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Dynafit/Ski equipment failure question

  • alpenho
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15 years 1 week ago #197853 by alpenho
So I had an unfortunate equipment failure and was wondering if anyone had thoughts regarding this:
My set up is Dynafit TLT Comforts on Baker Superlights.  Everything was solid on climb, switched to downhill mode and flicked the toe tab from locked to ski mode.   On descent went into a turn and my ski came off, but instead of just hanging by my leash, it shot downhill.  I looked at my leash and the toepiece of my binding was hanging there.  Slid down to the wayward ski and upon inspection it appeared that the binding screws just ripped right out of the ski (they are still in the binding and never came out).  This was on my second lap at Vertfest on Sunday, so had one complete run ok and this happened about 400ft above the finish, so I don’t think it was due to incorrect boot placement in the binding (had already skied the bumpiest harshest part of the downhill and was coming in to the groomer at the end – did manage to finish fortunately!).
So this leaves me wondering – is this an equipment failure?  If so, binding or ski? The binding was in perfect condition, except that the plastic baseplate had snapped where it extends underfoot (basically at the crampon mount).  This seems to have been a consequence of the force of the binding ripping off rather than a pre-existing defect, but just guessing.  The ski is in fine condition, no cracks or fracture lines to indicate some kind of damage to the board.  Could it be mounting error?  I won’t put the fine professionals who did the mount on the spot here since I think they are a solid operation and unlikely to be the culprit.  But you never know…
My inclination is to think it was something in the ski structure, like the core material was too weak to hold the binding screw threads and finally just gave out catastrophically.  Is this why they don’t manufacture the Superlights anymore?
If anyone has any ideas about this I’d love to know.  The Superlights have been great until now, and I hate to see them go, but if I can’t trust their performance then I don’t want to get out there with them.
Thanks

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  • gregL
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15 years 1 week ago - 15 years 1 week ago #197854 by gregL
Replied by gregL on topic Re: Dynafit/Ski equipment failure question
Sounds like a ski deck integrity problem or possibly a mounting problem.

Possible causes could include lack of thickness or supporting fibers in the mount area, using wrong bit size (ie. 4.1mm instead of 3.6mm), not tapping the holes, not using proper glue . . . FWIW, the Baker SL lives on as the Wayback, essentially the same ski with a bit of rocker this year.

Saw you crossing the finish on one ski, glad you're OK!

Edited to add: The core adds very little pullout strength, it's almost all in the top 5-6mm of topsheet. There are lots of skis with hollow honeycomb or channelled cores that bindings stay in fine.

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  • wooley12
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15 years 1 week ago #197856 by wooley12
Replied by wooley12 on topic Re: Dynafit/Ski equipment failure question
Lots of recent chatter on the net about Dynafit binding pull out that has piqued my mechanical curiosity.

I'd be interested in knowing:

1-How many days do you have on the setup?

2- When was the last time you checked the tightness of the binding screws?

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  • alpenho
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15 years 1 week ago #197862 by alpenho
Replied by alpenho on topic Re: Dynafit/Ski equipment failure question
thanks guys, good feedback.
have had maybe around 50 days on this setup.
never checked the mounting screws per se, but always did a "night before" gear check looking for wiggling parts and have never noticed any movement in the bindings other than the heel lifter volcano. In fact, the screws are still in the mounting plate right now and solid as rock. The threads are holding some epoxy and wood chunks.

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  • gregL
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15 years 1 week ago #197867 by gregL
Replied by gregL on topic Re: Dynafit/Ski equipment failure question
Ask Jason H if you can link to his picture of you crossing the finish line - it's classic!

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  • filbo
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15 years 1 week ago #197868 by filbo
Replied by filbo on topic Re: Dynafit/Ski equipment failure question
Ever think of attaching your leash to the heel instead of the toe. Back in the day before brakes on alpine skis all leashes were attached to the rear binding and is what I've done with my dynafits as I tried the front way but it always interferred with the lock in mode for touring.
I'll most likely get a lot of shyte for this but it just seems more common sense-like.

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