Petzl voluntary recall

[pigwot]

Saw this on a rescue equipment site. Did a quick search here for 'Petzl recall' and didn't see anything about this:

Manufacturer's Update - Petzl Voluntary Recall

Partial quote, from Petzl's website:

Clearfield, Utah (October 18, 2006) Petzl America voluntarily announced a recall of Petzl M34 BL Am'D BALL-LOCK and M36 BL WILLIAM BALL-LOCK carabiners with the new metal locking sleeve due to the possibility that the sleeve can be unlocked without pressing the green button, so the locking system acts as a TWIST-LOCK, instead of a BALL-LOCK. Affected units were sold during March and July, 2006. No incidents or injuries have been reported. This information does not apply to the older nylon-sleeve locking system, but only to BALL-LOCK carabiners with the metal locking sleeve manufactured in March and July, 2006. This recall is in effect only in the USA - it does not affect BALL LOCK carabiners sold in other countries

 

[RedlineIt]

Thanks for the heads-up, Pigwot!

Affected units were sold during March and July, 2006. No incidents or injuries have been reported.

That's some pretty confoozifying language from Petzl. They must have meant manufactured during March and July '06. They have no way of knowing how long stock may sit on the retailers shelf.

I checked out the entire recall notice on Petzl's website, it includes batch numbers and I have/had one!

I gave it the field test they recommended, and the locking ball-stem got severed by the metal sleeve like it was made of cheeze! (Aged cheddar, not camembert, but cheeze nonetheless.) Ball and spring popped out on the floor like the clicker on ten-for-a-dollar ballpoint pen!

Piece of crap. Anyone using the Petzl ball-lockers check their website for the batch numbers.


RedlineIt

 

[begleytree]

Good looking out!
Mine are all nylon sleeved, so I'm good.
check your 'biners folks!!
-Ralph

 

[RedlineIt]

Awk! I have (had) two other Petzl AM'D ball-lockers NOT included in their batch numbers and just gave them the same field test. They both failed the same way!

It took a little more force to break them than the first one, and Petzl says not to use excessive force while doing this test, but it was definitely not difficult to make the sleeve rotate through the "locking ball" totally ruining the 'biner for any sort of climbing. I now have three really big key-chain rings.

Petzl: expand your recall! These metal sleeved ball lockers are not robust enough for the intended application.

Note: I have some older nylon sleeved Petzl William ball lockers, they withstand the field test most satisfactorily.


RedlineIt


Thanks again Pigwot, you may well have saved me and others on this website a bad moment...or worse.

 

[pigwot]

I was in a rush to get out the door earlier; just got in; the link for the Petzl announcement is at:

http://en.petzl.com/petzl/ProNews?News=160

Check your 'biners, and mention it in other forums, too, as the recreational climbers ought to be made aware of this.
Thanks,
pigwot

 

[fhfr436]

Petzl date coding

As far as the manufacture date, Petzl date codes their hardware with an "Individual Code", which should be on the spine of the carabiner. It is formatted thus: YY DDD A IIII, where YY is the year of manufacture, DDD is the date (only three digits??), A is a "control" and IIII is "incrementation".

See the Technical Notices for the William and the Am'D:
http://en.petzl.com/ProduitsServices/M36BL_WILBL_M36502-C.pdf
http://en.petzl.com/ProduitsServices/M34BL_AmDBL_M34502-C.pdf

 

[pigwot]

fhfr436
Another Michigander; seems there are a lot of you on this site. My parents have run a day camp for children in the Ann Arbor area for the past 57 years. I'll be heading out there late spring to do about two weeks of tree work to ensure the safety of all those kids on their 40 acres. They had a nice sized oak fall into the lake recently:

 

[046]

thanks for the warning!!

thank goodness all mine have plastic sleeve

 

[MrRecurve]

I just tested my half dozen of these carabiners, even tho they didnt fall in the two batches, and they all failed!

They have been returned to place of purchase and replaced with the twist lock Petzl Am'd's.

So much for North America only, I urge all Australians with these crabs to test them!

 

[Ekka]

You know, I read a darned article a few years ago about climbing biners. I think the article was written in UK by OHS.

They investigated biners in climbing and the various actions and potential failures.

They concluded that twist lock or tri-lock sucked and screw gate were the safest to use. They made recommendations for industry to go back to the screw gates.

Why the screwgate?

Coz it's easy to check. And it would take many wraps or rubs of the rope/branches to spin it all the way down so the gate can open unlike half a twist on these other biners.

I just cant locate that article, bugger!

 

[Jim1NZ]

In New Zealand they sell them also. Mate had one, on the very first climb the ball popped out of the bina useless.

Watch out for these!

I think the problem with crew gate binas is people forgetting/ not bothering to actually screw up the gate - single lock then isn't it...

 

[arboralliance]

Well...

Have had students rock up to class with the placky gated ball locks and I've failed them on the spot brand noo state ouda da box cuz the hairline crack was there from dot so be ware o them placky gates ball lock toooooooooo...

Me had them fail also when getin a little old, am right there with ya Ek, agree whole heartedly as you know with the screw gate theory oposing the tri/duo auto lock gates...

(Its hot and sunday so am sluring muh writing)

 

[Remington0404]

i wish i would have seen this post before.. I was climbing about 2 weeks ago, about 70 feet up in a cherry tree, and heard the beautiful sound of a carabiner slapping shut. i checked them out while i was up there turned out they both just twisted and opened. ( guess it shows how valuable a proper gear check is) but i bought both of mine on october second from sherrill i didn't get the batch numbers, but sherrill switched them out for the push and twist verision.

 

[PowersTree]

Thanks for the info. I have one from this batch. Glad that Sherril notified us!!

 

[Familytreeguy]

Many Thanx

My son and I have about 4 each of these. Sure going to check them out. Thanks again and remember " It's not the fall that hurts but that sudden stop at the bottom ".

Familytreeguy

 

[PowersTree]

Check your biners guys.........mine failed. Has been replaced. Thank you!!!

 

[Tiger98]

The biners with the plastic sleeves are worth a check, too. We took a closer look at the ball lock type that we use to see if they were in the recall. Looks like the repeated opening causes that tiny hairline crack in the plastic, maybe trying to open it before it's completely unlocked. A good reminder to check all equipment, biners or not.

 

[SRT-Tech]

plastic has no business being anywhere in a carabiner. :bang:

 

[juniorgilman]

They concluded that twist lock or tri-lock sucked and screw gate were the safest to use. They made recommendations for industry to go back to the screw gates.

Why the screwgate?

Coz it's easy to check. And it would take many wraps or rubs of the rope/branches to spin it all the way down so the gate can open unlike half a twist on these other biners.


When I used to rock climb in College, we used screw lock biners, but we used them in tandem and turned them opposing each other so that a rub that could loosen one would tighten the other, always giving you a back up.

JR