Edelrid Mega Jul Cable Failure

I was doing some single pitch cragging yesterday and my mega jul wire snapped off. This mega jul has around 1000 pitches on it and a similar number of rappels. I have owned it for around 2 years and used it as my primary belay/rappel device. I plan to take it to my local Edelrid retailer and try to warranty it. Just a word of caution to check your mega jul before your next big day out. Has anyone else had this happen?

I remember seeing a thread about similar failures a couple of years ago, but can't seem to find it. Found another photo of the same failure though:

https://www.mountainproject.com/photo/108559426/edelrid-mega-jul-failure 

Edited to add:

Found it, similar failures were all buried in this thread (which you may have already seen):

https://www.mountainproject.com/forum/topic/108052298/edelrid-mega-jul?page=4 

Nice find, I did some searching but didn’t uncover that thread. From that thread it sounds like they “improved the design” in 2014. This mega jul is from 2017/8

Yes, this happened to me. They replaced it, no problem.

Did it snap off while you were lowering? Rapping? Did it wiggle loose?

We were all set up to climb when my leader asked if I wouldn’t mind being a human stick clip and clipping the first bolt. I went up and clipped the bolt and then did a counter balance rap from the bolt using the mega jul in belay mode. I was self lowering using their weight when it just popped. I was dangling there a few feet off the ground. I threw a thin nosed carabiner in the loop used for guide mode lowering and brought myself to the ground. I was really glad I wasn’t lead belaying, it would have been the ultimate short rope.

It's been happening since they first came out.  I've heard less about it recently and thought the flaws had been corrected.  Maybe not.

The persistence of the same type of failure, even if less frequently, speaks of a fundamental design flaw that resists correction.  I wouldn't touch one of these gadgets with a ten-foot pole.

rgoldwrote:

It's been happening since they first came out.  I've heard less about it recently and thought the flaws had been corrected.  Maybe not.

The persistence of the same type of failure, even if less frequently, speaks of a fundamental design flaw that resists correction.  I wouldn't touch one of these gadgets with a ten-foot pole.

Time for your gigajul then!

rgoldwrote:

It's been happening since they first came out.  I've heard less about it recently and thought the flaws had been corrected.  Maybe not.

The persistence of the same type of failure, even if less frequently, speaks of a fundamental design flaw that resists correction.  I wouldn't touch one of these gadgets with a ten-foot pole.

I had the opportunity to use one of these the other day. Super sticky. Anything larger than 9.5 and brand new sucks. Realistically, its only worthwhile for twins.

And I guess they break too.

unfortunately true about the gigajul, but at least you know what to use. I don't go larger than 9.0 in the giga, but i only use 8.xmm ropes anyway. Def have to use a grigri or pivot for anything over 9.0. 

That said, the gigajul raps in autolock mode amazingly well, especially compared to the megajul, so perhaps consider this your sign to upgrade. Thanks for posting, good to keep an eye on any megajul. I'd be curious as to how the cable looked before it snapped... any visible sign of weakening?

Christian Heschwrote:

unfortunately true about the gigajul, but at least you know what to use. I don't go larger than 9.0 in the giga, but i only use 8.xmm ropes anyway. Def have to use a grigri or pivot for anything over 9.0. 

That said, the gigjul raps in autolock mode amazingly well, especially compared to the megajul, so perhaps consider this your sign to upgrade. Thanks for posting, good to keep an eye on any megajul. I'd be curious as to how the cable looked before it snapped... any visible sign of weakening?

Gigajul been working beautifully with 10.0 ropes for over a year, no complaints

I still don't understand this failure. How was there ever enough weight on the "keeper cord" for it to break? This piece doesn't even need to exist for the device to function correctly. It's just for the convenience of storing on your harness and rack.

Matthew Jaggerswrote:

I still don't understand this failure. How was there ever enough weight on the "keeper cord" for it to break? This piece doesn't even need to exist for the device to function correctly. It's just for the convenience of storing on your harness and rack.

On a norm atc, yes. This device emphasizes the use of your thumb on on the green plastic bit of the wire to assist in lowering. So it does take some force/load during normal operation. 

alpinejasonwrote:

On a norm atc, yes. This device emphasizes the use of your thumb on on the green plastic bit of the wire to assist in lowering. So it does take some force/load during normal operation. 

Wow, it broke while lowering yourself? I see.Thats really wild. I always rapp with it upside down and backwards, and only used it to rapp in it's standard setup once, and hated every second of it.

Stopped by Bentgate Mountaineering in Golden, CO yesterday and they said Edelrid would not warranty it since it is a fatigue/use issue. They were nice enough to give me 20% off on a new belay device. I ended up with a Petzl Reverso. We will see it goes.

Dave K wrote:

There are so many belay devices that never break. I cannot fathom why anyone would choose one that does. 

Even if you believe this device performs better than others, no device performs so well that it's worth this type of risk.

It is worth noting that the risk is briefly getting stuck on rappel if the cable snaps. It isn't a catastrophic failure. I still use and like mine for multipitch and alpine climbing.

Cory Nwrote:

Stopped by Bentgate Mountaineering in Golden, CO yesterday and they said Edelrid would not warranty it since it is a fatigue/use issue. They were nice enough to give me 20% off on a new belay device. I ended up with a Petzl Reverso. We will see it goes.

It might be worth reaching out to Edelrid directly. I think they have replaced these devices for other folks in the past for this same issue.