0
mark

Decelerator reserve recert

Recommended Posts

Curiously, their current Vortex / Decelerator manual has no mention of, or instructions about the number of reserve pack jobs or any porosity checks. 

Then one can get into the arguments about "What instructions from a manufacturer are the official instructions a rigger must follow?"   I'm sure many would argue that something printed on the reserve parachute itself constitutes an official instruction, even if "it's not in the instruction manual"....

Does Parachute Systems currently answer messages or are they now completely gone, despite the website being up?

For a while in the last couple years, various people around the web said they were still supposedly open for spare parts sales & manufacture but not whole rigs & canopies....

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
11 hours ago, pchapman said:

Does Parachute Systems currently answer messages or are they now completely gone, despite the website being up?

 

I recently hit them up for information regarding line trims for an old Chute Shop Hurricane 135. Got an email response the same day.

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
31 minutes ago, ChrisHoward said:

I recently hit them up for information regarding line trims for an old Chute Shop Hurricane 135. Got an email response the same day.

Please share email address.  Thanks.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Try asking another factory (e.g. Performance Designs) to re-certify your old Decelerator reserve. Alternately, ask one of the Strong Tandem re-certification facilities to test your old reserve. Both manufacturers test for tensile strength and porosity.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
2 hours ago, riggerrob said:

Try asking another factory (e.g. Performance Designs) to re-certify your old Decelerator reserve. Alternately, ask one of the Strong Tandem re-certification facilities to test your old reserve. Both manufacturers test for tensile strength and porosity.

Ok, I could do that.  How should I translate their results into additional packs/jumps?  And do I need to sew another scorecard on the canopy?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
2 hours ago, riggerrob said:

Try asking another factory (e.g. Performance Designs) to re-certify your old Decelerator reserve. Alternately, ask one of the Strong Tandem re-certification facilities to test your old reserve. Both manufacturers test for tensile strength and porosity.

PD won't do that. One, because of liability and second because every company has their own standards for acceptable permeability and measuring procedures. I doubt PS has shared their standards with PD.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Dear Deyan,

Tensile testing is easy because it is the same test for acid-mesh and PD reserves: 40 pounds.

Measuring porosity is slightly more difficult, but just ask the tester for raw porosity numbers. If porosity is less than 3 cubic feet per minute, your canopy is still within the original manufacturing specifications.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
21 hours ago, riggerrob said:

Dear Deyan,

Tensile testing is easy because it is the same test for acid-mesh and PD reserves: 40 pounds.

Measuring porosity is slightly more difficult, but just ask the tester for raw porosity numbers. If porosity is less than 3 cubic feet per minute, your canopy is still within the original manufacturing specifications.

(PD reserve pull test is at 30 lbs last time I looked, though the PIA standard is 40lbs...  When first included as an annual test on their reserves, IIRC they said there was too much potential for fiber distortion past the elastic rebound at 40lb and they felt 30 was sufficient to prove suitable strength.)

JW

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

So after a week of back-and-forth emails, here's what I have:

  • A porosity test is required.
  • Anybody with a porosity tester can do the test.  There are no special qualifications for the tester, no calibration standards for the equipment. 
  • The porosity test must be done at least twice (to get a "mean average"), but maybe more, one of which must be the center cell.  All the tests are "normally" done 12" from the nose on the top surface.  If there are normal places, there must be alternative places, but these are not specified.  The center cell reading can be an indeterminate amount higher than 3 cfm, as long as the average is 0-3.  If the average is higher than 3, there's nothing to prevent you from doing additional tests until you can get the average down to 3 or lower.
  • If you are happy with the results of your inspection and the porosity test, you can put the canopy back in service for at least one pack.  After that, additional packs/jumps might be authorized, but I never got an answer to repeated questions about the correlation between porosity test results and additional packs/jumps.
  • No new scorecard on the canopy required, so no way for the next rigger to know if the porosity test was done or what the results might have been, or how many additional packs/jumps might be authorized.
  • Findings should be recorded on the data card, even though there is no data card retention requirement in the US, and the data card is not a maintenance record in the US.  Findings should also be recorded in the rigger logbook.
  • Like 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
4 hours ago, mark said:

So after a week of back-and-forth emails, here's what I have:

  • A porosity test is required.
  • Anybody with a porosity tester can do the test.  There are no special qualifications for the tester, no calibration standards for the equipment. 
  • The porosity test must be done at least twice (to get a "mean average"), but maybe more, one of which must be the center cell.  All the tests are "normally" done 12" from the nose on the top surface.  If there are normal places, there must be alternative places, but these are not specified.  The center cell reading can be an indeterminate amount higher than 3 cfm, as long as the average is 0-3.  If the average is higher than 3, there's nothing to prevent you from doing additional tests until you can get the average down to 3 or lower.
  • If you are happy with the results of your inspection and the porosity test, you can put the canopy back in service for at least one pack.  After that, additional packs/jumps might be authorized, but I never got an answer to repeated questions about the correlation between porosity test results and additional packs/jumps.
  • No new scorecard on the canopy required, so no way for the next rigger to know if the porosity test was done or what the results might have been, or how many additional packs/jumps might be authorized.
  • Findings should be recorded on the data card, even though there is no data card retention requirement in the US, and the data card is not a maintenance record in the US.  Findings should also be recorded in the rigger logbook.

Hi Mark,

Re:  no calibration standards for the equipment. 

IMO at that point the test is merely an exercise.

The rest of your post supports my above opinion.

Jerry Baumchen

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
(edited)
13 hours ago, mark said:

So after a week of back-and-forth emails, here's what I have:

  • A porosity test is required.
  • Anybody with a porosity tester can do the test.  There are no special qualifications for the tester, no calibration standards for the equipment. 
  • The porosity test must be done at least twice (to get a "mean average"), but maybe more, one of which must be the center cell.  All the tests are "normally" done 12" from the nose on the top surface.  If there are normal places, there must be alternative places, but these are not specified.  The center cell reading can be an indeterminate amount higher than 3 cfm, as long as the average is 0-3.  If the average is higher than 3, there's nothing to prevent you from doing additional tests until you can get the average down to 3 or lower.
  • If you are happy with the results of your inspection and the porosity test, you can put the canopy back in service for at least one pack.  After that, additional packs/jumps might be authorized, but I never got an answer to repeated questions about the correlation between porosity test results and additional packs/jumps.
  • No new scorecard on the canopy required, so no way for the next rigger to know if the porosity test was done or what the results might have been, or how many additional packs/jumps might be authorized.
  • Findings should be recorded on the data card, even though there is no data card retention requirement in the US, and the data card is not a maintenance record in the US.  Findings should also be recorded in the rigger logbook.

The lesson here is "don't buy SA made products". The companies who make them come and go with the price of the Rand compared to the USD and you will be left with no support.

Edited by gowlerk

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
22 hours ago, gowlerk said:

The lesson here is "don't buy SA made products". The companies who make them come and go with the price of the Rand compared to the USD and you will be left with no support.

oh, i don't know.  i jump old raven reserves because i like them and they are cheap.  maybe a new market for used mains?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

0