steel strop snapped

[conkers]

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Edited March 1, 2011 by John Shutler
language

[Ian F]

Is their any flipline which states a retirement age??

[Taupotreeman]

I had a closer look at mine today. Both the outer sheaths have a bit of wear and tear on them and in one place I can see the wire core with an outer plastic type sheath around it. I can't see any signs of rusting but I'd like someone to give me a definative answer on when a wire core should be retired. If you can see the wire through the outer sheath even though it is still in good nick? There seems to be no actual answer so far. There's the obvious ones such as when the outer sheath is badly damaged or after exposure to chemicals etc but how long should they be in use for and how much use before they are past the best before date. If one man has a strop 10 years old that is well looked after and comes out only on sunny days compared to the man that has one 5 years old but is used everyday in all conditions and under all conditions, which is the safer and less lilely to fail?

[ArbjobsNick]

I'd like someone to give me a definative answer on when a wire core should be retired.

 

Ok having followed this thread and made some comments already I wanted to check with someone higher re industry standards for steel core flip lines so I made a call to Chris Cooper-Abbs NPTC instructor AFAG committee member HSE advisor who was part of the group who helped set up the NPTC Arb LOLER exam.

 

I hope he won’t mind me quoting him but his thoughts were that as I suggested in an earlier post you take the weakest part of the strop as your industry guide. The weakest part being the rope sheath a "textile" item that if you haven’t retired it following your daily, interim or LOLER inspections you should retired your strop after five years of use. If the sheath goes so do you!

 

Unlike most Steel core flip lines the Yale lines are Flemish "spliced" to the eye not crimped bang a crimp with a bit of timber and it might pop open and fail. The most cost effective Yale steel core lanyard is the Maxi flip at about £45 + VAT so let’s say you look after it and it lasts you five years its costing you about ten pounds a year! Let’s get this in to prospective how much did you spend on your mobile phone last year? Will your phone keep you safe in a tree?

 

 

Despite being asked numerous times the climber with the broken Yale line has still failed to produce evidence of any LOLER inspections. Talking to Jamie from Yale that lanyard was last produced nine years ago it may have sat on a retailers shelf for some time but is still well past retirement. My guess is the poor guy who posted this thread thought he was highlighting a safety issue which I applaud him for.

 

It hasn’t quite worked out like that however what it has done is highlight how little some climbers and some LOLER inspectors know about inspecting kit. A worrying issue the industry, NPTC and HSE have to deal with.

[Swedish Dave]

come on boys lets just sit back and think about this for a min.

we are all preaching and argueing over whats right whos wrong etc ..

this is nothing personal but, if im using a product thats had a hard life we all know the conditions we work, and my life was hanging on a product thats roughly 8yrs + i would think im gona replace that before somthing goes wrong .Not saying you should not use products of this age and this is only my opinion but for the sake of 50 quid ish is it worth it the risk. lucky enough there was no major damage .Lets just sit back and think and be safe .

 

Dave

[Nigel]

I thought I would show you what testing a flip-line has to undergo to pass CE EN358. This may answer some of your questions regarding when to retire your line.

Think would my Flip-Line pass this test now?

This test was carried out on the Yale 3m Flip-line with an ISC RP203 Rope grab and fitted with an ISC KH250 Twister Karabiner. The test undertaken was to meet BS EN 358:2000.

 

 

Test 1 - Static Strength

The flip line was tested for static strength on a tensile test machine. The part of the standard requires that the adjustable element (rope grab) be loaded to 5 kN. for 3 minutes. The position of the rope grab on the flip line was marked before and after the test. The amount of slippage during this test was 15mm. The standard allows a maximum of 50mm. The rope grab was then moved to the end of the flip-line to test the strength of the end stop. The standard requires that the adjustable element (rope grab) be loaded to 15 kN. for 3 minutes. = Pass

 

Test 2 - Dynamic Strength Test

The weight drop test rig was used to test the dynamic performance of the rope grab on the flip line. The rope grab was positioned 1m from the karabiner (end of flip-line). The 100kg test weight was positioned level with the karabiner to allow for a 1m drop before the test weight operated the rope grab. The flip-line held the test weight although the rope sheath stripped from the wire-core. The arrest distance was 1.35 metres. The standard requires that the weight be held = pass.

 

 

Static strength & slippage - 5 kN. for 3 min. 50 mm maximum slippage

Static strength end stop - 15 kN. for 3 min.

Dynamic strength - 100 kg drop test. Must hold weight

 

The ISC RP203 Rope Grab is the only mechanical adjuster approved for use with the Yale Flip-Lines.

 

This is the same test required on soft-lanyards. Any one suppling Rope with a karabiner or Snap attached must have it approved to this standard.

To pass and approve a flip-line to CE will cost between £2000.00 to £3000.00.

 

BS EN 358:2000

Personal protective equipment for work positioning and prevention of falls from a height. Belts for work positioning and restraint and work positioning lanyards

When work undertaken at a height is of short duration, or for technical reasons the provision of a working platform, suitable barriers and other similar safeguards is impractical, then safe working at height can be carried out by using personal protective equipment. Equipment written to BS EN 358's specifications is designed either to secure the user safely in position or restrain them to prevent them from falling. The standard applies to belts and lanyards meant for positioning or restraint. It sets out the requirements for testing, marking and the information supplied by the manufacturer.

Edited March 2, 2011 by Nigel

[High Scale]

Thanks Nigel, that's very interesting, are the lanyards tested in batches or once you have passed one, or several, what ever the case may be, does that cover all future lanyards that come out of the factory as long as no manufacturing changes take place?

[Nigel]

Thanks Nigel, that's very interesting, are the lanyards tested in batches or once you have passed one, or several, what ever the case may be, does that cover all future lanyards that come out of the factory as long as no manufacturing changes take place?

 

The CE will cover the specification of the product tested and remains with the product so long as no structual changes are made. Rope colours can be changed and these changes can be written into a technical file, if the rope construction was to change then it would have to be re-tested and re-certified. If a company is ISO Approved there is an on-going test proceedure to ensure consistancy. If the company is not ISO products have to be re-tested on a yearly basis.

[Pete Mctree]

Very good post Nigel. Information like this needs to be easily available. It gives the user a greater understanding of the processes and testing involved in certification

[Jonesie]

Good post Nigel, That will go in the info file on the wall for customers to look through.