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Unlocking a seat belt
inertia reel
When removing the seat the belt on his RV8, Erik Persson in
Sweden found the belt completely rewound back onto the reel.
Extending the belt proved impossible as the inertial lock appeared
to have engaged and the belt could not be rewound further to
get the lock to release. How did Erik solve the problem? (June
10)
Remember
that a functional seat belt is vital for your safety, so when
working on the unit take extreme care not to damage any components
in the reel mechanism. Avoid if at all possible opening up the
reel mechanism. As I could not see how to get the lock to release,
I opened the reel to try and solve the problem and in the process
learnt a few things about the reel which may save someone from
having to do that should the find themselves with the same problem.
There
is a mechanism in the inertial roll that will prevent it from
unlocking if the belt roll is not level with the ground. This
makes sense if the car rolls and comes to rest on the side or
upside down. This means that my problem just may have been solved
by itself had I just refitted the inertia reel to the car. To
check with the reel out of the car, orient it in the same way
as it would in the car. As some tugging on the belt
will be required, it is advisable to use a vice or similar fixing
point to stabilise the reel.
So try if at all possible to use the method above if you should
you find yourself in this predicament. However if that does
not work, this is how I released the inertia lock on the seat
belt reel.1.
Find a three winged screwdriver or bit. I have not managed to
find a proper designation for the type of screwdriver but I
found a 50 piece security bits set at
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Mechanism exposed. The metallic item, top right in the blue
area, is the main inertia catch. The grey/pink cup bottom right
in the blue area is the "tilt sensing" device and
the pink lever above it is the catch that rests in the cup when
the reel is unlocked. (Photo: Erik Persson)
a big
hardware store for about EUR 10 that had three winged bits in
the set.
2. Remove the larger of the two plastic end caps. It is only
secured with one three winged screw and a snap fastener. Do
not remove the smaller end cap piece with the text "DO
NOT REMOVE" as that one covers the spring.
3. Gently
help the pink plastic thing to release. Note that it needs to
slide into a cup-formed thing that sits on a spring - this is
the "tilt sensor device". The belt arrestor should
disengage and the belt can then be pulled out. Make sure the
belt cannot retract again - I tied a wire strap around the belt.
4. Refit
the end cap.
Full set of photos is available online. |
