UKC

Hi,

Looking for some advice.

5 months ago I purchased 3 x FIXE Alien Cams via Amazon from Viba Sport (http://www.vibasport.com/) blue, yellow and green.

They have been used over the summer in the UK, no heavy use, no falls.

2 of the Cams (Blue and Yellow) have either completely (blue) or partially (yellow) seized lobes.

i.e. The Blue cam no longer functions at all. the lobes are seized in a partially contracted position and no amount of pulling the trigger, massaging, or cleaning/wd40 will release them.

The yellow cam has one of the 4 lobes behaving the same way.

Given how new they are, the light use, and no falls, I'm very disappointed.

Is this a common issue, any advice? I'm guessing I'll need to go back to Viba Sport (Spanish) and try to request a replacement, if not, FIXE direct.

thanks in advance for any advice.

In reply to robbiebrookie:

Your logbook shows you have done quite a few routes on sea cliffs in the last five months, did you put them away damp or in the same bag as a rope that had been flaked out on a wet ledge and been contaminated with salt?

In reply to robbiebrookie:

Hi Robin,

Soak them in coke (the fizzy drink kind) for 24 hours and they should come right.

I don't think you'll get very far trying to get them replaced under warranty.

Cheers, Ross.

In reply to EddInaBox:

yep your right - lots of sea cliffs this summer.

although the aliens didn't come out that often. possible that salt in the air/atmosphere has effected them.

I have washed them in fresh water, and used wd40 to clean them - I would expect this to help/improve the situation - but it doesn't.

In reply to ross:

Thanks Ross. I'll give that a go - out of curiosity - what's the magic with coke?

In reply to robbiebrookie:


Phosphoric acid

In reply to ross:

Thanks all.

Some Coca Cola, followed by some patience, followed by some WD40, and some delicate tweaking of the lobes - has brought my Blue Alien back to working condition!

Lesson learnt.

In reply to robbiebrookie:

They seized because of corrosion, likely due to salt spray/moisture. Corrosion is a breakdown of the metal. As it breaksdown it expands and causes things to seize. You've now removed that corroded material allowing it to move again, albeit with less material in there than they originally had. In a worst case scenario you've got some massively weakened cams, but you can't see because it's all internal. I'm not saying yours will be like that at all, but they are definitely weaker, even if only by a millionth of a percent. I'm only pointing this out as you seemed to not realise that salty environments could cause that much damage.

In reply to robbiebrookie:

Daer all who are suggesting WD40, note that WD40 stands for Water Displacing. It is a penetrating oil which works best for getting rid of water. It's not the best lubricant though and something like Metolius's cam lube will be more effective long term. WD is great, but it's not a cure all...

In reply to Casa Alfredino:

It's not the best lubricant though .....

It doesn't need to be. But for that application, it works fine. Especially as it might help to keep the water out in future (QED).

What's is Metolius cam lube made from anyway? I'd put money on it not being made by Metolius themselves, rather it will be a lubricating product produced by a petrochem/chemical company with a Metolius label on it. Dry chain lube, GT85, WD40, Electrolube, dry PTFE spray? I've not idea - WD40 or GT85 works fine on my cams.

Answers on a postcard please....

In reply to Casa Alfredino:


Only the original poster mentioned WD40, nobody suggested it.

In reply to nniff:

Well it says its a wax lubricant. The thing about WD40 is it doesn't last terribly long as it's only a very thin film. I have no doubt that its made by somebody else. As with bike chains which in someways a similar application although even more aggressive, WD40 or GT85 wears off very fast and thicker products do better. All I'm saying is that WD isn't exactly the best as its gone quickly and gives you a false sense of security... and Edd you're right - sorry - it was all the OP posting about WD...

In reply to ross:

Thanks for the Coke suggestion. The problem isn't limited to Aliens. I have had the same issue with my Mastercams a couple of times (and again it was following sea cliff climbing), and I'm guessing that any small cam would be susceptible to the same problem. I have one that is still seized up so it will be good to see whether the Coke suggestion will free it.

Any idea whether Coke will be detrimental to the trigger cords (which are probably nylon)?

Cheers,

Chris

In reply to Chris Sansum:

See this thread for a bit of info from beardy mike about axle and lobe material and corrosion:

http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=625700&v=1#x8142860

In reply to Chris Sansum:

Hi Chris - cord on the Metolius cams is I beleive made from Teijin Technora which is a p-aramid roughly equivalent to Kevlar.

http://www.teijinaramid.com/aramids/technora/

Whilst I wouldn't want to say it with absolute certainty, I would think that you'll be asolutely fine as P-aramids are pretty good with chemical degradation...

In reply to Casa Alfredino:

Sounds scientific enough for me - I will give it a try!

In reply to robbiebrookie:

Hi Robin,

I'd suggest you contact Fixe about it. I think they are still getting the manufacturing right and that could get you some new cams and help them improve the process. I understand that sea salt and moisture is a degrading factor, but I have some serious issues with my yellow cam and it was an obvious manufacturing default. They were really cool about it and got a replacement straight away. One thing is that the cam needs maintenance, the other is that they stopped working altogether even with due care. The reality is that you will find yourself in this situation at the end of every summer season and eventually they will stop working. Whereas my Totems have been working fine (with care and maintenance), as same as Dragon and Camalots (some are over 10 years old and still going strong). So my feeling is that you need to talk to them and explain the issue. If they want to gain market in UK they will have to make them more resistant to UK trad conditions.

In reply to robbiebrookie:

"Some Coca Cola, followed by some patience, followed by some WD40, and some delicate tweaking of the lobes"

.....straight from the klimba sutra