New ARGUS AAD Service Bulletin

[chutingstar 1]

For those of you still jumping Argus units out there...and I know you're out there because we get in several units every week to ChutingStar for the 4-year service...there is a new Service Bulletin just released by the manufacturer listing the unairworthy units that have not had the 4-year service completed.

See here:

http://tools.emailgarage.com/Pub/Asset.ashx?Id=2a80d6f1-76bc-4d46-833c-1ca92f79fc67&MessageId=952021071

For more info, contact the manufacturer here:

[email protected]

ChutingStar.com

[piisfish 136]

so are they just basically giving a list of all the bad boys and girls who didn't get their units serviced ?

I never had an Argus in my hands, how does one know :
-when the service is due
-if the service has been done ?

Can the units concerned be airworthy again after a service ?

scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM

[pchapman 277]

A few comments on the ever fun world of Argus rules:

1. Units not serviced as required are already temporarily unairworthy according to the rules in most countries.

2. In the new bulletin , their definition of the period for the 4 year check appears different from the period I had been led to believe from on dz.com discussion.

I was told (by a jumper, not ChutingStar itself) that ChutingStar was doing "end of the 4th calendar year", which is great for users with units built in January, but sucks for those with a December date.

The ParaConcepts service center's statement on their web page (at least a couple years ago) had the statement

Quote

required service for the Argus AAD needs to be completed by the end of the 4th year after the manufacture date or the last service date, whichever is later

This could suggest using a calendar year, or it could suggest that 4.999 years from manufacture is OK, but service is needed at 5.000 years.

This new bulletin in saying 4 years + 3 mo suggests it is 4 years to the day, plus 3 months. This "3 months" was never in the manual and the issue has not been clarified.

Do we take this manufacturer's offhand statement to be a changing of the rules, or something to be ignored as it wasn't what the bulletin was purportedly about, and wasn't presented as a clear and very significant change in what the manufacturer and service centers have stated before?

2a. The manual actually says the 4 year check is "Every 4 years (after the date of 1st use),", so technically one needs to know when it was first packed into a rig or turned on, not the manufacture date.

3. This point has been made before, but given that the company is still responding to the civil market a tiny bit, why don't they clarify or modify their rule to replace the battery at EVERY repack? This might be after 1 day in case of a mal or an accidental handle pull on the ground. Or it might be 180 days in some countries, or 365 in another. This seems inconsistent and designed just to screw around with their customers.

3a. However, the Chuting Star service center web page mentions that their Argus batteries are for the yearly battery replacement. Again one can ask, does one believe the manual or a service center as the as the authoritative definition? (Yeah, it could just be a web site typo for one of thousands of products they stock, but it is inconsistent with the latest manual.)

4. Units sent in for service will then be good for the following 4 years no matter whether they were serviced late. (So if you send it in year 7, it is good to year 11, not year 8 like a CYPRES.) This is in accordance with a statement on the ParaConcepts service center site. (That can be seen in the above quote, but was stated more fully and clearly on the website too, as a specific advantage over the CYPRES system.)

[chutingstar 1]

piifish and pchapman...to answer what I know...

-- The Argus units have a sticker placed on the unit after it passes the 4-year service with the year of service and the control number. That is the indication that the service has been completed if you have the unit in your hands.

-- Yes, once the service is completed (and passes), any units that were overdue for service are then able to be used again.

-- I too was told the service had to be completed by the end of the calendar year of the 4th year. So the 4 years + 3 months is news to me. I've sent pchapman's note to Aviacom for them to respond on dropzone.com and/or for me to get the info and clarify.

-- I've corrected the chutingstar.com site on the batteries to what I've been told...which is 6 months. But I've asked for clarification on that as well.

Mike

ChutingStar.com

[pchapman 277]

Thanks Mike. Aviacom obviously hasn't been the most responsive company to work with, and you are sometimes left as much in the dark as are Argus owners & riggers...

[Chris-Ottawa 0]

Hmmm, one of mine just came back a few weeks ago. I wonder if I was a bad boy... I was repacking them based on the "End of 4th year" requirement, but it looks like you may be getting another one shortly.

Thanks for alerting us!

"When once you have tasted flight..."