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aeroflyer

Rig in the Trunk

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I had to go away on short notice and ended up leaving my rig in the trunk of the car for about a week.

I read somewhere about an incident where a rig was left in the trunk, and the rubber bands for the reserve locking stows melted onto the reserve grommets which could have caused a mal.

It was covered and I think it only got to about 22C while I was gone.. but even on cool days the car gets hot after a while. Is this nonsense or should I consider looking at it? I think my reserve has bungee locking stows not rubber bands but I could be wrong..

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The answer to this is REAL simple, if you do not have faith that it will work without issue for you on your next jump, set your mind at rest and get it checked by a rigger, it's a small pricve to pay for piece of mind.
The rigger who packed it last would not even need to do a complete A.I.R. .
You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

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The trunk stays a lot cooler than the cabin of the car (no windows allowing sunlight into the trunk). A closed car will still have some air flow from the cabin into the trunk and to the outside of the car through the outflow valve that exits the side of the trunk area, but you will still have a lower temp in the trunk than the cabin. You could put a thermometer in the trunk on a hot day (hotter than the day you left it in) to check it out, and report your result. Unless your rig is a racer, I think all the other modern designs have freebags with the safety stow of a type where the actual rubber material is inside of a sheath - the rubber isn't really exposed to the grommet (perhaps others will expand on this point). As another suggested, your rigger that packed it could set your mind at ease without a full repack.
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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Unless your rig is a racer, I think all the other modern designs have freebags with the safety stow of a type where the actual rubber material is inside of a sheath - the rubber isn't really exposed to the grommet (perhaps others will expand on this point).



If the rig was a Racer the rubber bands could get hard but there are no metal grommets on the freebag to react with.

It is not an ideal storage location and I feel he should have it checked.

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That would only be a problem with first-generation (circa 1980) Racers, because they might have bare brass grommets that might chemically react with rubber.

All modern rigs have nickel-plated grommets that do not interact with rubber.
Furthermore, most modern containers use Safety-Stows, where the bungee cord is wrapped in cotton or nylon to further protect it from brass grommets.

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That would only be a problem with first-generation (circa 1980) Racers, because they might have bare brass grommets that might chemically react with rubber.

All modern rigs have nickel-plated grommets that do not interact with rubber.
Furthermore, most modern containers use Safety-Stows, where the bungee cord is wrapped in cotton or nylon to further protect it from brass grommets.



quick question here a bit off-topic; my main has stainless-steel grommets, they make them for reserves too?
“Some may never live, but the crazy never die.”
-Hunter S. Thompson
"No. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try."
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All modern rigs have nickel-plated grommets that do not interact with rubber.



Except Vector 3.....they still have to discover themB|
"My belief is that once the doctor whacks you on the butt, all guarantees are off" Jerry Baumchen

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I live in Alabama, which gets a lot hotter and stickier than Vancouver, and I wouldn't worry about it for a week.
One question: How long before you're due for a repack anyway? If you need a repack in a month or so, it's really no waste to do it now.
You don't have to outrun the bear.

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Thanks for the specifics.. yes I think my rig has a bungy style band not rubber bands.

The rig is actually in Sydney, Oz, but it isin't hot here now like I said 18-22 max day temp.

My car actually does have glass on the trunk lid, it's a hatchback. I might put a thermo in it to see how hot it gets.

What do you all mean by "not a full repack". I'm pretty sure the local guy will charge me full price to look at it... repack not due for 4 months and the last one was $100. What's an A.I.R.? Annual Inspection and Repack? Can they just open the container / remove pilot chute and check what they need to check?

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What do you all mean by "not a full repack". I'm pretty sure the local guy will charge me full price to look at it... repack not due for 4 months and the last one was $100



Opening a container and checking the stows isn't that hard, its not a full repack, just a check. Depends on what your rigger would charge, but it could easily be done within half an hour.
"I may be a dirty pirate hooker...but I'm not about to go stand on the corner." iluvtofly
DPH -7, TDS 578, Muff 5153, SCR 14890
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I think you also need to take into consideration the AAD batteries. Most likely the heat will not cause damage, but it couldn't hurt to inspect them if you are concerned about other parts of the rig.

When you say the car was covered, do you mean by a roof/carport, etc? Or by a fabric cover? Or the rig was covered by the trunk lid?

You say the heat got to 71F/22C while you were gone. If the car was covered by a carport roof and the sun rarely shined on it directly, then the car never got over the ambient air temp, and you have no issues. If the cover was only a fabric car cover, or the trunk lid - then the car got hotter than air temp, and you might have a concern.

