Q: Why did the puller break off the slider?
A broken puller is either a brittle fracture from one hard load or a fatigue break after many small ones. The fracture face and the position of the break will usually tell you which, and the two need different responses.
- Look at the fracture face: smooth and dull indicates fatigue, bright and granular indicates overload.
- Check where the puller broke, at the loop, at the rivet, or through the body.
- Review handling for snagging on a machine, catching in a dryer, or use as a handle for a heavy bag.
- Test a sample from the same lot with repeated light cycles rather than one heavy pull.
- Compare the metal or moulded type with the load the garment actually sees.
Fatigue at the rivet across many units points to a design or assembly weakness and should go to the maker with the cycle count. A single clean break after a snag is an accident, and the fix is handling rather than specification. Photographs of both fracture types make the discussion with the maker much shorter.