possible problems with SS1?

NannyMom

Well-known member
Someone bought a French Roast SS1, DOM 3/08. When you look at the back, at the prong that holds the hip harness in place. THe left side single prong is smaller and doesn't hold the harness in place. So, he took it back (and BRU is going to return it to Graco) and bought a French Roast DOM 7/2008. Guess what...same problem. MomBoss has a Kasey SS1 DOM 3/08 and it's fine. My SS1 Ionic DOM 3/08 is fine.

THe CPST-I that was installing the seats is contacting her Graco rep. But we would like to know if anyone else has this problem on their seat. If so, what is the DOM and seat color?
 
ADS

MOM25BOYS

New member
I had a 2007 French Roast and currently have a Heirloom masking as a Rittenhouse :p and both were fine. Is there a Batch number on them? I don't have mine since it is being borrowed at the moment. It could be a certain batch that was manufactured from the same factory that has this defect. :shrug-shoulders:
 

canadiangie

New member
08/06/11 DOM here on a CDN French Roast pattern.

Mine has the 2 bigger plastic tabs on one side, and the 1 smaller plastic tab on the other. No problems as of yet. All feels secure.

Is there something I should be doing? Call Graco?

Do different DOM's/patterns have 2 plastic tabs on both sides???
 

cpsaddict

New member
I have an Eclipse and a Laguna and both are fine. Both have November 2007 DOM's. I just changed the straps on the Eclipse and I could not get the metal clips to release. I had to use a screwdriver. When I snapped them back in, they made an audible "snap".
 

NannyMom

Well-known member
08/06/11 DOM here on a CDN French Roast pattern.

Mine has the 2 bigger plastic tabs on one side, and the 1 smaller plastic tab on the other. No problems as of yet. All feels secure.

Is there something I should be doing? Call Graco?

Do different DOM's/patterns have 2 plastic tabs on both sides???

No, it sounds like you're fine. It's supposed to have 2 bigger on 1 side, 1 smaller on the other side. As long as all 3 on the left look the same as all 3 on the right.

One the seats we found with the problem, the small one on the left is smaller than it should be (smaller than the small one on the right).
 

NannyMom

Well-known member
I had a 2007 French Roast and currently have a Heirloom masking as a Rittenhouse :p and both were fine. Is there a Batch number on them? I don't have mine since it is being borrowed at the moment. It could be a certain batch that was manufactured from the same factory that has this defect. :shrug-shoulders:

Hmm...now how does a "batch" work? I figured seats made on the same day would be 1 batch, and seats made 4 months later would be a seperate batch. Can a batch be several months apart?
 

snowbird25ca

Moderator - CPST Instructor
I'm just seeing this thread now, and provided I have the time, will check the different SS1's that we have at work tonight.

Was the one hip strap just not staying hooked completely? Did it only fall down the once? I know the ones at work definitely don't do that and I have had the hip strap rings out before. Is it possible it just wasn't snapped in all the way? Visually smaller doesn't necessarily equal something wrong. :confused:
 

NannyMom

Well-known member
I'm just seeing this thread now, and provided I have the time, will check the different SS1's that we have at work tonight.

Was the one hip strap just not staying hooked completely? Did it only fall down the once? I know the ones at work definitely don't do that and I have had the hip strap rings out before. Is it possible it just wasn't snapped in all the way? Visually smaller doesn't necessarily equal something wrong. :confused:

The woman that told me about this is a CPST-I, and a wonderful carseat advocate. She said the hip strap wasn't staying in....the prong was too small to hold the metal clip. The single prong on the left hip (left when looking at the back of the seat) was smaller then the single prong on the right hip. THe right was holding fine, the left wasn't.

She saw this happen on a 3/2008 and a 7/2008 French Roast SS1. She does installations every weekend, and often uses the SS1. She always teaches the parents how to use the seat (including adjusting the harness straps). The parents returned the 3/2008 seat to BRU and informed them of the defect (and supposedly they're calling Graco about it). I think the CPST-I kept the 7/2008 and will be contacting her Graco rep about it.

If you have any with this problem, I'd love to know. BRU got in a new order of FR and I was tempted to ask them if I could open the boxes and look at the back of the seats :whistle:
 

snowbird25ca

Moderator - CPST Instructor
I didn't think to check the DOM on the seat tonight, but there's nothing abnormal about the french roast seat at work. If there is a difference, it's not huge, and it's certainly not enough that the hip strap would be dropping out of where it's held in.

Those little prongs are there to prevent the hip strap from dropping out of position - the risk if they were to drop out of position is the potential that parents may not tighten the harness enough. A properly tightened harness will be keeping those metal clips against the seat shell anyways, and there is no risk of seat failure as a result - provided a parent is tightening the harness properly.

Obviously if the hip strap metal loop keeps dropping out on it's own, it increases the risk of a parent not tightening the harness properly and therefore increases the risk of injury. This isn't a safety defect per se, though if there is a batch out there with smaller prongs on one side there may be a higher potential for misuse.
 

Jeanum

Admin - CPS Technician Emeritus
Staff member
The woman that told me about this is a CPST-I, and a wonderful carseat advocate. She said the hip strap wasn't staying in....the prong was too small to hold the metal clip. The single prong on the left hip (left when looking at the back of the seat) was smaller then the single prong on the right hip. THe right was holding fine, the left wasn't.

She saw this happen on a 3/2008 and a 7/2008 French Roast SS1. She does installations every weekend, and often uses the SS1. She always teaches the parents how to use the seat (including adjusting the harness straps). The parents returned the 3/2008 seat to BRU and informed them of the defect (and supposedly they're calling Graco about it). I think the CPST-I kept the 7/2008 and will be contacting her Graco rep about it.

If you have any with this problem, I'd love to know. BRU got in a new order of FR and I was tempted to ask them if I could open the boxes and look at the back of the seats :whistle:

If your mentor is noticing an issue with particular SS1 seats, she could document the issue by reporting it to NHTSA:
http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/#childrestraints
 

NannyMom

Well-known member
Obviously if the hip strap metal loop keeps dropping out on it's own, it increases the risk of a parent not tightening the harness properly and therefore increases the risk of injury. This isn't a safety defect per se, though if there is a batch out there with smaller prongs on one side there may be a higher potential for misuse.

That's exactly what she's concerned about.
 

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