ABS airbags recall of all Steel Cylinders filled between 1/9/2008 to 15/4/2010

A snowHead

ABS are recalling all steel cylinders filled between the dates of 1st Sept 2008 to the 15th April 2010, this is because there is a small chance that the ABS supplier inserted 2 penetration disks during the filling process, this means that they would fail to activate.

Carbon cylinders are not affected, and obviously no other airbag suppliers are affected...

You can check your filling date on the round white sticker that is on your cylinder.

ABS are exchanging all cylinders, and customer who maybe affected should contact the retailer who they got the bag from, or there local retailer.

ABS are contacting all customers from their database over the next few weeks.

ABS have now labeled all new cylinders with a yellow sticker with the new filling date.

A snowHead

Thanks for posting! Wish I had the $ to swap it to a carbon...

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

parlor, there is a special upgrade offer to switch to carbon if your cylinder is affected, check with your retailer its a very good deal.

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I swapped to carbon last winter as I need all the help I can get....

Swapping the steel for a second carbon sounds good if the price is right, trouble is I bought the bag in Switzerland. Anyone know a good retailer in the UK - S&R Bristol didn't seem to know much last time I spoke with them.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

hmm, in the market for an abs style airbag, this is a negative for the ABS system.livetoski, where did you hear this recall info from? Nothing I can see on the abs website and google search only throws up this thread.Have 2 friends who are potentially in possession of the suspect cylinders.

You'll need to Register first of course.

waynos, All ABS retailers have known about this for a little while, ABS only allowed us to go public with it on Friday, all ABS retailers have had the consumer comminication release and are in the process of telling coustomers. I guess but don't quote me on this, that the reason fo the delay was so that ABS could get the correct qty of new cylinders into the market place so the exchanges could take place. I will keep my personal opinion out of this thread if I can!!!!!!!

ABS will themselves contact all coustomers via the warranty scheme on the 16 th Oct.

In the UK essentially there are only two of us who sell any type of numbers of avalanche airbags, myself and Daniel at Snowsafe.co.uk I know Daniel has geared up for this recall as he has been selling ABS for quite a while whereas I sell manily Snowpulse and BCA.

I will copy the ABS press letter across from my system in a new window so everyone can see it.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

ABS recalls steel cartridges for the TwinBag (double airbag) /
Special Offer: Upgrade Steel to Carbon

Dear ABS customer,
With the ABS Avalanche Airbag, you have chosen the most efficient self-rescue equipment in case of an
avalanche. For 25 years ABS has stood for maximum safety and high quality and has reached (with 97 %)
the highest survival rate in avalanche cases. Developments like the ABS TwinBags (dual airbags) avoid
burial in a significantly more efficient way than other systems on the market and the ABS avalanche airbags
are the only airbags that have already proven their life-saving effect hundreds of times. This is just one
more good reason to choose the ABS TwinBags.

ABS continuously carries out quality control measures in order to ensure these critical characteristics are
kept up to date. During the period from the 1st of September 2008 until the 15th of April 2010 though, it
can’t be excluded that our certified supplier inserted two penetration discs during the filling process of a
very few steel cartridges. This causes the steel cartridge not to be punctured which results in the activation
failure of the ABS TwinBag system. ABS Carbon cartridges are not affected!!

As the safety of our customers must not be compromised, ABS recalls all steel cartridges that have been
filled between the 1st of September 2008 and the 15th of April 2010. This filling date can be found
together with the weight on the round white sticker on the cartridge.

Therefore, ABS requires you to exchange your affected steel cartridges
from the 15th of October until the 31st of January 2012
at your ABS dealership. You can find the dealer addresses on our homepage www.abs-airbag.com.

Combine the exchange with a training activation. Activate the steel cartridge before the exchange. Thereby
you check your ABS system and have an additional training activation. This helps you to familiarize yourself
again with the ABS Twinbag system as, in case of an avalanche, you have to be sure what to do. Your ABS
dealership exchanges your activation unit (cartridge and trigger) free of charge against a modified steel
activation unit. The modified cartridges are clearly marked with a yellow sticker. The functioning of your
system is reinsured.

Special Offer: Upgrade Steel to Carbon
From the 15th of October until the 31st of January 2012
In the framework of this recall, we offer to all ABS customers the unique possibility to upgrade to a carbon
activation unit (returning the empty steel cartridge).
With 280 grams, the carbon cartridge is extremely light and offers weight savings of about 50 % compared
to the steel cartridge.
 Upgrade from steel to carbon € 119,00 (instead of the € 285,00)
Take also advantage from this offer if your recommended retail)
ABS steel cartridge isn’t affected by the recall.

