Reserve slider upside down

[unclecharlie95 3]

I'm a newbie rigger and encountered a reserve with the slider mounted upside down. (Smooth side of the grommets was facing up towards the canopy)

Would you correct it? I did and also corrected the next 2 canopies I saw with the same problem! Seems to be quite a few canopies out there like this but I assume the ramifications are slim / none?

BASEstore.it

[likestojump 3]

which way was the tape facing ?

[gowlerk 2,192]

Quote

I'm a newbie rigger and encountered a reserve with the slider mounted upside down. (Smooth side of the grommets was facing up towards the canopy)

I'm curious why you feel this is wrong. Did you see this is a manual somewhere, or is it just something someone told you?

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

[sundevil777 102]

Quote

Smooth side of the grommets was facing up towards the canopy

Why would that be wrong? It would seem to be right to me, but I'm not a rigger.

P. 34 of the PD reserve manual shows a pic that looks to clearly show that the smooth side is towards the canopy.

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

[unclecharlie95 3]

sundevil777

Quote

Smooth side of the grommets was facing up towards the canopy

Why would that be wrong? It would seem to be right to me, but I'm not a rigger.

P. 34 of the PD reserve manual shows a pic that looks to clearly show that the smooth side is towards the canopy.

Which PD manual are you looking at? The manual I have shows the smooth side (without the lip) towards the container.

BASEstore.it

[jerolim 7]

Tape has to face canopy!

[sundevil777 102]

unclecharlie95

***

Quote

Smooth side of the grommets was facing up towards the canopy

Why would that be wrong? It would seem to be right to me, but I'm not a rigger.

P. 34 of the PD reserve manual shows a pic that looks to clearly show that the smooth side is towards the canopy.

Which PD manual are you looking at? The manual I have shows the smooth side (without the lip) towards the container.

I just looked at the manual on their website. Perhaps I'm misinterpreting the picture. I'm the wrong person to be saying what's right, just wanted to point out that there is a pic on their manual.

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

[riggerrob 643]

Slider grommets are not the only way to determine if a slider is right-way-up.
Tapes are more important. Tapes should face up, towards the canopy. The theory is that if stitching fails, fabric will
will be blown up, to press against tapes, keeping fabric attached to grommets.

[fcajump 164]

gowlerk

Quote

I'm a newbie rigger and encountered a reserve with the slider mounted upside down. (Smooth side of the grommets was facing up towards the canopy)

I'm curious why you feel this is wrong. Did you see this is a manual somewhere, or is it just something someone told you?

The theory on the grommets direction is that the smooth side should face the direction of motion (i.e. down the lines, towards the container) so that any irregularities, bumps, ridges, etc are on the 'back side' and not causing drag, extra friction and/or wear on the lines.

Taking both of these notions in mind, if you find a conflict (i.e. binding up but not smooth grommet down), I would contact the canopy mfg and ask which they want. They designed, tested and certified it. So it should be their way.

JW

Always remember that some clouds are harder than others...

[unclecharlie95 3]

Thank you for the replies

BASEstore.it

[sundevil777 102]

Quote

The theory on the grommets direction is that the smooth side should face the direction of motion (i.e. down the lines, towards the container) so that any irregularities, bumps, ridges, etc are on the 'back side' and not causing drag, extra friction and/or wear on the lines.

Especially during early stages of opening (slider up high), I would think the lines are wrapped around more of the radius of the grommet that faces the canopy, so that would be more critical to have the "smooth" side. That would match what I think is shown in the latest PDR manual. That is just me doing easychair thinkin', it will be interesting to hear from more authoritative sources.

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

[fcajump 164]

sundevil777

...it will be interesting to hear from more authoritative sources.

Absolutely.
Anyone from a canopy mfg wish to pipe up?

JW

Always remember that some clouds are harder than others...

[parachutist 2]

sundevil777

Quote

The theory on the grommets direction is that the smooth side should face the direction of motion (i.e. down the lines, towards the container) so that any irregularities, bumps, ridges, etc are on the 'back side' and not causing drag, extra friction and/or wear on the lines.

Especially during early stages of opening (slider up high), I would think the lines are wrapped around more of the radius of the grommet that faces the canopy, so that would be more critical to have the "smooth" side. That would match what I think is shown in the latest PDR manual. That is just me doing easychair thinkin', it will be interesting to hear from more authoritative sources.

I heard another explanation years back. It went something like this:

=== foggy memory recollection ===
When sliders come down hard during terminal openings, they slam into the links at the bottom with a lot of force, even if bumpers are installed. The link acts as a hammer, just like when the grommets are getting set at the factory. So you want the grommet parts to get hammered together instead of apart, and that's why the smooth side is up.
=== /fog ====

[masterrigger1 2]

Quote

I'm a newbie rigger and encountered a reserve with the slider mounted upside down. (Smooth side of the grommets was facing up towards the canopy)

A couple of manufacturers; past and present, install the grommets the opposite way that the rest of the manufacturers do. Flight Concepts International (previously Glide Path) is one of them.

MEL

Skyworks Parachute Service, LLC
www.Skyworksparachuteservice.com

[IJskonijn 45]

I thought the whole goal of bumpers was to prevent the grommets from being damaged by the hard links.

And in todays world of slinks, I doubt that's still a relevant consideration.

[chutem 0]

Should the rigs in question be grounded until this is sorted out?

[parachutist 2]

IJskonijn

I thought the whole goal of bumpers was to prevent the grommets from being damaged by the hard links.

And in todays world of slinks, I doubt that's still a relevant consideration.

The hammer force I was mentioning referred to assembly/disassembly action, not damage. Grommets start out as 2 pieces and they get pressed or hammered together into 1. If they get knocked the other direction, they can come apart. Lines could get caught in the new gap, which wouldn't be good.

Bumpers are there to prevent dings, gashes, and dents in the grommets. It's a different sort of damage.

Soft links are relatively new. Many canopies still use metal links, and most sliders were not designed to be used specifically with them.



Some evidence that current canopy designs were not engineered for soft links:

[inline 20150417_163313s.jpg]


Metal links have a small diameter, so small finger trap loops were designed to fit onto those metal links. Along came soft links which are bulkier: they need to pass through those same small loops twice. Sometimes maybe these fat soft links didn't go through the small loops easily because the gear wasn't designed for them.