URGENT SAFETY RECALL NOTICE
STOP USE AND RETURN FOR INSPECTION AND UPGRADE
Notice Date: October 21, 2019
Manufacturer: C3 Manufacturing
Affected Product: Perfect Descent™ Auto Belay Model 220 Indoor, Outdoor, Speed Drive, and Direct Drive units manufactured from February 2017 through April 2019
C3 Manufacturing is announcing a stop use and recall of auto belay units that may contain a material defect that can prohibit the lanyard from retracting. While no accidents have been reported, C3 is voluntarily recalling affected units out of an abundance of caution and consistent with our focus on safety and quality. Our investigation indicates that defects may be present in the material used to manufacture the retraction spring which can result in partial or complete fracture of the spring and loss of retraction force. Complete fracture of the retraction spring will cause the lanyard to stop retracting and, in some cases, the lanyard may “pay out” thereby creating additional slack in the system. Climbing while tethered to a unit with a fractured retraction spring may result in serious injury or death.
C3 Manufacturing requests that you immediately remove all affected auto belays from service and return them to your nearest service center for warranty upgrade of the retraction spring.
All returned units will be upgraded to the new Duplex Spring Design featuring twin retraction springs. This new system comprised of two independent retraction springs will permit the unit to operate in the event of a spring failure. The daily inspection procedure provides a simple method for confirming the dual spring operation.
This notice affects units that are within the following serial number ranges:
I-0970 through I-3109 manufactured February 2017 through November 2018
S-0604 through S-1609 manufactured March 2017 through December 2018
S-1695 through S-1762 manufactured February 2019 through March 2019
D-1015 through D-1385 manufactured June 2018 through December 2018
D-1572 through D-1705 manufactured February 2019 through March 2019
D-1710 through D-1722 manufactured March 2019
D-1726 through D-1751 manufactured March 2019 through April 2019
D-1761 through D-1777 manufactured April 2019
Download and review the full notice. Instructions are provided for remedying recalled units.