GLIDER QUICK RELEASE UNIT SPRINGS

It is amazing just how much we take Springs for granted. They are an integral and essential part of our daily life and get pushed, clicked, twisted, pulled, bent, unbent and generally manipulated in switches, engines, doors, computers, medical equipment, carpet sweepers, divers mechanical devices (including glider release units) - the list is endless - without complaint every second of every day and not a single thought do we give them - until they break! Then we have difficulty in finding enough nasty names to call them. A broken spring is the most common form of QR Unit failure and should it fail not only do you lose the flight - at best you will lose most of the day and at worst, the time taken to obtain a replacement unit. The life of any spring is, of course, finite and premature failure is almost always caused by localised stressing. These localised stresses can be initiated in a number of ways:

1. Poor surface quality, usually corrosion.

2. Wear which reduces the cross sectional area of the spring material. Usually the result of using a nice thick grease as a lubricant which, when combined with 4. below, becomes an excellent grinding paste.

3. Inadequate (or complete lack of) stress relieving when manufactured - applicable to those home made springs.

4. Mud and dirt which prevents the spring from changing dimensions when operated so that all the loads are concentrated at the base of the spring leg(s).

THE MORAL OF THIS STORY IS: REGULAR CLEANING AND LUBRICATION. HOW OFTEN DEPENDS ON THE ENVIRONMENT - TOO OFTEN IS BETTER THAN NOT OFTEN ENOUGH. AVOID GREASE AS A LUBRICANT - USE AEROSHELL 3 OR EQUIVALENT. AVOID HOME MADE SPRINGS UNLESS YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY SURE THEY HAVE BEEN CORRECTLY FORMED AND STRESS RELIEVED.

Replacement spring kits available for all series of Ottfur releases