Petzl Ball Lock Failure

Roger_Barnett

Roger_Barnett

Participating member
Location
Seattle, in the PNWet
I just had my second of 4 Petzl Ball lock biners fail. The green pushbutton got stuck partway out, then breaks off. These are the new design.

I've emailed Petzl, and expect them to replace all 4, as the problem is unsettling for sure.

I never liked the old design, but never had a similar failure. Did have a couple of the plastic gates break--after lots of use.

I asked Bailey's if they'd had any returns or complaints, they thought not.

How about any of you guys? When the first one popped out, I simply retired it from life support use. But now that a second has broken, I'm less than happy!

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Well, that is now obvious to me, Norm. I also use several other biners.....and like the Triacts a lot.

The only thing holding the "ball" inside is two tiny tabs. My slightly off focus pic shows the broken tab.

Yup, the recall was related to a different problem, but still involved the movement of the ball. Perhaps they were then using a too weak spring.

They should or could retool, perhaps use metal for the ball.
 
A friend gave me the ball lock because he was convinced that it was safer than the tri-acts. After several months, I realized that the green ball was not stopping the gate from sliding over, it would simply slip right over the ball. Retired the carabiner and called the friend to warn him (he had ordered 10 of the same carabiners).

Sticking to the tri-acts....

jp
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treesandsurf, did you send the biners back to either the supplier or Petzl?

When i have a piece of equipment fail in a relatively short period of time I always notify the supplier and send the piece back. This gives them the opportunity to analyze failures and to offer some sort of compensation or replacement.
 
Was this a case of Petlz fixing something that wasn't broken? I have 4 ball locks that I have had for 5 to 6 years and they still work fine. Infact, I have never had a problem with then at all, while I have had issues with my other biners, ie. Tri-acts.
 
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treesandsurf, did you send the biners back to either the supplier or Petzl?


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Nope. I did contact Petzl to warn them of the defect. Never got it replaced; however, I'm sure they would have done so had I pursued it.

jp
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Dang! I was just like'n those. Roger, was there any unusual usage on the biner at all?
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Nope.

It's a design flaw, I'm, sure. The two tabs on either side of the ball are flimsy and bend, allowing the ball/slider to pop out partway. Then it breaks off and falls out when attempting to push it back in.
 
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Dang! I was just like'n those. Roger, was there any unusual usage on the biner at all?
thinking.gif


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Nope.

It's a design flaw, I'm, sure. The two tabs on either side of the ball are flimsy and bend, allowing the ball/slider to pop out partway. Then it breaks off and falls out when attempting to push it back in.

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I agree, design flaw. If you are using these for life support, STOP!
 
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I agree, design flaw. If you are using these for life support, STOP!

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True, as stated, for ANSI Z regulated life safety functions.

However, remember that the "ball" is just a 3rd level safety to prevent accidental unlocking of the 2nd level mechanism - the rotating sleeve on the gate. Assuming the spring-rotation mechanism on the sleeve still works, this is still servicable as a 2-action 'biner. That's perfectly well suited to non-Z regulated tasks. Many "autolocking" 'biners are double-action anyway.
Still more locking 'biners have manual locks (screw collars).
Still more are non-locking.

All are safe, but should only be used for their intended task.
That said, it is poor practice to use broken/malfunctioning gear that could, quite easily, be accidentally used for life safety uses.
 
[quote Assuming the spring-rotation mechanism on the sleeve still works, this is still servicable as a 2-action 'biner. That's perfectly well suited to non-Z regulated tasks. Many "autolocking" 'biners are double-action anyway.
Still more locking 'biners have manual locks (screw collars).
Still more are non-locking.

All are safe, but should only be used for their intended task.
That said, it is poor practice to use broken/malfunctioning gear that could, quite easily, be accidentally used for life safety uses.

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Exactly....but these biners were bought for their double locking action. I need a bunch of them...as I have a couple of friction savers that need two biners each...and like to use 2-3 prussic cords....one each on a couple of lifelines, and a second setup on my saddle for some climbs....plus a couple for ascenders....

For rigging, and speedlining, I use steel spin locks a lot, or simple one action biners for non critical lowering and speedlining.

I did just buy a couple more steel double lockers, as those are nice as a lifeline termination, for the added weight for line advancing.
 
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