Binding Maintenance - Why don't we talk about it?

[CS2-6]

There's seemingly limitless advice on ski maintenance out there, but I've seen very little written on maintaining bindings. I've searched. It seems to me those metal mechanisms with moving parts that are exposed to the elements and ostensibly keep us safe should deserve a little TLC.

Is there conventional wisdom I just haven't heard? Or do bindings just not require routine servicing?

 

[Eric@ict]

There's seemingly limitless advice on ski maintenance out there, but I've seen very little written on maintaining bindings. I've searched. It seems to me those metal mechanisms with moving parts that are exposed to the elements and ostensibly keep us safe should deserve a little TLC.

Is there conventional wisdom I just haven't heard? Or do bindings just not require routine servicing?

I would imagine it’s liability. There are some special tools required as well to my understanding. They do need to be looked at. I take mine to the shop every two season specifically for the bindings. I have them run all the checks on them. Outside of a visual inspection before and after use, I don’t do anything else with them.

 

[crgildart]

There used to be folks who would turn the DIN down to 0 at the end of the season and store them that way until the following season. It was collectively decided that any MINIMAL gain in longevity was greatly offset by the risk of forgetting to reset and retest them before the next use.. also some believe that cranking them up and down and up and down is actually more wear and tear than just leaving them set.

Other than that, there really isn't any easy way beyond the manufacturing plant to "overhaul" them. I have had some that you could unscrew the DIN setting screw completely and remove the spring and fill the housing with fresh grease. However, by the time that is worthwhile they are in the indemnified list.

Set it and forget it.. but annual inspection and release testing is recommended. Visually check them for missing anti friction pads, cracked or missing DIN windows, etc..

PS> You just blew up my April Fools idea.. How often do you have the oil in your bindings changed???

 

[Philpug]

Every binding comes with an owners manual. Most never make it to the consumer, those that do, rarely ever get read other than to learn different languages or as a cure for insomnia. One of the things for "maintenence" is to get them tested x amount of days on snow or once a year.

 

[Tony S]

I would imagine it’s liability.

Agree. The people who know don't talk, and the people who talk don't know.

 

[DanoT]

A few seasons ago there was a thread on here or maybe it was EpicSki where most of the posters were backing off the DIN settings for the summer, so I decided to follow suit. When winter came and I tightened up the settings, I discovered that the DIN indicator one one of the heel pieces would not function.

At the time I was working at a ski shop so I took my ski with me to a Salomon product knowledge session and showed the rep the binding. The Salomon rep gave me the email of Salomon Canada warranty guy and told me to include pictures.

The binding was a STH2 12, purchased from the shop's inventory so unlike a pro deal there was a warranty. I explained in the email that due to the bindings design, the heel piece spring goes into a housing and I was able to measure the amount that the spring stuck out of the housing on the non broken heel when set at DIN 8 and then adjust the heel with the broken DIN indicator to match. So, the binding was usable, sort of.

I was expecting Salomon to send me a new STH heel piece but instead they sent me a complete set of Warden bindings! The STH bindings are still on my Bonifides that are now rock skis and the Wardens went on my new Head Kore 93s.

 

[tch]

^^^^ Seems to me the potential liability for binding manufacturers would mandate complete replacement rather than a "fix". Better to send out a couple free ones than face a lawsuit from someone who did a "repair" on a problem.

 

[DanoT]

^^^^ Seems to me the potential liability for binding manufacturers would mandate complete replacement rather than a "fix". Better to send out a couple free ones than face a lawsuit from someone who did a "repair" on a problem.

I was not expecting a "fix" but rather a new replacement STH heel piece. I suspect that the fact that I worked at a ski shop was a factor in getting a complete set of Salomom Warden bindings which due to them being MNC (accepts grip walk boots), they are an upgrade.

 

[Jersey Skier]

I was not expecting a "fix" but rather a new replacement STH heel piece. I suspect that the fact that I worked at a ski shop was a factor in getting a complete set of Salomom Warden bindings which due to them being MNC (accepts grip walk boots), they are an upgrade.

