All Rock Exotica Unicenders manufactured before August 8, 2011 should be returned to Rock Exotica for inspection.
From what Treetools can ascertain, one of the riveted chain links has come adrift on a Unicender while in use. No one was injured in the incident but Rock Exotica want to make sure each unit is safe to use.
Every Unicender has a unique number - you'll find it on the bar of the bottom attachment point, see picture below. The first digits of this number tell you the year and day it was assembled. For example, 11168 means it was assembled in 2011, on the 168th day of the year (or June 17 for us simple folk.)If you own a Unicender and the start of your number is below 11220 the unit should be returned to Rock Exotica for inspection - shipping is free. Unicenders with numbers greater than 11220 are OK.
Here's what Rock Exotica have to say about what went wrong: "The rivets start out as straight pins. The riveting process presses down on the ends and forms a head that is bigger than the hole in the chain plate so the rivet is captured and cannot come out. One head was not flared enough and it was able to work its way out of the chain plate. We have now added additional safeguards and other measures to insure this can’t happen again".
Judging by the above comments one would have thought it was pretty obvious if the pin was coming loose on your Unicender?
According to Rock Exotica, self inspection is an option (if you know what you are doing). Rock Exotica can provide the specifications to which the rivet heads must adhere. But, you should only do this if you are confident in your ability.
Treetools has sold a few Unicenders with serial numbers below 11220 - we'll make contact with Unicender customers next week once we have more information from Rock Exotica.
Thanks to Matty Smith for bringing this recall to our attention.
