reacted with the acid and become degraded. The acid also damaged a lot of personal belongings, clothes etc. Oftentimes the damage to clothes and runners didn't become evident until nearly a month or so after, when they would literally fall apart. My concern is just due to the nature of acids and the effect it can have on materials, I am currently looking for a new container and I am thinking of purchasing a reserve just to be sure. That way if something does happen with the main I can be sure that my reserve is intact.

And cheers for the spell check :)

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Cyprus is an island in the mediterranean.
Cypres is a German AAD



If you're going to nitpick, make sure you get it right yourself! ;)

CYPRES is a German AAD!
"It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

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With all due respect to your rigger...

It sound like things were damaged by the vapor, not just contact with liquid. If that is the case, and the vapor was that strong for that long, I'd have trouble trusting ANY life saving equipment in the trunk (boot). Not all damage may be visible or able to be determined without destructive testing. And as you pointed out, the damage may not be done yet, unless all of the componets/canopies have been neutralized.

As to the AAD, how could anyone tell? It may turn on now and have no visible damage but the fumes may/probably have corroded the electronic components. It's not air tight by by design.:)

While the air exchange into a reserve would be less than into clothes laying in the trunk I wouldn't risk any of the components. Certainly the outter layers of the packed reserve have seen significant exposure if other stuff in the trunk was damaged by vapor. Especially if any part of the reserve container was damaged I wouldn't go near it.

Just not worth your risking your last chance to live.

BTW I'm an analytical chemist.

I'm old for my age.
Terry Urban
D-8631
FAA DPRE

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After working on cars and batteries, I have often noted that my clothing appeared to be unaffected until I washed them and then saw small and large holes in the material. Also, after repeated washings, the damage often gets worse, as if there was still acid in the material.

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After working on cars and batteries, I have often noted that my clothing appeared to be unaffected until I washed them and then saw small and large holes in the material. Also, after repeated washings, the damage often gets worse, as if there was still acid in the material.



i got the solution, dont wash it! =D
IHYD

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Hey, I'm an analytical chemist too!! B|

And one more thing: The damage from acid on clothes (when working in laboratory) usually doesn't show until after you've washed your clothes. It may look perfectly fine before wash, but after it will be just a collection of holes held together by some fabric.

So even if it looks "just fine" now it still might be damaged enough to fail when you need it.

I understand the need for conformity. Without a concise set of rules to follow we would probably all have to resort to common sense. -David Thorne

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The best thing to do is to do Bromocresol green test on all your system.
If you ever transport any batteries, never put your rig there.

"If you don't overcome your fears they will overcome you first"
Shady Monkey/6Segundos Rodriguez/AKA Pablito

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No it isn't. You can't test every square inch of line and fabric. You can't test the inside of a cyores. Even of neutral the damage may be done. The bromocresol Green indicator test was designed to determine if a piece of mesh was flame retardant coated. inthis vaae the whole canopy wouldn't necessarily be acidic. Or any of it still be acidic even if damaged.

This whole thing should be trashed with kind of exposure described.
I'm old for my age.
Terry Urban
D-8631
FAA DPRE

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My personal policy is to NEVER put a car battery in the trunk. Never.

Unless I am the original owner of the vehicle, no life support equipment goes in the trunk.

Because I carry skydiving, BASE, and climbing gear in the car... its just not worth the risk.

And because I BASE jump, from time to time there will be canopies in the passenger area that are not inside gear-bags or stash-bags.

So for me, if I need to transport a battery, I ask someone for a ride.

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