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healyje
Apr 13, 2005, 5:46 AM
Post #51 of 59
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Not to be a complete bummer, but amid all the faithful gushing over this product - has anyone considered the possibility this is a design vs. manufacturing problem? I'm not saying it is, but we are all essentially involved in a large scale/real world test of a significant cam redesign and a little more of an objective evaluation of the incident/problem would not seem out of place to me. I for one would have loved to have seen close up photos on the unit and heard exact details of the circumstance and placement.
It's great the service is good, it would be better to know exactly what happened and why...
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vegastradguy
Apr 13, 2005, 2:02 PM
Post #52 of 59
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complete details of it:
i was sitting on the top of the first pitch of Physical Graffitti at belay, my partner was coming up. I was fiddling with my cams as i usually do and i looked at my #2 and saw that two of the lobes were slightly retracted. I picked the cam up, pulled the trigger and the two lobes stuck again, this time even more retracted. i went: "damn, i should have this looked at." and so i did, and i was glad i didnt place it on the pitch, lest i could have possibly lost the unit. it was not dropped, it never hit anything, it was never fallen on. the stem simply shifted to one side and stuck there.
as for my not posting pictures and the like, forgive me, but it never occurred to me to show folks here what was wrong with my cam. why would i? i wanted my cam fixed, so i contacted the manufacturer- sent my cam back to them, and they took care of it. like most climbing companies, i trust that if there was a real design or manufacturing flaw that comes out of this problem, BD will let us all know and handle it appropriately. i'd much prefer that BD know exactly what happened and why than hear theories from the rc.com crowd- after all, they're the ones that have to deal with any fallout from this issue.
my theory is that it was a fluke- what went wrong could have happened on an old BD as well- it was on the stem/double axle, something that is not new to the C4's. However, if BD does tell me what happened to the cam, i'll post here for all those who may be interested.
my advice? check your cams before you use 'em- you should do that anyway...
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onbelay510
Apr 13, 2005, 3:21 PM
Post #53 of 59
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I've had the stem shift on an old Camalot and on a Forged Friend. It has nothing to do with the redesign, it just happens sometimes. Mine have always been easily fixed though.
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healyje
Apr 13, 2005, 4:39 PM
Post #54 of 59
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I've never had it happen on any version of a Friend and if it is a known problem then that it still exists says more about the choices made during the management of redesign process then it does about the new design.
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climbinginchico
Apr 13, 2005, 8:55 PM
Post #55 of 59
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The stems on my C4's do shift, just a little bit. So I'm not surprised by the shift, but I am surprised to hear that they stuck... Mine I can move by hand.
Was the axle slightly bent or something? Interesting situation.
And I do agree completely with VTG on the design/manufacturing flaw. They put so damn much work into them, no way are they going to release something that could break so easily.
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vegastradguy
Apr 13, 2005, 11:14 PM
Post #56 of 59
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its not a known problem. the cam is designed so that there is play along the axles.
at any rate, i got the verdict back from BD- ready?
it was DIRTY. some dirt had managed to find its way in between the axle and the stem along with grunge on the springs caused the problem. BD had it back in working order easily- and yet they still sent me a brand new one which i got today! what a company.
so, all that complaining from me and all i had to do was clean the fucking thing.
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climbinginchico
Apr 14, 2005, 12:53 AM
Post #57 of 59
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hahahaha. Oh well. That damn desert sand... Honestly, that was my first guess when you described it to me. Glad you got the new one.
See if they can mail your old one back to you for posterity's sake. It's not like they are reselling it! :wink:
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healyje
Apr 14, 2005, 4:37 AM
Post #58 of 59
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Well, your sandstone is really coarse and rough on gear over there compared to midwest stone. Not sure how long you've had that particular cam but even knowing it was sand doesn't necessarily make me altogether happy with the design either but it's good to know it's not likely to happen on granite or basalt....
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vegastradguy
Apr 14, 2005, 5:06 AM
Post #59 of 59
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healyje-
the basic design is no different than the old camalots. look at your old camalots and you'll find that they too have play along the axles.
i've had the cam since Christmas, but i've owned regular camalots for three years, and the RR sand has never done this to one of my cams before.
at any rate, just goes to show that regular inspection of gear is a necessity and should not be taken lightly.
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