(*This price is recommended in Germany, Austria and Italy, for other countries please contact your dealer / distributor)

Please also inform your friends about this necessary exchange of the cartridge and about the possibility to
upgrade.

An avalanche is an extreme situation. The avalanche airbag can only be effective if it is in perfect condition
and if you are familiar with its function.
We apologize for any inconvenience related to the described recall and thank you for your understanding.
We assure you that we will continue to do everything possible in order to provide to you and our joint
customers a safe and reliable product with the highest documented survival rate in the industry.
Best regards,
Your ABS Team

After all it is free

A major reputational hit for a safety product - potentially skiers/riders have done 2 full seasons with a highly expensive but useless back pack. Given that the website recommends that an inspection is only required after 3 years and it is just 3 years since the start of the warning period I hope that that it is not just customer experience on servicing that has led to this discovery. If it is then ABS's QA procedures are going to be called into question. ABS make much of their statistics based on "avalanche victims that initiated their ABS backpacks" - we need to know how many didn't initiate.

I upgraded to Carbon last year and really found the weight saving noticeable and would highly recommend this to others who are running with Steel. Yoda, you mentioned having a second carbon, I dont really understand, the steel cansiter is presumably only for test fire, and then its sent back, why would you want a second carbon canister? In any event talk to the snowshepherd or snowsafe guys and I'm sure they'll sort for you.

I'm firmly of the opinion that the steel recall is nothing to be concerned about (unless you ignore it!!), I reckon ABS has been very proactive in their approach, and the ABS brand is stronger for it. Its always best to be up front in these situations, I discussed with Daniel at Snowsafe and he has all the latest ABS kit in and suggest you call him if you are in the market for ABS, both great companys and I've used both the above for a few years now. The ABS brand's stance on this, like say Audi or Toyota who have had recent recall issues, will do them good in the long term..............many technical products do get recalled, its the way its dealt with thats important IMO. Very Happy

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

However the fact is that ABS have appeared to put business ethics in firstplace by building there stock of cannisters and not going public immediately, especially when you take into account the problem stems back over 3 years. Another question, has anyone had a none detonation and then been buried.

I recall the big avalanche in Val D'Isere where I am certain some bags were not detonated - is this operator error or technical fault?

I personally view this as BAD news, imo. And yes I am aware that at least it has been bought to our attention.

I know I have my replacement cannister here which has been refilled by Daniel and the other in France, I need to check!

Anyway a big thanks to livetoski for bringing this to our attention.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

[quote]during the filling process of a very few steel cartridges.quote]

This is the key statement the arm chair experts needs to remember before jumping on a band wagon.

Without the full information as to what % of parts might actually affected then its impossible to comment.
The same type of mass recall sometimes happens in the automotive industry (car makers with some of the best manufacturing standards in the world have had to do complete recalls because a tiny % of parts failed).

No doubt the internet armchair experts will use this as reason to say BCA or Snowpulse are better.

However

1) ABS have handled the recall correctly, notified the customers. This has to be handled in a timely and controlled maner rather than a panic press release.

2) The reason ABS use gas canisters with explosives is to ensure that the bag deploys. Up until the mid 1990s they used to use compressed air (like BCA and snowpulse). However it was found this has a higher chance of freezing in the pipes.

Personally I would still trust ABS. From what I have read its sounds like a minor QA error resulting in an expensive and embarassing process to locate the small % of failures ?

snow reports

Haggis_Trap,

Haggis_Trap, +1, I agree entirely

You know it makes sense.

livetoski, thanks for making the extra info available to the public. Find it strange ABS couldn't provide this info on their website. I'm in the market for a bag if it wasn't for you publishing this info on snowheads I'd be none the wiser. My friends that purchased ABS bags in Austria certainly haven't been informed by retailers or ABS themselves. I'd be interested to know the time-scale between ABS knowing of the issue and informing the customers / retail network. Surely if there's a new known risk to the device malfunctioning then informing users could come before offering a resolution. At least the individuals can decide if the risk means they don't want to trust the bag until the problem is resolved. Devices like this live by their reputation, maybe the risk of the issue was very small but some hard facts would help rather than terms like "very few".

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

I suspect there are a number of reasons why ABS have not yet publicly announced the recall.

1. Many ski equipment suppliers don't get their stock in until September/October and so would probably not have the extra spare parts until then.

2. ABS wanted to make sure that they had sufficient working stock before then

3. ABS may have had to change suppliers of their metal cylinders and needed to quality control them, which would also explain the change in colour of the cylinder label.

