Tips on using high pressure air bags

[rescuelt4]

If you were going to teach a class about high pressure airbags, what are some tips or
techniques you would relay to the students ?
ie: bag placement, lifting points, ect.

[FFMike9]

A few tips and techniques we teach our people are always follow the manufacturers recommendations.

Never stack more than 2 bags.

Inflate bottom bag first.

One person mans the controls & one gives orders for inflation/deflation.

We use plywood shims cut to the sizes of our bags and put them between the ground and bag
when lifting.

Always try and find something solid to lift against.

Stay away from exhaust system components when lifting under a vehicle.

I hope this helps.
Mike

[mike m]

stabilization all the time use enough cribbing,if you lift an inch crib it.never inflate the bags to the height desired then start to crib.have an ample supply of various cribbing material.you'll find that 2 foot 4 x 4 s are a good choice to start with. mike m

[86Rescuetech]

All the above points are correct. You will need a lumber truck to lift anything more than a mid-size vehicle, depending on the application. A few points I might add is; 1) Keep a constant supply of air on hand. Running out of air at a crucial time sucks. 2) Select the proper bag for the lift. Check the ratings on the bag, most only lift their full weight one inch. 3) Sometimes you might need to add a high-lift or railroad jack for extra support. 4) And always, use a barrier between the ground and the surface you may be lifting. Having a bag fail is not cool, even in training. Hope this helps. Be safe.

[86Rescuetech]

All the above points are correct. You will need a lumber truck to lift anything more than a mid-size vehicle, depending on the application. A few points I might add is; 1) Keep a constant supply of air on hand. Running out of air at a crucial time sucks. 2) Select the proper bag for the lift. Check the ratings on the bag, most only lift their full weight one inch. 3) Sometimes you might need to add a high-lift or railroad jack for extra support. 4) And always, use a barrier between the ground and the surface you may be lifting. Having a bag fail is not cool, even in training. Hope this helps. Be safe.

[resqtek3]

If you are teaching classes on airbags you may want to cover more than one type, especially if you are teaching to personnel outside of your department. The industry has advanced and there are many different types of bags out there now. Most importantly though is to use 2 safeties whenever possible. Cribbing is a must, however at many times personnel do not look at the whole picture. When lifting you need to prevent an object from falling by cribbing under it, but what about moving from side to side due to wind or improper bag placement or even worse a load shift. I always try to run tag line off of each side of the objet to insure stability. Another good idea is to always find where your pivot point will be and try to crib that point so it is solid and you control the lift from start to finish. If this is not done at many times the suspension for example could give and fail causing your lift to shift and lose the load.
Two Safeties Send You Home. Tim