Page 1 of 3 1 2 3 LastLast
Results 1 to 25 of 51
  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2014
    Location
    Norway
    Posts
    306

    Sticky/gooey G3 skin glue

    I have a pair of older G3 Alpinist skins (around 2014?) that have been used for 4 seasons. Always dried after use and stored in a cool dark place. Still, the glue on these has gotten so sticky and disgusting now that it gets absolutely everywhere when handling them. Bases, topsheets, hands, door handles, clothes. Everywhere!

    Is there any way to "reset" the glue and make it less gooey? I realise it's a long shot, but I'd rather not fork out for new skins for these skis.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    northern BC
    Posts
    30,881
    A shop has to make money SO its really not worth their time to reglue a skin and besides its a fucking mess they don't need SO you either gotta learn this messy shit OR buy new skins for the $$$

    Try to rejuvey with a hot iron, you normaly wax at 275-ish but when I heat glue I crank my toko digital iron to 320 which is high as it goes OR try a medium setting on a clothes iron if thats what you own

    Its possible to iron directly on the glue but if you don't know what you are doing its probably best to use a sheet of baking parchment ( NOT WAX PAPER ) after the glue cools pull the parchment paper off and the surface should look pretty good, its best to tack the skin to a piece of plywood which you can put outside to cool and the paper will come off easier

    If you still get glue transfer after the ^^ rejuvey process you need to reglue, so you can buy the sheets of glue OR i just buy the tubes of Gold label for 1/3 rd the price, buy a few tubes cuz the stuff will last forever if you don't open the tube, sheet or tube either way you gotta iron the glue in with a hot iron at 320, one tube does a pair of skins for 15-20$
    Lee Lau - xxx-er is the laziest Asian canuck I know

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2014
    Location
    Norway
    Posts
    306
    Thanks a lot! I'll try the ironing method, hopefully that'll help some.

    Out of curiosity; do you have any idea what happens and why when glue turns into this gooey mess? Is there any way of avoiding it in the first place?

    Also, I've replaced the glue on some Pomoca skins once and I'd rather not do it again. The result was pretty good (I'm still using those skins), but the process was a fucking sticky mess.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    northern BC
    Posts
    30,881
    my theory is that water left on the glue hydrolizes and makes it gooey

    if you have done a skin re-glue then you know what to expect/what a fucking mess it will be and so to mitigate this to some extent I tack the skin down by the ends, I have a dedicated 16" piece of plywood in my shop I can easily move outside to do this on

    I scrape all the glue off with a heat gun & putty knife, I designate somewhere to wipe off the glue I have removed, little things in the process will make the big difference.

    I Spread the tube of goldlabel out evenly, let the tolulene fumes off-gas, cover with parchment, iron it HOT maybe roll it with a wine bottle and put the skin outside to cool before you pull off the paper

    Re-gluing skins ain't rocket science but a shop can't make money doing it

    but they will sell you skins ... I don't blame them

    I do it for myself but I don't wana do it for money either
    Last edited by XXX-er; 11-26-2019 at 10:02 AM.
    Lee Lau - xxx-er is the laziest Asian canuck I know

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Hokkaido
    Posts
    1,301
    I agree with xxx-er that it's water. Thing is, when you separate the skins to dry them, that dries the surface of the glue. But most of the water is coming from the plush and wicking through the backing fabric into the glue. Best way I know to prevent or at least slow that down is hot waxing the plush every 10-20 days of touring.

    Everything else xxx-er says is exactly what I do. Especially the tacking of the skin down on the bench. I just drilled binding screws into the bench, one at one end and the other wherever it was needed given the length of the skin. But the time it takes makes a new pair of skins seem like a good option because it is a two thin coat and two overnight airing process to completely reglue. If I charged my loaded rate in a shop I estimate it would cost well over $100 US to reglue for a five hour job over two nights. That would be for the shop to break even on my wages and overhead. And since we didn't have a dedicated tech, it would pull me off the floor for those five hours meaning the shop would still be losing money by not getting my sales. Not a good deal for my boss. If my friends want to do it in my cave they need to do all the work themselves and bring me lots of beer and weed to keep me entertained while I coach them with both doors wide open. I agree, either do it yourself or fork over $$$ to your local shop for a pair of skins every five years or so... more often if you get drastically different dimensioned skis.

    I boiled my thermometer, and sure enough, this spot, which purported to be two thousand feet higher than the locality of the hotel, turned out to be nine thousand feet LOWER. Thus the fact was clearly demonstrated that, ABOVE A CERTAIN POINT, THE HIGHER A POINT SEEMS TO BE, THE LOWER IT ACTUALLY IS. Our ascent itself was a great achievement, but this contribution to science was an inconceivably greater matter.