99% (or higher) of those people in Europe with an ABS bag are unlikely to need it before the coming winter so there is no massive urgency to do a recall.

I suspect that what has occurred is that someone has had a faulty unit, they have complained to ABS who have run tests and discovered the double disk situation, ABS have then gone to their cylinder manufacturer and probably after much denial of problems they have admitted that an unknown number of units may have been issued with the same fault. ABS have then sorted a recall

What is unusual is the public announcement by a dealer of this recall prior to the official announcement in two weeks time.

A snowHead

Please send in all ABS steel canisters where the white round label on the cansister shows a filling date of between

1st September 2008 and 15th April 2010

Note if you purchased your Airbag after 15th April 2010 , there is still a possibility that you have one of these steel canister so check them

Please test the canister and then send the empty one to

Snowsafe.co.uk
5 Chapel Mews
Hove
East Sussex
BN3 1AR
01273 737 676

We will refund your postage and send you out a replacement steel canister free of charge.

Apologies for the inconvenience caused

Dan
www.snowsafe.co.uk

A snowHead

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Markymark29, when I bought the carbon I kept the steel thinking that having a "spare" would be handy in case of inadvertent activation in a place where replacements might not be readily available, that's all. The "spare" is kept back at base, I don't carry it with me wink

Of course having written this I now realise that this idea only makes sense if I have a spare trigger as well.... Crying or Very sad

edit - of course I got a spare trigger with the carbon bottle Cool

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D G Orf,

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

As you can see here my round white label has nothing on it at all Puzzled

I bought the bag in January 2009, what would you dealers recommend?

You'll need to Register first of course.

Yoda, looks like yours has never been refilled. Was it manufactured 2007/06? My first one looks like that ^. I have just been given a *new* one that was filled in 2009, on the new one the white sticker has a date stamp.

Just trying to speak to ABS North America now to see if they can hook me up. Snowsafe's offer above is awesome. That's the first time this year I wished I lived in the UK Wink

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

After all it is free

betterinblack, Laughing

Yoda, there should, I believe, be a label that tells the weight of the filled cylinder. These are added after filling and allow you to check the weight periodically (eg at the start of a holiday) to see whether any gas has escaped. I think the label shows both date and weight.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

Well I have carefuly scrutinised my cylinder and only the main label shows "Leeregewicht ca. 390gr." That seems to be the empty weight.

It has a serial number of 1...19470 and "Hergestellt: 2005/2006"

So I'm none the wiser Puzzled

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

If you have any doubts, get the cylinder changed, ABS cylinders should be tested fired once a year before the season starts and have a 3 year inspection of the airbag by ABS to ensure everything is OK.

http://www.abs-airbag.com/maintenance.php?chid=1267&m=17&lang=uk&sid=eb4e951022a45c7489a9dbba3b95d4b3

snow reports

Yoda, Could well be an original fill. I'd aim to change it.

Interestingly, my cylinder that was "pre" recall still weighs 390g, the cylinder that was filled during the recall process weighs 407g. 17g for a second penetration disc? hmmmmmm

Thanks guys, I have emailed danh about this.

betterinblack - paying extra for the network connectivity was well worth it. I expect to see a wifi or bluetooth model in the near future.

You know it makes sense.

Mine was filled in the affected date range, however it's now located in Australia, where we have no ABS dealer, and It's unlikely I'll be in a country with an ABS dealer before the Jan 2012 expiry.

Any ideas?

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

no response from danh, any thoughts from livetoski ?

A snowHead

hi guys, my thoughts are if you know where you will be with your cylinder, email the local ABS dealer and inform them of your situation. I am sure they will extend the Jan expiry for you as long as you ask them to in advance

The difficulty is shipping filled cylinders via air for example to Aus. Its OK for you to fly with an airbag but shipping is different again.

A snowHead

Yes - I think I may need to contact the manufacturer and make some kind of arrangement.

There is a very slim chance I will be in Japan prior to the end of the recall deadline, but still unlikely.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

I had a cylinder within the recall dates. Was forced to leave it in Grenoble airport 2 seasons back. They allowed me to travel with the handle. Unlikely that I will be able to avail of the recall but will have to purchase new cylinder. if I had receipt would that be enough to get me over the line or would I need the actual cylinder?

Antoine ski in Avoriaz doesn't have any in stock and Stephane says that there are none in Morzine either. I'm heading to alagna/gressoney on the 6th jan. is there anywhere there that sells them? Would I be better stopping in Chamonix on route? According to Website pezier sport (argentiere) doesnt have them in stock either.

Any help appreciated.

Help!!

ABS airbags recall of all Steel Cylinders filled between 1/9/2008 to 15/4/2010

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