26.04.2011

Pop Up service issue

Following the reported involuntary lift incident on a Pop Up + last week, the company has now managed to replicate three possible scenarios which might cause the reported malfunction and is organising a permanent fix.

The following statement has been issued and sums up the situation:

“CUSTOMER UPDATE: POTENTIAL ISSUE WITH POP-UP LIFTS

Snorkel, the company with design and manufacturing responsibility for Pop-Up machines, is issuing the following statement, on behalf of Pop-Up Products Ltd:

A customer recently brought to our attention that a Pop-Up+ lift had suffered a contactor failure, which resulted in involuntary upward movement. This is an isolated incident, confined to one Pop-Up lift out of an in-service fleet of more than 6,000, delivered over approximately five years.

However, our subsequent investigations have confirmed that there are three scenarios in which an involuntary upward movement can occur and which the Emergency Stop cannot prevent:
1. Pump contactor failure
2. Shorting of cables to the upper control pendant
3. Bridging of terminals on the pump contactor

This applies to all Pop-Up and Pop-Up+ lifts, also marketed as the Pop-Up PUSH Eco6 and Pop-Up PUSH Eco8. It does not apply to the Pop-Up PUSH Pro series.
We have identified a permanent solution to this problem and will issue a full Service Bulletin within the next week, describing the necessary modification.

Until this modification is implemented, we cannot guarantee that one of these
scenarios will not occur on any of the affected products. However, the likelihood of occurrence can be reduced by following this guidance:
1. Do not operate the machine if the battery state of charge falls to below 25%
2. Check the condition of the cable harness, along its route to the upper control pendant, to ensure that there is no existing damage, or risk of the harness becoming entangled or damaged
3. Ensure that the chassis top cover plate is present and secure
4. Before entering the platform, check that all the controls are functioning correctly, including the Emergency Stop.
5. Only use the machines in areas where there would be no danger of the operator coming into contact with overhead obstructions
6. If you have any concern about the condition or function of the machine, then you should remove it from service, until it has been inspected by a competent engineer”

Vertikal Comment

From our experience of such issues, this is a rapid and through response so far. Given that only one case has been reported so far, the simple precautions that can be taken and the fact that most Pop-Up machines are no higher than most ceilings the risks involved with continuing to use these machines is very low.

Oners would be advised though to ensure that the recommended inspections are carried out and to make sure that users are aware when using these machines while the service bulletin is prepared.

What would also be useful is for the manufacturer pass on the electrical circuit details of these machines and the fix to other manufacturers via the technical committee of IPAF - so that they can check that their own machines are not subject to a similar fate should a similar contactor fail.