Help! Brickwerks seat belt jammed - Update!

[ronburgundy]

Hi all

On our way back from the beach today we stopped off to get some ice cream. When my son got back into his seat the seat belt would not pull out any further and any time it retracted the seat belt got shorter without releasing. This is a three point belt from brickwerks that I fitted last week:

http://www.brickwerks.co.uk/index.php?p ... t&Itemid=6

It was really easy to fit and has been working very well up until now. I installed it exactly as per the guide and can't see why it has stopped releasing. I removed the internal pannels and checked the belt over - nothing has got jammed in the mechanism and in any case this is protected with card at the back (as in the guide).

Any ideas how to get the seat belt to release as we had to drive back home with no seat belt for my wife which I was not happy about

Help would really be appreciated as it means I cant use my van until sorted!

[jamesc76]

open the side and look for a ball bearing with (often but not all ways ) a white plastic ratchet system, the ball will have jammed hence it will only go in but not out, used to have loads of problems in the army with brand new belts and that was all ways the fault!

[ronburgundy]

open the side and look for a ball bearing with (often but not all ways ) a white plastic ratchet system, the ball will have jammed hence it will only go in but not out, used to have loads of problems in the army with brand new belts and that was all ways the fault!

nice one James - really appreciate your advice.

I will take the side off the belt in the morning and have a look at the ratchet system.

Do you think it will happen frequently and do you think it would be better to ask brickwerks for a replacement as it is only a week old?

Thanks for your help!

[jamesc76]

well its faulty, has it been used ok till now ie was it its first use etc ?? can be down to the angle fitted tho!

[Nicola&Tony]

and do you think it would be better to ask brickwerks for a replacement as it is only a week old?

Send Brickwerks an email to let Baxter know about the problem and take it from there; sales@brickwerks.co.uk

Tony

[Rozzo]

i think simon baxter stands resolutely by the products he sells and would definately like to know if something this important is faulty. i'd get in touch with him before stripping it.

[umgum]

remember stripping it will probably invalidate any warranty

[ronburgundy]

Thanks all for the advice.

I agree, it would probably be best to send the unit back without any investigation so Brickwerks are able to check the belt as it is. The quality of the belt feels really good and the fitting was great, so hopefully this is just a one off as I need another quickly!

I will send them an email and see what they say.

well its faulty, has it been used ok till now ie was it its first use etc ?? can be down to the angle fitted tho!

Hi James

We have been using it for around a week with no problems and all fitted according to instructions/guide. Hopefully all can be sorted as I wanted to try and fit the same belt to the cupboard side... (when I work out how to do it!).

Thanks again all.

Rob

[stephen t25]

Fitted mine the other day to my multivan and had a passanger and a baby seat in and all was ok but now they are both stuck, about to take the pannels of and have a look.

[ronburgundy]

Fitted mine the other day to my multivan and had a passanger and a baby seat in and all was ok but now they are both stuck, about to take the pannels of and have a look.

Hi Stephen

Interesting that you have had both fail.

I took the pannel off but you can't really see what is wrong with the belt without opening up the side to look at the ratchet system as James suggested above. Having said that it is worth double checking that nothing has got jammed in the mechanism (I put card behind mine that had not budged as per fitting guide). I will wait until I hear back from Brickwerks before doing anything else - sent them an email this morning and will let you know the outcome.

Please let me know how you get on as two heads are better than one to try and sort this. Doesn't fill me with confidence that a replacement is the answer as both yours have failed however.

Hopefully Brickwerks will be able to sort it on Monday.

[ronburgundy]

Hi all

I thought it only fair to update this post as the new seat belt I purchased from Brickwerks is working really well and ultimately it was my fault that the wrong side seat belt was installed.

I spoke to Simon at Brickwerks who explained there is a drop down menu when making your purchase which selects the correct seat belt depending on which side needs to be installed. I missed this and just purchased what I thought was a universal rear seat belt (could have possibly been made clearer on site) .

As I understand it from the conversation I had with Simon, the seat belts that they sell MUST be installed at exactly the right angle to ensure they operate correctly - this is not necessarily the case with other brands, but Brickwerks believe this is the best system and therefore this is what they sell. Using the wrong side seat belt will mean the angle is out and will lead to the belt jamming.

Unfortunately there is nothing I could do with the jammed seat belt, so this is destined for the bin.

I bought the correct belt and used the existing angle bracket etc supplied with the original belt and so far so good. We have been down to Dorset last week and the belt worked great.

All in all, providing you buy the correct belt for the side you will be installing it to, this is a fantastic belt which is excellent quality and very straight forward to install.

Thought it best to update for anyone who comes across this post and is put off by the Brickwerks belt, which in my opinion is excellent.


Rob