Recall on Harmony V-7 child/booster seats

[Pixelated]

Two of them, affecting seats with DOMs from Dec 7 2011 through Nov 2 2012.

1. UAS connectors are wider than they should be but still perform as designed. http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/roadsafety/safedrivers-childsafety-1381.html

2. Structural issue with the bolts that hold the seat back to the seat bottom, which may cause the seat to not perform as designed, and tear through or partially through the plastic. This may also leave sharp edged exposed after a crash. http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/roadsafety/safedrivers-childsafety-1380.html

 

[jacqui276]

Thanks for posting this. My niece and nephew ride in these so we will have to check doms!

 

[snowbird25ca]

Ugh, you know, I wondered about that bolt just yesterday when I saw one. Unfortunately it was a semi-emergency situation and I didn't get all the numbers off the seat because of everything going on. With everything else going on in the situation, I really hope their seat isn't one of the recalled ones.

eta: Both of these recalls really bug me. The one not quite as much because Harmony isn't the first company to have issues with the lower connectors not fitting in the sizing device - they're just the first company to have to recall as a result. But the structural one - that really bugs me. What bugs me most about it is that this is something that Harmony should've found in their own crash testing. They didn't - and then it took this long for it to be found and a fix to be developed? I don't understand why it wasn't found by the engineers in the first place before the seat ever went on the market.

 

[jacqui276]

The UAS doesn't bother me a ton since it should be pretty obvious right off the bat if it doesn't fit (it isn't an issue in the car that I have them installed in).

The fact that the bolts can tear through the plastic though definitely does not excite me and makes me regret cheaping out and buying V7s instead of Radians to get a 3 across do-able. I will be pulling out my niece and nephew's seats today to check DOMs.

Aren't the Defenders in the US very similar in design for the how the back is secured? I wonder if they potentially could have the same issue?

 

[jacqui276]

Their seats were manufactured on Nov. 2nd 2012 so it looks like we will be giving them a phone call to get the fix for it. Should I be trusting these seats in the meantime?

 

[Pixelated]

This part makes me a bit nervous:

In the interest of safety, Transport Canada and Harmony Juvenile Products would like to emphasize the importance of obtaining and installing the reinforcements as soon as possible, as the nature of this structural non-compliance may affect the overall safety of the restraint system if the connection between the backrest and base is compromised. This could result in an unanticipated or unpredictable response in a vehicle crash

The recall wasn't written with that as the focus though - just that the sharp edges following the crash test is not permitted.

 

[snowbird25ca]

This part makes me a bit nervous:



The recall wasn't written with that as the focus though - just that the sharp edges following the crash test is not permitted.

I agree that that makes me nervous too.

Their seats were manufactured on Nov. 2nd 2012 so it looks like we will be giving them a phone call to get the fix for it. Should I be trusting these seats in the meantime?

I've had contact with the company and from what I've been told it looks like it's fine to keep using the seats in the meantime. The wording of the recall makes me nervous - but I am very cautious in general when it comes to these kinds of things.