markwebster Posted July 30, 2007 Posted July 30, 2007 I have a brand new 00 camalot c3. I placed it on godzilla Friday, and on removing it I noticed that one of the lobes or cams was stuck in the compressed position, as if I was pulling fully on the trigger bar. I examined it and saw that the piano wire retractor wire had come off groove on the plastic "washer" that is above the trigger bar. I was able to do some micro surgery with tweezers to get it back on , but it promptly popped back off. I'm thinking this design is too tricked out. Yes, they made the head smaller than metolius tcu by moving the springs out of the head and into the sling area, but it's trouble prone. I think rei will take it back, should I exchange it for a metolius tcu? I have two of those that have 20 years of wear and they are still perfect. Quote
merganzer Posted July 30, 2007 Posted July 30, 2007 I have not had that specific problem, however I do own a set of metolius tcu and have had years of reliable service. Recently one of my climbing partners purchased a rack including c3 and after climbing with them I am not impressed. It seemed like the wires got caught on everything nylon and they would not sit properly on the gear sling. I say take it back and stick with the metolius. The rest of my rack are the old style camalots which have also provided years of reliable service. Quote
spotly Posted July 30, 2007 Posted July 30, 2007 When you say they "don't sit right" what do you mean? I've only had my set of 3 for a short time but haven't noticed anything odd. Quote
olyclimber Posted July 30, 2007 Posted July 30, 2007 can you post some pictures of what you're talking about? Quote
markwebster Posted July 30, 2007 Author Posted July 30, 2007 On the c3 camalot, the lobes expand because they are pulled open by 4 inch long piano wires that go up through that long bendy piece of transparent rubber/plastic. on the rope side of the trigger bar are 3 little hourglass shaped plastic 'washers'. Each washer is grabbed by one of the piano wires coming up from the cam lobes. The wires grab the washers by means of a simple bent loop in the piano wire. That bent loop of wire has relaxed and slipped off the washer, meaning my $60 camalot is useless. I'm thinking I'll exchange it for a metolius. Those things are bulletproof, though slightly wider because of the old style spring system. Sorry, I think I'll return it before I can take pictures. Quote
kurthicks Posted July 30, 2007 Posted July 30, 2007 I have a brand new 00 camalot c3. I placed it on godzilla Friday, and on removing it I noticed that one of the lobes or cams was stuck in the compressed position, as if I was pulling fully on the trigger bar. I examined it and saw that the piano wire retractor wire had come off groove on the plastic "washer" that is above the trigger bar. I was able to do some micro surgery with tweezers to get it back on , but it promptly popped back off. I'm thinking this design is too tricked out. I had the same thing happen to a red C3. apparently BD is going to make a trigger replacement kit for them (but how would you do it in the field?) but not until next season. Quote
merganzer Posted July 31, 2007 Posted July 31, 2007 When you say they "don't sit right" what do you mean? I've only had my set of 3 for a short time but haven't noticed anything odd. They always seemed twisted around or stuck on each other both while climbing and after. Maybe it is just my style but I never had that problem with TCU Quote
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