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DZDale

Vortex II Container - Beware !

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Hi Everyone

For those of you who have Vortex II Containers or planning to Vortex II Containers, just something I suggest you be aware of and have checked out by a rigger. After 5 months of having my Vortex, I noticed that the loop on the Riser, was starting to fray. I took it to a rigger (who is very well respected in the U.K. ) for inspection. The eye of the steel housings was so badly manufactured that it had sharp edges which caused the riser loop to fray. We also found that the eyes were not correctly sized for the housing and were threatening to come loose. The first thing I did was check out a rig which came from the same batch. It had the exact same problem, apparently there have been quite a few complaints about this. The manufacturers have changed their housings, as they are aware of the problem. I suggest that if you do have a Vortex II container to check this out, as it is not very easily noticible without inspection.

Please send replys and let me know if you have had the same problem.

Blue Skies

Dale

"The probability of survival is equal to the angle of arrival." - safe swoops -

MY DZ

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This reminds me of the service bulletin on Vectors that came out about 5 years ago and the service bulletin on Mirages that came out about 16 years ago.
The solution in both cases was to re-crimp the amp fittings on the ends of the release housings.

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Sorry to hear about your misfortune. >:(This was not the first time I heard about this problem. Apparently Chute Shop did have a problem with a batch of Vortex11's. I have had mine now for six months and no problem so far. Must say that I am very happy with mine. Let me know what the manufacturer is planning to about your rig.

" You have never lived until you've almost died, and for those who has experienced it, life has a flavour the protected would never understand"

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Haven't heard about this one. However, I did find a serious problem on a Quasar II leg strap hardware. It had sharp edges on it. This was rental gear and during my inspection I found that one of the leg straps was cut about 75% through. SCARY. The other was showing about 25% wear. The even more odd part was that we had several, in serial number sequence, rigs and this was the only one that had this problem. It was explained to me then that container manufacturers get their hardware from a completely seperate manufacturer. I guess that hardware just slipped by in the QA process. Not sure where Chute Shop gets their hardware....

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Thanks you. Or I should say my wife thanks you! :)We have 2 Reflex rigs that both had closing flap grommet problems, and an alert was given a couple years ago. I had them fixed right away.

I pride myself in keeping my rigs in tip top shape, but I missed this riser grommet problem on her Jav!
I really never have looked at riser grommets that closely.
DZ Dale ...I owe you a beer! Thanks for the heads up!

"Slow down! You are too young
to be moving that fast!"

Old Man Crawfish

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Dale

This is the same problem that I reported previously on a Vortex. As a matter of fact the other guy's (you actually know him) loop was very worn through. If it hadn't been spotted when it was.... :o

I read the notes from the riggers meetings (you can ask for them at any UK DZ). Always a good idea to know about ALL the issues, not just the recalls and safety bulletins.

As I mentioned in my post, Vortex owners should also check the brass knurl on the reserve hard housing. I also stand by what I said about the resale value of Vortexes. There is a Vortex II on sale right now on uk.rec for £2000. It only has 50 jumps on it (reserve and cypres never used). Why is this rig with only 50 jumps now worth £900 less than the new price? A 30% depreciation after only 50 jumps...

Will

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