Ski shops must be better than bike shops. I find the shop guys get treated worse than "real" customers.

 

[François Pugh]

I think it's liability given the legal culture. Nobody want's to be on the hook for advising you to do something that you may mess up. That's why I'm NOT going to tell you that if you have an old pair of all-metal bindings on your speed skis from the early '80s that you've been transporting on your roof rack, you might want to take it apart, inspect it to see if there's just a pile of rust inside, lubricate it and reassemble it.

 

[bbbradley]

I too, used to back of bindings in the spring, then readjust in the fall, but I stopped doing it a while back. In all my years of skiing and hundreds of skis that have seen very hard use racing and training I've had two binding failures, both of them were plastic housing that broke when I went to put the skis on for the 1st time of the season. A pre-season test might have caught it, not sure if the cold exacerbated the failure. Both were from the same family, ESS VAR that the heel cup snapped, and then a pair of Atomic bindings where both heel pieces had an internal plastic cam break. The ESS VAR were old enough that I just pitched the whole ski/binding, but the Atomics were ~only 2 season old. I contacted the place I bought them from and it seems there was a recall on the bindings as they replaced the entire set for me and they wanted the broken bindings sent back..

Thankfully both failures were at the base of the hill, rather than on the trail. I've broken far more skis than bindings, at one point Atomic was making SL skis out of the most fragile ceramic they could find, I was going about 3-5 days max on them before they'd delaminate. The factory was, however, fabulous about replacing them!

 

[DanoT]

Ski shops must be better than bike shops. I find the shop guys get treated worse than "real" customers.

For the most part pro deals offered to retail ski shop workers by the ski equipment manufacturers is better than pro deals that ski patrol and ski instructors get (full sponsorship excepted). It makes sense as the ski shop worker is at the point of sale and is thus a real influencer and telling a customer that "this is the equipment that I ski on and here are the reasons why" can be very effective.

 

[Jersey Skier]

For the most part pro deals offered to retail ski shop workers by the ski equipment manufacturers is better than pro deals that ski patrol and ski instructors get (full sponsorship excepted). It makes sense as the ski shop worker is at the point of sale and is thus a real influencer and telling a customer that "this is the equipment that I ski on and here are the reasons why" can be very effective.

Maybe someone should explain that to the bike companies. I've dropped brands after personally having issues not taken care of on one of my own bikes.

 

[Philpug]

Different brands have different philosophies regarding warranty replacement of say a settings window. Marker will replace the window, Look wants the whole binding returned.

 

[Henry]

So---for the moving mechanical parts out of sight in the bindings, are those lubricated for life? Lubricant oxidizes and stops doing a good job. Or it gets pushed out of the way and parts contact each other that should contact only lubricant.

The first thing that comes to mind are the Markers and lower cost Rossi/Looks that have a single pivot which gets difficult to move. I think they could be cleaned and lubed and work like new unless actually worn out. But--they can't be opened by the owner and won't be opened by a shop. A shop guy may spritz some silicone lube on the external moving parts, but can anything more be done?

 

[oldschoolskier]

Most Bindings use a special commercial grease, for lubrication, however since I can’t get it I use Break Free CLP if dirty, tiny drop is all thats required.

Been using it for over 30 years in all sorts of applications and it hasn’t let me down yet.

BTW it’s a gun lubricant and CLP stands for Clean, lubricate and protect. It also creeps (a lot) which is why you use very little, be forewarned. Don’t flush our the existing grease this is bad (unless you can re-grease) just enough to “refresh it”. Another thing you either like the smell or you don’t.

Finally, legal disclaimer, if you do this, do so at your own risk. You been warned.

 

[puptwin]

I think a big part of binding maintenance is just keeping them clean. No transportation on open roof racks and keeping your boots clean. This is even more of a concern now that everyone is booting up in the car and walking across a sanded parking lot. I use the boot traction sole from Sidas, they're great.