    --MT--

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Sep 2014
    Location
    Norway
    Posts
    306
    Yeah - I would never bother paying someone to reglue them, it wouldn't be worth it. Labour is ridiculously costly over here. If I recall correctly I got them at 50% off, so they were cheap anyway. I'm gonna try the ironing method and see if it helps any. If not I'll just look for a new pair of cheap skins.

    That being said, I have to say G3 skins seem to be the most susceptible to this gooey transformation. The Pomocas I've owned have just lost stickyness over time, in other words they've gone the opposite direction of the G3's. Black Diamonds have held up better as well, but my GF's ascensions are getting pretty damn gooey now as well after 5 seasons.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Posts
    821
    I'll confirm that older G3s just seem to be trash. I am barely able to remember to pull skins out of my backpack most times (just the standard BD skins) and have basically zero problems after 100s of days of use. Friends with older G3s do everything right and the glue is still a mess. I tried redoing the glue via ironing on a friend's to no avail. I'd just cut your losses and try a different brand.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Location
    shadow of HS butte
    Posts
    6,397
    Ironed my old G3’s at the end of last season. Seemed to come out pretty well. Never heard of hot waxing the plush, might have to look into that

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    northern BC
    Posts
    30,881
    Quote Originally Posted by telepariah View Post
    I agree with xxx-er that it's water. Thing is, when you separate the skins to dry them, that dries the surface of the glue. But most of the water is coming from the plush and wicking through the backing fabric into the glue. Best way I know to prevent or at least slow that down is hot waxing the plush every 10-20 days of touring.

    Everything else xxx-er says is exactly what I do. Especially the tacking of the skin down on the bench. I just drilled binding screws into the bench, one at one end and the other wherever it was needed given the length of the skin. But the time it takes makes a new pair of skins seem like a good option because it is a two thin coat and two overnight airing process to completely reglue. If I charged my loaded rate in a shop I estimate it would cost well over $100 US to reglue for a five hour job over two nights. That would be for the shop to break even on my wages and overhead. And since we didn't have a dedicated tech, it would pull me off the floor for those five hours meaning the shop would still be losing money by not getting my sales. Not a good deal for my boss. If my friends want to do it in my cave they need to do all the work themselves and bring me lots of beer and weed to keep me entertained while I coach them with both doors wide open. I agree, either do it yourself or fork over $$$ to your local shop for a pair of skins every five years or so... more often if you get drastically different dimensioned skis.
    I had a chance to use Nikwax ski-skin proofer during an all night rando event where i was getting bad clumping so I just put it on a wet skin and got instant relief, I'm much impressed with the product cuz now the plush doesn't seem to get wet and one app seems to last for most of a season,

    I bet the spray on DWR would work and I am going to try it

    I alway dry the glue but that is a good point about the water coming thru the back of the skin which I didnt think about


    I just spread out one tube for the pair of skins with a putty knife in one app but you do 2 thin coats so assuming you are using the tubes of gold label I'm curious how much glue do you use for a pair of skins ?

    I always have a couple tubes in my personal stash and the stuff lasts forever if its in a sealed tube & might not be available later in the season when I really need it

    If folks find G3 glue is shitty just reglue with the Gold Label from BD, it works on any skin a tube is only 15-20 $ or if you wana pay 4 times as much get the transfer sheets

    An un-named ski bud who is really hard on gear brought over 5 1/2 pairs of skins that were all fucked, said good luck and if you were to give me back one working pair I would be really happy, i'm thinking of doing gluing seminar for a few bro's
    Lee Lau - xxx-er is the laziest Asian canuck I know

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Sep 2019
    Posts
    12
    I recently attended a backcountry ski gear presentation at my local store that was sponsored by Scarpa and G3 and the rep stated that founder of G3 recommends storing skins in the freezer when not in use.

    I would also contact G3 and see what they suggest as their customer service is top notch. I know they changed glue a few years back.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    northern BC
    Posts
    30,881
    I think there have been a lot of versions of G3 glue that were all suposed to better than the last version

    I warrantied a pair for glue loss maybe 7 yars ago and then that pair fucked up, I've seen G3's be SO sticky 2 people would be at the bottom of the run trying to pull a skin apart, but the skins themselves worked ok on the skin track, so since all glue from all brands fucks up just learn the regluing skills and depend on replacing that glue with the BD Gold label

    Glue never used to be a problem back in the days of 67mm waisted skis, I think problems started when skis got wider so it was harder to get the skins apart also the old glue caused cancer in pregnant women* or sft so they made a new enviromentaly friendly version

    * but only in California
    Lee Lau - xxx-er is the laziest Asian canuck I know

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Nov 2014
    Location
    SLC
    Posts
    5,846
    Quote Originally Posted by XXX-er View Post
    I think there have been a lot of versions of G3 glue that were all suposed to better than the last version
    lol, and yeah

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    SLC burbs
    Posts
    4,186
    FUCK G3 skins with the energy of a thousand suns. The tip and tail attachment are some of the best in the industry but the glue is clearly from a barrel of BITD horse-glue discovered by archaeologists. The nylon plush is great if you need to exfoliate particularly dry skin but glides about as well as sandpaper, the mohair seems to decompose at light speed, and the nylon/mo mixes combine all the issues of each component without any of the benefits.

