Petzl stop life

[Getwet]

Was just reading the post on harness life, got me thinking about life of a Petzl stop descender :roll:

I bought mine second hand, from a trusted source. Had been used regularly for 4-5 years, looks well used but otherwise can visually see no problems.

Is it due for replacement :?:

 

[Titch98]

Stop Descenders are fairly robust and do "live" for quite a while - all depends on usage. However, after saying that, note that Petzl only cover these items with a 3 year guarantee.

Petzl reccommend that a Stop Descender is checked every time before use (common sense...) and in addition, thoroughly inspected every 12 months by a qualified inspector (anyone know of any of these locally?? What I do currently is send my units back to Petzl for inspection....). The Inspection is logged and is a requirement for the guarantee after the initial 12 month period (not a lot of people realise this - bit like a new car.....if you don't comply with manufacturers service policy, the warranty is void).

Checks that you should undertake before use are:
- Condition of the fixed and moving sideplates
- The condition of the friction components (Cam Groove & Sheave)
- Condition of the locking components (Safety Catch & sideplate Nuts)
- Operation of the Cam and Safety Catch Springs

Finally you should carry out an operational check (the basic unlocking check on a rope) before commiting further on a pitch.


The good news is, if the internals of the Stop are showing signs of wear, these can be replaced individually. If your plates are in a questionable state, then it is highly reccommended that the entire unit is replaced.

Finally, this is taken from the Petzl Stop technical data sheet:

"Descender tested and approved for 100 descents of 100 m height with a 75 kg body or equivalent energy descent where W=mghn=7.5 10(6) J (m: mass in kg - g: gravity 9.81 m/s2 - h: height in m - n: number of descents)"

So, now we can all work out the life of our Stop descenders!!!!

 

[cap n chris]

Yep. 10km of abseiling.

 

[SamT]

the way I see it is, unless the sideplates are bent or showing signs of severe wear or the cams are very badly worn - then its fine.

Can anyone really be arsed to post off their stop for petzl to 'inspect'.

If you 'work' with your stop (high access - tution - rescue) then it might be worth replacing them after a set time as a matter of course.

 

[tubby two]

10k of abseiling? Whats that equate to?

Lets say average good yourkshire pot about 80m total pitches, caving about once a week(ish, say a weekend a fortnight, made up over summer etc.) Makes rough 50 a year, thats 4k per year, so about 2.5 years.
Then again, maybe 80 is a pretty high average, considering all the more horizontal caves too, prehaps it should sverage 40m, 5 years.....

Phew, 4 and still going strong!

Atleast, thats about right for me, but working it out made me wonder how far an average caver travels up and down in a year......?

tt.

 

[George North]

"The way I see it is, unless the sideplates are bent or showing signs of severe wear or the cams are very badly worn - then its fine."

Damn right. As I see it common sense is a far more useful safety measure than following any number of manufacturers instructions.

How many cavers in this country have been killed due to kit failure??
(piss poor ladders and polyprop ropes excluded) :wink:

 

[Titch98]

Can anyone really be arsed to post off their stop for petzl to 'inspect'.

It is a pain, but as mentioned it is a requirement to validate the guarantee (and call me funny if you will, I like to know my kit is under guarantee just in case.......).

Also, I occasionally lend my kit to some of the young adults I work with and who can not currently afford their own. It is for own my peace of mind, more than anything, to know that the equipment is sound.

 

[diggerdog adam]

Tich, i can see where your coming from but what good is a bit of paper when your desender has just failed?

And as far as lending out srt kit my opinion is that this gear is personal, however in the past i have and still do have a spare kit for those times when someone needs to borrow but never my own i guess its just a peace of mind thing.
I recon you do what you think is right and best for you.

 

[Titch98]

And as far as lending out srt kit my opinion is that this gear is personal, however in the past i have and still do have a spare kit for those times when someone needs to borrow but never my own i guess its just a peace of mind thing.

