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Matt's
climber
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Topic Author's Original Post - Mar 18, 2014 - 12:35pm PT
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Was bounce testing a blue/green fixe offset alien last weekend. This piece was about a year old, little use and no falls. The piece popped, and the cam fell apart (see picture) .
as you can see one of the pieces that hold the lobes onto the head came off.
Is this a warranty issue? Or are these cams expected to not always survive bounce testing?
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Rollover
climber
Gross Vegas
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Mar 18, 2014 - 12:38pm PT
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No picture Matt
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Mar 18, 2014 - 12:47pm PT
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Absolutely a warranty issue and one that you should address IMMEDIATELY.
Lots of folks are using these units and need to know if they aren't reliable.
Take the time now to remember the circumstances that lead to the failure as clearly and precisely as possible and report the details to Fixe promptly.
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Matt's
climber
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 18, 2014 - 12:47pm PT
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Woops give me an hour, can't seem to upload the picture off my phone.
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Rollover
climber
Gross Vegas
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Mar 18, 2014 - 12:49pm PT
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Like this??
Photos might be CCH though (pre-Fixe)..
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Matt's
climber
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 18, 2014 - 01:00pm PT
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no, see attached picture.
Also these are the new aliens, not the old ones.
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Matt's
climber
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 18, 2014 - 04:12pm PT
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I found a contact at Fixe Hardwear (kevin), and emailed him, I will see what he says.
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Jon H
Trad climber
Teaneck, NJ
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Mar 18, 2014 - 05:39pm PT
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Please post an update once you hear back.
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couchmaster
climber
pdx
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Mar 18, 2014 - 06:52pm PT
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Wow, talk about keeping the original's standards up.....or down. At least anyone who misses the CCH Aliens can get a set of these and feel at home.
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climbski2
Mountain climber
Anchorage AK, Reno NV
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Mar 18, 2014 - 09:00pm PT
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Yeah definitely a warranty issue.. fortunately this type of failure wouldn't be as likely to kill you as some others.
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briham89
Big Wall climber
san jose and south lake tahoe, ca
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Mar 18, 2014 - 10:49pm PT
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I'm going to erase those pictures form my mind and continue to live in ignorant bliss haha
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justthemaid
climber
Jim Henson's Basement
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Mar 18, 2014 - 11:18pm PT
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Bizarre- that's the first defective one I've heard of since Fixe took over.
The photos from '07 are CCH/pre-Fixe I believe.
I'm sure you'll be hearing from Kevin soon.
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
Nothing creative to say
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Mar 19, 2014 - 12:45am PT
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Can you post the batch number, or pic?
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Scrubber
climber
Straight outta Squampton
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Mar 19, 2014 - 12:47pm PT
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I've seen another one (of the new FIXE ones)like that. The little threaded ring that keeps the cams on the axle had stripped and could be pulled right off of the end without turning counter-clockwise. Over-tightened at the factory? Poor tolerance between the threaded components? Who knows...
They only seem to be held on with "permanent" locktite (thread-locker) so as to not bind the cams. A bit of solder in there from the factory would certainly give some peace of mind. If yours don't spin by hand, I certainly would NOT recommend trying to turn or tighten it with pliers. Once the bond of the threadlock is broken, it needs to be thoroughly cleaned out and reapplied.
K
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JLP
Social climber
The internet
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Mar 19, 2014 - 12:53pm PT
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These pix crack me up. F'aliens. F*#k everything about those cams.
I don't see any sort of threading, stripped or otherwise, in the OP's pix. Suggesting they are glued? If so, that's just hilarious. Have fun falling on your glued cams. I'm sure they stay together just awesome in their laboratory test fixtures.
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Matt's
climber
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 19, 2014 - 01:20pm PT
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Update
I talked to Kevin, the US importer of the fixe aliens.
He graciously agreed to send me a new cam. He is sending the broken one to the manufacturer in Spain.
From talking to him, it seems like there is a side where the endcap is threaded on, and there is a side where the endcap is press-fit on. It looks like the endcap sheared off of on the press-fit side.
I will still climb with fixe (and totem) aliens, I think they are both great products.
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JLP
Social climber
The internet
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Mar 19, 2014 - 01:32pm PT
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The precision required for a good press fit and nothing else holding it together at that size seems like a really bad design. Straight off the ANSI fit chart (there are other charts), the range is 0.016mm or about 0.0006 inch for a chosen fit near that size of shaft/collar. Controlling to those specs for something as cheap as a cam seems impractical, expensive and difficult at any volume. The visible finish on the shaft indicates nothing near this kind of precision was even attempted. Thus, they obviously f*#ked it up. Have fun with your replacement. I had pretty much zero trust before for these cams, now I have even less!
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Mar 19, 2014 - 03:22pm PT
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Thanks for sharing Kevin Daniels' response - sounds good.
There can be a lot of force on the end nuts/caps.
I wonder why they chose the press fit attachment when the tolerances make it difficult to do accurately.
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LilaBiene
Trad climber
Technically...the spawning grounds of Yosemite
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Mar 19, 2014 - 05:23pm PT
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Oh, ugh. I've been drooling over these for a year and a half, just waiting until I could afford/justify the expense. Seems I need to do a bit more homework...at least the weather in NE is cooperating. ")
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JLP
Social climber
The internet
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Mar 19, 2014 - 06:19pm PT
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So I've thought about this for a few minutes - I think this is actually pretty serious. This design flaw seems to be present on all sizes.
I don't know whether to laugh at the fanboys dumb enough to continue buying this cam, or be horrified for the lives of those who don't know any better.
Who would have guessed a design and manufacturing process conceived in a WY meth induced haze would have done any better under an organization whose core competence is stamping their name on bolt hangers.
I would suggest you do the community a favor and NOT send that cam back to Fixe, instead file a complaint with:
http://www.cpsc.gov/
Good luck,
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