What do stress marks look like?

Joddle · Oct 31, 2010

Anyone have some photos they could link me to, or explain what they look like?
I have a feeling a friend's seat has them all across one side wing.
Thanks

TiaxMarie · Oct 31, 2010

I posted some pictures here yesterday of my Radian boot. The stress marks look like white lines in the plastic.

http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=146552

Defrost · Oct 31, 2010

See the pattern of lighter blue marks in the middle? Those are stress marks, likely caused by something being dropped on the seat when it was setting upside-down.

sunnymw · Oct 31, 2010

I think it was 3-4yo in that pic. Always stored inside, very little use as we used it baseless a lot.

Joddle · Nov 1, 2010

Wow!
So is a seat safe to use if it has any stress marks?
Or only if it's in a certain spot?
I'm pretty sure the base of my bucket also has a few from puching on it when installing it.

TerisBoys · Nov 1, 2010

Joddle said:
Wow!
So is a seat safe to use if it has any stress marks?
Or only if it's in a certain spot?
I'm pretty sure the base of my bucket also has a few from puching on it when installing it.

You might want to post pictures for the techs to see (location, size, quantity, etc). I believe location makes a huge difference, but all-in-all, stress marks generally mean the plastic at that point is weaker.

Defrost · Nov 1, 2010

Joddle said:
Wow!
So is a seat safe to use if it has any stress marks?
Or only if it's in a certain spot?
I'm pretty sure the base of my bucket also has a few from puching on it when installing it.

I don't think there is any research on that one; it's just a matter of personal opinions. I personally really don't like to see stress marks at a belt path or harness slots - I've seen seats that have been in wrecks and that's where they generally get damaged, so even if a parent can say "Oh, that mark is from when my dh used the carseat as a step-ladder," it's still similar enough to crash-damage that I personally feel that the carseat's structural integrity may have been compromised.

On the other hand, I don't really sweat every little stress mark - if it's small, thin, and not very deep, and not near a belt path, harness slots, right next to the top tether, etc, I don't see it as being worth replacing the seat.

Pixels · Nov 1, 2010

My feelings are generally in line with Defrost's. If a seat has a stress mark, it's not near a critical point, and the history of the seat is 100% known (original owner, seat not loaned out, seat never checked on an airline), then I don't worry so much. If the history is unknown, or it's near the beltpath etc, then I don't like it.

What do stress marks look like?

Joddle

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