Sorry.....did not make that clear in my post. I do not lend out my personal kit.....that's mine - mine I tell you!!!!

:?

Ahem....I have a couple of spare kits that I use with the young adults I work with. I totally agree with you Digger though.....the kit is personal and if I did loan it out and it got damaged, I think I would cry!

 

[Titch98]

--REPEAT POST DELETED--

 

[paul]

the way I see it is, unless the sideplates are bent or showing signs of severe wear or the cams are very badly worn - then its fine.

I agree with SamT on this one. I usually use a Bobbin (effectively a Stop without the handle/brake) and sometimes a Stop. Both were bought in the 80's and still seem to have plenty of life left in them.

As a matter of course I replace cowstails, etc yearly and the harness when it starts to show signs of wear.

 

[OtherDunc]

Petzl reccommend that a Stop Descender is checked every time before use (common sense...) and in addition, thoroughly inspected every 12 months by a qualified inspector (anyone know of any of these locally?? What I do currently is send my units back to Petzl for inspection....). The Inspection is logged and is a requirement for the guarantee after the initial 12 month period (not a lot of people realise this - bit like a new car.....if you don't comply with manufacturers service policy, the warranty is void).

Me! I am. As the equipment officer for the Irish Cave Rescue Organisation I attended a two day course last year. There's not much to it really, the things to check as as you've listed (Petzl sell a CD with full details of how to inspect their gear). Keeping the original manufacturers info and maintaining a written record of equipment inspection (every 6 months) is the important bit. No it won't help you if your gear fails, but it'll certainly help cover your ass if gear that you might in some way be conceived as responsible for (personal gear lent to friends, or club gear for example) fails.

Dunc

 

[Dave H]

Dunc,

Are you saying that we ought to be able to identify each and every bit of kit. Record where, when and how it was used. When it was formally checked etc.?

What happened to "if it looks a bit dodgy when you're packing it for a trip, chuck it out" (prefereably where skint students can't find it) :wink: I once chucked a rack into the bins at Mrs. Morphetts, Ingleton, and a fresher pulled it out and admitted to me three years later that he was still using it! I had thrown it out when the bars were worn to 2/3rd thickness remaining - when he showed it to me there was only 1/2 thickness left. :roll:

 

[Cave_Troll]

10 km probably isn't that hard to get to.
Cueto is what some 250m on the 1st pitch, so in 1 holiday i probably did 1.5k... It all clocks up. luckilly i use a rack
as for how a stop will fail, why not ask Ben after his failed the other week

 

[Titch98]

as for how a stop will fail, why not ask Ben after his failed the other week

:shock:

So, what happened? Nothing too serious I hope.......

 

[Cave_Troll]

he had an older one with a metal catch at the bottom rather than the newer plastic ones. ( the catch that stops you from opening the face plate).
this is hinged on a ping with a spring to keep it shut. the part of the face plate that surrounds the hinge pin had either corroded or worn out and broken. so rather than being a hole that the hinge pin fits through it was a slot that the hinge pin fits through and can come out of.
so the catch fell off and he cried like a baby, even though he was on the floor.

I have seen a few stops where the aluminium bobbins are so worn that you can see the thread of the bolt through the middle

 

[Fred]

he had an older one with a metal catch at the bottom rather than the newer plastic ones

Having read the thread on Preferential Corrosion I would guess this is the cause of the failure - side plate is aluminium catch is stainless steel. Perhaps why Petzl went over to plastic catches?

 

[Cave_Troll]

i suspect but don't know the pin will probably still be metal

 

[Fred]

i suspect but don't know the pin will probably still be metal

In fact thinking about isn't the whole bottom cam Stainless Steel anyway? So potential for preferential corrosion here ?

 

[SamT]

Hmm - always wondered about 'stainless' steel and preferential corrossion. dont know if it still applies or has such a big effect since clearly stainless is much less reactive than iron and therefore may not have the same electrons to trade. I'll endevor to find out.