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I knew a jumper who worked on drilling rigs and stored his rig in the trunk of his car. The same car he drove to the oilfield and kept his greasers in. The mean temperature in the West Texas oilfields exceeds 110 - 115 deg. F.! The guy would come to the DZ, pack up and get on a load. there were weeks, he wouldn't show-up at the DZ but that rig stayed in his car trunk.
I certainly do not agree with this type of 'care' for parachute equipment but in your case, you're probably O.K. If, it were me, I'd have your rig checked out... thoroughly by a rigger. Just my thoughts.


Chuck

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I think you also need to take into consideration the AAD batteries. Most likely the heat will not cause damage, but it couldn't hurt to inspect them if you are concerned about other parts of the rig.

When you say the car was covered, do you mean by a roof/carport, etc? Or by a fabric cover? Or the rig was covered by the trunk lid?

You say the heat got to 71F/22C while you were gone. If the car was covered by a carport roof and the sun rarely shined on it directly, then the car never got over the ambient air temp, and you have no issues. If the cover was only a fabric car cover, or the trunk lid - then the car got hotter than air temp, and you might have a concern.



The hatchback has glass so the trunk can heat up, but there's a cover over the gear it's just a piece of plastic that makes it so people can't see in.

I doubt the cypress batteries will have any issues. When I go jumping I'll ask what the rigger thinks about opening it.

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What do you all mean by "not a full repack". I'm pretty sure the local guy will charge me full price to look at it... repack not due for 4 months and the last one was $100. What's an A.I.R.? Annual Inspection and Repack? Can they just open the container / remove pilot chute and check what they need to check?



AIR stands for "Air, Inspect and repack".

There is some debate on this, but the rigger who did the last repack could certainly open it up, take a good look inside without pulling the canopy all the way out and close it up again. That shouldn't cost as much as a full A.I.R. It wouldn't "count" as a repack and wouldn't change the due date.

If it was me, I'd do it for about 1/4 price. Partly because there isn't that much work involved, and partly because checking out stuff when there is a possibilty of a problem is something that should be encouraged IMO.
"There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy

"~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

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AIR stands for "Air, Inspect and repack".



in that case how do you abbreviate "Assemble, Inspect, Repack" ?


AIP

Assemble, Inspect and Pack. :P
"I may be a dirty pirate hooker...but I'm not about to go stand on the corner." iluvtofly
DPH -7, TDS 578, Muff 5153, SCR 14890
I'm an asshole, and I approve this message

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AIR stands for "Air, Inspect and Repack".



in that case how do you abbreviate "Assemble, Inspect, Repack" ?



I was taught that if it's an assembly, then it is a A&P (assemble and pack - the assembly implies inspection). If it wasn't packed when I started, then it is a Pack, not a Repack.

Different people do (slightly) different things. That doesn't make my way better than anybody else's, it's just the way I was taught, and what works well for me.

Edit to add: Onlyski beat me to it.
"There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy

"~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

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Just to close the discussion off, the local rigger said 1 week in the trunk in Sydney's winter weather (not very warm) is okay, It's not arizona so the car wouldn't get too hot. The rubber bands on the main were fine so I would tend to agree no problem.

According to the Cypres user guide temperatures up to about 60C are okay.. but I think that's the temp inside the cypres unit not ambient temp.

from the user guide:

Data common to Expert, Tandem, Student and Speed models:
Length, width, height of the processing unit: ..................................................approx. 85 x 43 x 32 mm
Length, width, height of the control unit: .......................................................approx. 65 x 18 x 6,5 mm
Length, diameter of the release unit:..........................................................................approx. 43 x 8 mm
Cable length of the release unit (including release unit): ..............................................approx. 500 mm
Storage temperature: .............................................................................................. +71° to -25° Celsius
Storage pressure:.................................................................... 200 to 1070 hPa ( 5.906 to 31.597 In.Hg)
Working temperature: ......................................................................................... +63° to -20° Celsius *
Maximum allowable humidity:...................................................................... up to 99,9 % rel. humidity
Waterproof: ......................................................... up to 24 hours down to a depth of 5 feet (1.5 meters)
Altitude adjustment limits:.................................................................................. ±3000 feet or ±1000 m
Operating range below / above sea level: ...................-1500 feet to +26,000 feet (-500 m to +8000 m)
Functioning period:...........................................................................................14 hours from switch-on
Power supply:........................................................................................................... lifetime warranty**
Maintenance:....................................................................... 4 and 8 years from date of manufacture***
Lifetime Warranty Period:..........................................................12.5 years from date of manufacture**
* These temperature limits do not mean the outside (ambient) temperatures but rather temperatures
inside the processing unit. Therefore, these limits won‘t have any meaning until the processing unit
itself has reached the temperatures in question. In actual fact, these limits will rarely be reached due
to the mandatory location of the CYPRES in the reserve container, and the insulating properties of
the processing unit pouch and parachute canopies.
** If required maintenance has been performed.
*** According to the present knowledge base

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