Aluminium ring failure causes fall in comp. Sherrill Recall.

TrevMcRev

A competitor at the MichiganTCC had an aluminum ring break during competition. Sounds like the injuries are not serious, though could have been!!! He fell 10-20' according to witnesses.

The ring was on his suspension bridge of his petzl sequoia, but was not a Petzl ring. It was where his system was attached to during the work climb. He was making the final descent onto the landing target when it broke. He swung down and was swinging one direction in order to slowly run back over and down to the target.

It was described as the same type Sherrill have announced a recall on (see attachment) They are unmarked, polished alloy-not coloured.

DISCARD ANY RING IN QUESTION!!!
PLEASE BRING THIS TO EVERYONES ATTENTION!!!!

Attached Thumbnails

 

Attached Files

Ring Recall-NoticeLetterV2.pdf (199.0 KB, 50 views)

Straw

I had ordered a set of large and small rings from WesSpur and received this in the mail yesterday.

Straw

Here is the follow up letter WesSpur sent me.

You are receiving this letter because our records indicate that you have purchased one of the following from WesSpur in the past:

Small Aluminum Ring (CLI902) Large Aluminum Ring (CLI911) Friction Saver Prusik (CLI211)

Recently it has come to light that 2 similar rings have failed while in use by a climber. The rings that failed were not supplied by WesSpur Tree Equipment, Inc., but another Arborist supply company. The rings that failed were, according to that vendor, not marked (laser etched with a batch number or kN rating) and we do not know if they were made in the same factory as the ones that WesSpur sells. The rings that failed were Kong rings, the ones that we sell are supplied through a different distributor and are not Kong rings. There is some speculation that Kong outsourced the manufacturing of the rings in question to the same factory that supplies our distributor, but we have no evidence of that, and our distributor does not think that this is the case.

Another issue that has surfaced is that the rings which failed were not individually tested, and possibly not even batch tested. The rings that WesSpur has sold in the past have been batch tested. What this means is that a certain percentage of the rings in each batch are destructively tested. According to our distributor they have never had an aluminum ring break below 6,800 lbs, well above the 5,000 lb that is required. Our distributor does not feel that a recall of marked rings is necessary based on the information that they have. However, we are voluntarily recalling all unmarked aluminum rings.

We strongly recommend that you follow the procedure to return any unmarked rings to us or disposing of them permanently.

We will replace or refund you for any unmarked rings that were purchased from WesSpur. In addition if you have a marked ring that you would like replaced or if you would like a refund for them we will also gladly do that. It is not necessary to prove that they came from us; we will take back, within reason, any unmarked aluminum rings. We are confident that the marked rings are safe to use based on information from our vendor, but are doing this for anyone who would like. Return shipping will be paid for aluminum rings and friction saver prusiks only. If you have a shipping question please call us at 800-268-2141.

Please include the enclosed return form with any return and indicate if you would like a replacement or a refund, also include the amount you paid for shipping back to us, up to $5.00 and we will refund that as well. We recommend priority mail for shipping back to us. If you choose to have a replacement we will send you individually tested aluminum rings at no cost.

Going forward we will be selling only individually tested aluminum rings. Individual testing involves proof loading each ring to 60% of the required breaking strength or 3,000 lbs. Of course the cost will be higher due to the amount of manual labor involved, but we feel that it will be a very small price to pay for the added assurance and confidence to the end user.

One note on testing: individual testing is not necessarily the standard for every product used in tree climbing. Items such as rope, saddles, pulleys and many other items are not generally individually tested, but are still considered very safe due to batch testing. Our vendor has agreed to have all aluminum rings that we buy from them tested individually and will be marking all future rings as individually tested. It should be noted that there have not been problems that we know of with other aluminum rings such as ones used by Buckingham (in friction savers) Petzl, or Weaver (Cougar saddle.) If you have any questions about rings please feel free to call us.

We apologize for any inconvenience caused by this recall, but we feel it is the prudent thing to do at this point.

Best Regards,
Ryan Aarstol

WesSpur Tree Equipment, Inc.


Straw,

MTS247

We may be victims of trying to be faster and lighter, should make everone double check their aloy stuff.

Just got my Tree motion, i love it, but there does seem to be some serious weight saving measures including some quite small aloy bits hmmm.

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"Just cause i don't use it, don't make it wrong!"

(WLL)

any others have a lot of time/ money tied up with home built equipment using the junk rings? this issue has me upset cause i have many spliced products which i have hand spliced myself, and now i need to throw away time and money from my equipment. I'm going to call Monday and hope sherrill will b willing to work something out with me on this annoying costly problem. every splice i have made is done with manufactures specs, the material & rings are from sherrill. I'm hoping i can send all my tools involving the junk rings and have them remake them with the correct rings. i cant understand how such a safety orientated company would ever even offer a cheap unrated ring used in life support!! i cant tell ya ll how many times Ive been 80+ft aloft hanging from them little rings, thank GOD these unfortunate climbers were not killed from this stupid mistake. shame on any and all companies offering an unrated life support product for work or rec!!! I'm fkn pissed anywhoo ill keep everyone posted with the outcome of my problem, n c where it goes.

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Harder than theTH, and his pack of goons

MTS247

I thought it was kongs issue? rather than the retailer. but i'd be p!$$ed aswell.

__________________
"Just cause i don't use it, don't make it wrong!"

(WLL)

never in my life have ever saw a Kong tool that was not certified or load rated, even the rings are very nice with numbers logos and all! the only things that Kong makes that are not work certified are there recreational rock harness, but are still tested and load rated. as far as i know Kong does not have a recall on any of there products. its sherrill, wesspur, and prolly a few other arborist supply companies that bought some cheap Chinese outsourced untested rings. i have 2 rings that look like they are cast, and they came from sherrill! they have a seam they didn't polish off left from the mold or some strange reason the rings are on the art ropegide, saddle, friction savers, and a bunch of other goodies. this really stinks!!! be safe people

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Harder than theTH, and his pack of goons

TrevMcRev

ART ropeguides should have "ART 28 KN" etched onto the outer side of the ring.

It is obvious on a new one, but could be vulnerable to wearing off.

Levi Parkin

According to the recall notice, the rings were sold/shipped by KONG, but were not made by KONG. If you get a box of equipment from such a reputable company, why would you ever assume that there is any problem with them? It's a shame that Sherrill sold these products and that they failed, but it was KONG that failed to test them, as to my understanding. Also, I don't believe that Wesspur sells these rings, they just said that if you feel unsafe with the rings that were sold by them, they would replace them, which I find to be extremely respectable.

(WLL)

is is rated , just as u say imo art is the the good stuff

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Harder than theTH, and his pack of goons

Gunslinger

I agree, when purchasing from a trusted manufacturer you would expect that the components that they purchase from their suppliers would be up to the required standard for that product. IMO KONG should have some quality control standards in place to keep this from ever happening since someone's life could be at stake. I also agree about Wesspur, they've proven time and time again that they're a class operation.

(WLL)

after the warning i inspected my rings and found a spot that looks like the ring started to rip, no sign of a ding, scratch, cut, or any other damage. looks like a tiny rip. its the ring with the groove or seam on the outer center edge.

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Harder than theTH, and his pack of goons