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Airbag testing company now offers certified salvage airbags |
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Friday, 01 February 2002 |
Airbag Testing Technology (ATT), the first company to
introduce a cost-effective method to test and certify salvage airbags,
now offers both new and salvage airbags through its subsidiary, Airbag
Source. The company had previously offered sold its certified salvage
airbags through a Maryland recycler, but now sells both the certified
airbags and new airbags directly to body shops.
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Peter Byrne
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"For the first time, body shops can
call one number for all their airbag needs, both certified recycled,
and new," said Peter Byrne, president of Airbag Testing Technology
"Body shops and consumers need to know that approximately 10% of
un-tested salvage airbags fail to meet OE specifications and could
result in failure in the event of an accident," added Byrne. The
failure rate of new airbags is 0.0001%.
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Certified salvage airbags are guaranteed to have the same performance and reliability as new airbags.
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"There
is considerable risk to a shop which chooses to use an untested
airbag," said Byrne, who suspects that many shops are probably unaware
of the dangers. By using a 100% tested, re-certified airbag module (RAM
Airbag™), ATT says that the shop is guaranteed the airbag will have the
same performance and reliability as new.
Airbag
Source supplies RAM Airbags to shops, along with a written Certificate
of Conformance showing the full testing results for that particular
airbag.
Controllers don't tell the whole story
"Some
shops think that they'll be OK with a salvage airbag because the
controller will catch any problem," said Byrne. "This is a mistake.
Similar to the engine control module, just because the engine check
light goes out, it does not mean the engine is free from roblems."
Byrne
explained that the airbag controller does only two diagnostic checks on
the system.. A full check on an airbag requires at least eight separate
checks. For example, the controller doesn't check for any damage to the
insulation surrounding the igniter, a fault in which can cause a firing
signal to run to ground. Also, the controller can't check for water or
flood damage. Flood damage is usually easily detected by a visual
inspection, but there are cases where the airbags have been cleaned up,
and where flood water effects are hard to see.
"For
those who think flood airbags are a rarity," cautioned Byrne, "consider
this. Car auctions in Texas this summer saw a lot of cars flooded by
tropical Storm Allison which hit Texas and Louisiana in early June.
Nearly 100,000 cars were totaled in the city of Houston, alone. That
translates into 200,000 undeployed airbags -- by our estimates, almost
30% of the entire US market for replacement airbags."
Airbag Source can be reached on 716-763-3573 or on the web at www.airbagtesting.com.
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