concerned about my radian...

Holly · Oct 1, 2011

I'm giving one of my radians to a friend soon, it's for her 3 year old. I took it out of my car to put a different cover on it and I had a terrible time loosening the harness. We never loosen our kids harnesses so I didn't notice it before now. I had to pull the strap from behind the seat, the strap that has the metal plate that the harness hooks to. It will not loosen any other way! I've loosened it before, every other time I've taken the cover off, and it's always been fine. The way it is now, it won't loosen when it's installed, which is obviously a problem! I noticed the harness tightens different too, it doesn't ratchet tighter anymore, it tightens in one pull (it's not smooth though). Is it safe? Can I give it to my friend in this condition and just tell her not to ever pull the harness too tight? I bought it in 2007, so I don't know if Diono will do anything about it now.

Holly · Oct 1, 2011

I'm going to call Diono on Monday to ask about it. I hope it's not unusable now.

christineka · Oct 1, 2011

That's what I recommend.

Holly · Oct 3, 2011

I called Diono but I'm not sure the person I spoke to knew what I was meant, she wasn't much help. She said to pull the harness straps downward and the extra slack will be in the back of the seat and I have to pull it through the slots.
Um, yeah, that is how it's supposed to work, I've had the seat for over 4 years plus two other radians, this one has always worked before and my other two are working fine.
Would it be easier to explain if I had dh shoot a video of me demonstrating the problem and then e-mail it to them?

I've tried it several times, the harness just. wont. loosen. at. all. when I try to loosen how I always have (flip the thing at the front of the seat up and then pull down gently on the harness), even pulling pretty hard on the harness doesn't work. The only way I can get it to move is to flip the seat over, and pull the single strap down low near the bottom of the seat, and keep the thing in the front of the seat flipped, and pull very hard, then it moves but it's not smooth.
I also noticed that when I tighten the harness, besides pulling tight in one pull (not how it used to, and it doesn't do it smooth either), the thing in the front of the seat that shuts on the strap to hold it tight stays open a little bit, like it's stuck or something. But if I pull on the straps, no loosening, so it is catching the strap somehow.

It appears to be safe still, as long as you don't need to loosen the harness ever, unless you uninstall it first, but that is a huge pain, i don't know if I can give it to my friend while it's not working like it's supposed to.

JerseyGirl'sMama · Oct 3, 2011

Have you checked to make sure the adjuster button doesn't have grime stuck in it?

Holly · Oct 3, 2011

Yeah, I looked all over in the front of the the seat and underneath and I can't find anything.

JerseyGirl'sMama · Oct 3, 2011

Can you pull the adjuster webbing up like I did here and make sure it's clear?

JerseyGirl'sMama · Oct 3, 2011

Also make sure it didn't get mis-routed around these bars.

Holly · Oct 3, 2011

Yep, it's clear and it's not mis-routed.

JerseyGirl'sMama · Oct 3, 2011

It looks like the cover is still on. Weren't you going to take that off anyway? Can you strip it down and see if you find something?

Holly · Oct 3, 2011

That is the cover that I just put on it, the cover I took off I washed the other day and I just sold it.
What should I be looking for, and where? I didn't see anything when taking the other off or putting this one on. I pulled the seat part off a minute ago when I took those pictures and didn't see anything unusual.

JerseyGirl'sMama · Oct 3, 2011

Honestly I am stumped. I have mine apart because I am cleaning it to sell it and as I play around with it, I just can't see anywhere that the splitter plate could get hung up on or anything else for that matter.

Holly · Oct 3, 2011

Yeah, I'm stumped too. It's not the splitter plate getting hung up, it's more like the straps are getting stuck somewhere, maybe the metal under the seat just needs some WD40 or silicone spray (don't worry, I wouldn't try that unless Diono tells me to)?

Even when I'm pulling on the single strap in the back and I get it to move, it's not smooth and it takes some effort, it's not a simple pull, and the tightening isn't a simple smooth pull either. It tightens in one pull now instead of the ratcheting that it used to be, but it takes some effort to do it.
I'm stumped too.

Judi · Oct 3, 2011

I would call and ask to talk to an engineer. I don't trust the others to get it at this point.

Holly · Oct 3, 2011

I met up with jennzee this evening to see if loosening was difficult for her too, she has radians herself so she knows how they tighten and loosen. It's not just me, it's very difficult for her too. The straps did start moving very slowly when she pulled, but it's definitely not how it's supposed to be, it requires way too much effort. I'll have dh take a video of me demonstrating it then I'll email Diono. I want to see if there is anything they suggest doing to make it work better, like wd40 or something, only if they say it's safe. I want to make sure the seat is still safe before giving it to my friend.

ketchupqueen · Oct 3, 2011

Like Judi says, don't do anything unless the engineers tell you to. This is outside the realm of normal customer service.

Holly · Oct 3, 2011

Dh took a video of me demonstrating the difficulty loosening the harness. It's not as bad as it was before but it's still very difficult.
If it's only a pain in the butt but still safe, that's fine. I'm only concerned with the safety, since this is supposed to be for my friend's little boy. I don't want to give them a car seat if there are questions about it being safe or not.
I'll contact Diono again tomorrow. When the video is done uploading to youtube, I'll post it to see what you guys think.
Since it's moving a little easier now, I'm almost feeling kinda dumb, like this is no big deal and I'm worried for no reason, but I want to show you the video to see what you think about it.
Maybe it's just old but it's still safe?

I'll be back in a bit to post the video.

snowbird25ca · Oct 3, 2011

Can you loosen the harness from the front of the seat when it's uninstalled and it just gets tight when it's installed?

Some of the older models didn't have as deep a channel in the back of the shell and it caused the adjuster strap to get caught tightly between the shell and the vehicle seat back.

I was going to ask if it was possible that the adjuster strap was caught while unfolding the seat, but if that was the case it wouldn't remain a consistent problem - I don't think you'd be able to slide the harness at all while caught, it would either be stuck or come out and return to normal.

As for the adjuster staying up a smidge but locking down when you tug on the straps slightly, that part is the cover. I've seen it and experimented with the seat I saw it on. It introduced a little slack in a sudden pull, but not enough that it would compromise the safety of the seat (assuming the harness was properly tightened.)

I wouldn't even consider passing it on until the mechanism is back to the way it used to be. Radian adjusters can be a pain in the butt at the best of times, and if this one is way worse than normal, then I would feel the average person wouldn't be able to use it properly no matter how good their intentions - there comes a point where you give up and call it "good enough" because you simply can't do any better...

Holly · Oct 3, 2011

I'm not sure how it loosened in the car, I didn't ever loosen it, I don't loosen my kids at all, I always keep the straps as tight as they are supposed to be.
Occasionally I might loosen it a smidge if it feels way too tight on them, but it's not often and it hasn't been hard to do before.
It's difficult to loosen when it's in the house, with the back not touching anything, so it's not getting stuck between the seat back and vehicle seat.

Here is my video, it just uploaded.
I HATE the look and sound of me on video, especially because I tend to talk fast when I'm a little nervous so I think I sound awful.

so please ignore me, but look at the seat. Does that seem like a problem, or maybe it's just getting old?

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndHJPG5XbxQ"]Difficulty loosening Radian 65 car seat harness - YouTube[/ame]

christineka · Oct 3, 2011

I think you're great on video! Imo, your seat is probably just showing it's age. Hopefully the diono engineers will have a good, safe answer for you.

concerned about my radian...

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