    That being said, there is a good way to deal with the glue which is what I've done with 2 pairs of Ms Boissal's G3 skins:
    . replace with Pomoca skins she can separate without the help of everyone she's touring with
    . take G3 skins to the GearRoom in the fall and list them for $20
    . pick up G3 skins in the spring when nobody has even been willing to approach them with a 10' pole
    . remove tip and tail attachment systems to be re-used with other skins
    . glue G3 skins on old sections of plywood to make sweet doormats that appear to be better at getting mud off the dog's feet than anything else in the world

    YMMV...

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    northern BC
    Posts
    30,881
    Gosh maybe we should organize a boycott eh ?

    So if you refuse to buy them from Backcountry then you get like a 2 for 1 boycott ?

    I think these chi-chi tip hooks are an answer to a question that didnt need answering cuz the only way to remove the Tip IME is to cut it off the hookie things and fold the skin over a simple loop which will then adj to a huge range of ski lengths, I repurposed a set of G3 that fit my Lotus 190's to my GF's 159



    Or just re-glue them with some other glue, I ended up with a couple pair in the quiver and it not a big deal
    Last edited by XXX-er; 11-27-2019 at 12:08 PM.
    Lee Lau - xxx-er is the laziest Asian canuck I know

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    西 雅 圖
    Posts
    5,359
    I've had good luck rejuvenating older G3 skin glue with the iron technique - I like to use the Black Diamond backing paper that I save from BD skins, iron hot enough to melt the glue (after picking off the bigger blobs and pine needles, etc.). If they are really dirty, I do it once and pull the paper off while warm (pulls most of the dirt off), clean the paper and do it again and let it cool. When you pull it off it will be smooth and shiny like new and I get a few more years out of them.

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Dec 2016
    Posts
    612
    I put a pair of skins on to test out my bindings, not realizing that the glue was super gooey. I now have glue all over the bases of my skis and it won't come off. What should I do? I'm a little scared to ski them like this

    Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

  17. #17
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
    Location
    Seattle
    Posts
    33,546
    Citus cleaner and or iron and brown paper bag/newspaper
    Quote Originally Posted by Downbound Train View Post
    And there will come a day when our ancestors look back...........

  18. #18
    Join Date
    Dec 2014
    Location
    Colorado Front Range
    Posts
    4,644
    Citrus cleaner and then wax 'em up.

    ... Thom
    Galibier Design
    crafting technology in service of music

  19. #19
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    Walpole NH
    Posts
    10,828
    I would hot scrape them with the warmest wax you have. No citrus, that shit is awful.
    crab in my shoe mouth

  20. #20
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Posts
    1,007
    Quote Originally Posted by buttahflake View Post
    No citrus, that shit is awful.
    sounds like somebody needs a nati ice

  21. #21
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    Seattle
    Posts
    414
    Quote Originally Posted by buttahflake View Post
    I would hot scrape them with the warmest wax you have. No citrus, that shit is awful.
    If you do this, you’ll get that fucking awful G3 shit skin glue all over your iron. Then you’ll have to clean the iron and scraper with citrus cleaner. Ask me how I know.
    U.P.: up

  22. #22
    Join Date
    Nov 2015
    Location
    SLC
    Posts
    954
    Peanut butter or mayo on the ski bases to remove the glue, rub it around a bit and then either wipe or scrape it off. Then put some parchment paper over skins and crank up the iron and iron the skins nice and warm to wear you kinda feel the glue softening and smoothing out. Fold up and place in freezer to cool, peel off parchment paper, and you should be good. Just noticed all this was said below but here it is again.

  23. #23
    Join Date
    Nov 2014
    Location
    SLC
    Posts
    5,846
    anyone ever use the "iron a brown paper bag onto your skins to remove the old glue" method? I reeeeeeally don't want to do the hair dryer / scraping way if I can avoid it...

  24. #24
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    northern BC
    Posts
    30,881
    Brown paper bags is suposed to work, I'm betting rags will also work but I've never removed glue that way

    DON't use newspaper
    Lee Lau - xxx-er is the laziest Asian canuck I know

  25. #25
    Join Date
    Nov 2011
    Posts
    2,469
    The new G3 Alpinist Plus skins really stepped up their quality. Glue works better than BD on warm to cold days, they are easier to pull apart even after keeping them under the bed for a summer, and glide considerably better even compared to mixed BD. Zero gooing, but I only have about 30 days on them.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •