As it says, i found out the hard way my recon activation ball was jammed!

now when u are learning, having a nice safety system like the recon is piece of mind, untill it doesnt activate when u are being "flown" along the water like a surface-to-air missle!
Now, my question is... "is this a common thing with the 2004 RECON bar?" the little red ball (activation ball) is catching somehow, i think on the top of the black sliding area for the bar.
Its kinda hard to explain without pictures, but basically it means the ball cant be pulled down to release the system, and i have to activate it by the lil string from the ball to the recon sleave.
Has anyone modified the activation system, or had the same problem? I'd like to fix this before my next session.
Thanks for any help in advance,
Sheppo..