Sticky reserve tray

[irishrigger 32]

hi all,
I was given a Teardrop container for repack couple days ago.it was lying up for a couple years,supposedly in a dry room. it was left in my rigging room by the customer.
when i saw the rig initially i noticed that there was a lot of mould on the outside of the container.when i pulled the reserve handle i immediatley noticed that the reserve pilot shute did not launch at all,just the spring extended.i have never seen a poor launch like that before,i put the container on the ground and tried to open the flaps by hand and i noticed that the reserve bridle and the freebag was absolutley stuck and mated to the reserve tray
i have come across a couple of atoms in my time where the inside of the freebag beacme sticky and there was a bulletin out about that.
but i have never come across the actual inside of the reserve tray and flaps being sticky.
i had a good look at the container,and i cant see any obvious signs of anything being spilled onto the rig.so i am a little bit baffled by this.there is mould also on the harness itself.
and i was wondering if anyone came across something like this? the container was manufactured in 1998.
i was going to give the container a wash to see if that would change anything.
so if you have any other ideas or advise it be appreciated.
thanks

rodger

[riggerrob 643]

Mould is telling you to look very carefully at the rest of the rig.
However, my suspicion is that the stickiness is caused by the urethane coating on the inside of the fabric. Several manufacturers (Atom, Javelin, etc.) have recalled containers because of poor quality urethane coating.
Urethane coating was originally designed to water-proof camping equipment made of Para-Pack or Cordura. Water-proofing is not really needed on parachute containers, but it does improve durability of containers.
Urethane can become a problem if it is applied too thick (after it is woven, but long before it reaches parachute manufacturers) if it is rolled on too thick and too soft.
The only long-term cure is to manufacture reserve conatiners with double-layers of fabric so that the urethane never presses on the reserve pilot chute or free-bag.

[theonlyski 8]

He gets a break 'cause hes in Ireland, but theres no 'u' in mold...

"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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[Andy9o8 2]

Quote

He gets a break 'cause hes in Ireland, but theres no 'u' in mold...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_and_British_English_spelling_differences

[irishrigger 32]

my apologies, that is just the irish slang kicking in of course.i pronounce it like that.

[gowlerk 2,249]

We have mould in Canada as well, and we still write cheques, not checks.

gowlerk

Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.

[airtwardo 7]

Quote

Mould is telling you to look very carefully at the rest of the rig.
However, my suspicion is that the stickiness is caused by the urethane coating on the inside of the fabric. Several manufacturers (Atom, Javelin, etc.) have recalled containers because of poor quality urethane coating.
Urethane coating was originally designed to water-proof camping equipment made of Para-Pack or Cordura. Water-proofing is not really needed on parachute containers, but it does improve durability of containers.
Urethane can become a problem if it is applied too thick (after it is woven, but long before it reaches parachute manufacturers) if it is rolled on too thick and too soft.
The only long-term cure is to manufacture reserve containers with double-layers of fabric so that the urethane never presses on the reserve pilot chute or free-bag.

Probably another good reason to keep a rig in a climate controlled area during storage...?

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~