Pivot Heel Won't Stay Down/Open

[TheEleven]

Hello there,

Cobbled together a set of pivot heels with some spare parts. Base plates are new. The actual arms/heel itself hasn't been used since 2006 or so. Took it apart, lubed up the spring, put it back together. Now, the heel won't stay down/open for more than 5 min or so. I push it down, all looks good, then 5 min later it pops up scaring the shit out of me. What gives? Roll with it?

Picz



Thanks

[ZomblibulaX]

Well that's a new one.

Took apart the heel and greased the spring? As in removed the roll pin holding the plastic cover in place and disassembled the spring housing? If that's the case, I would have to assume something didn't go back together right.

Just for experiment's sake, put something 3-5mm thick between the roll bar and the base plate before you push the heel down, to sort of hyper-extend the heel when it opens. See if it still pops up after that.

I'm intrigued, post updates.

[jackattack]

I wonder if the angle of the tubes is too shallow. Try moving the whole assembly forward/up and then pushing the dildo down.

I’ve never disassembled the heel to grease the spring, is that common?

If it doesn’t stay down, I’d consider sending it to look for service or at least getting it release tested.

[madriverfreeride]

I have a really old p15 heel that won’t stay down. How do you take the roll pin out to disassemble it?

[ZomblibulaX]

I’ve never disassembled the heel to grease the spring, is that common?

Nope. Somebody mentioned doing it in another thread, it’s certainly not SOP, but you know how we just love fucking with shit. There’s not a single alpine binding manufacturer that recommends taking a spring out at all. Now Dynafit on the other hand...

[TheEleven]

Well that's a new one.

Took apart the heel and greased the spring? As in removed the roll pin holding the plastic cover in place and disassembled the spring housing? If that's the case, I would have to assume something didn't go back together right.

Just for experiment's sake, put something 3-5mm thick between the roll bar and the base plate before you push the heel down, to sort of hyper-extend the heel when it opens. See if it still pops up after that.

I'm intrigued, post updates.

Yep. The original plastic cover had a hole in it from someone's poles which broke the DIN indicator piece. So I replaced the covers and indicator piece from another clapped out pair.

I don't know how it operated before hand, took these heels off a pair of race skis a couple years ago. I'll take a look at how I put it back together, may have not set something 100% right. I'll report back.

Yeah this is a new one to me too. I've had a lot of fks/pivots and have abused them to the point where they shouldn't work anymore...yet they still do. So issues with this barely used pair was a surprise to me.

[TheEleven]

I have a really old p15 heel that won’t stay down. How do you take the roll pin out to disassemble it?

Best way I've found is drilling the ID of the pin, but not enough to actually drill it out. Then pulling on the drill with the bit inside the pin if that makes sense. Sometimes it comes out easy, sometimes it's a pain in the ass.

[madriverfreeride]

Best way I've found is drilling the ID of the pin, but not enough to actually drill it out. Then pulling on the drill with the bit inside the pin if that makes sense. Sometimes it comes out easy, sometimes it's a pain in the ass.

Can’t believe I didn’t think of that, I wonder if a really small tap would grip the pin better than a drill bit.

[waxoff]

Hello there,

Cobbled together a set of pivot heels with some spare parts. Base plates are new. The actual arms/heel itself hasn't been used since 2006 or so. Took it apart, lubed up the spring, put it back together. Now, the heel won't stay down/open for more than 5 min or so. I push it down, all looks good, then 5 min later it pops up scaring the shit out of me. What gives? Roll with it?

Thanks

Sorry if mentioned already. But did you rebuild both heels in the same fashion? And does both of em display the same behaviour, i.e. not staying down, or is just one of them erratic? 🙄

[ZomblibulaX]

Yep. The original plastic cover had a hole in it from someone's poles which broke the DIN indicator piece. So I replaced the covers and indicator piece from another clapped out pair.

I don't know how it operated before hand, took these heels off a pair of race skis a couple years ago. I'll take a look at how I put it back together, may have not set something 100% right. I'll report back.

Yeah this is a new one to me too. I've had a lot of fks/pivots and have abused them to the point where they shouldn't work anymore...yet they still do. So issues with this barely used pair was a surprise to me.

So does the spring match the housing you’re using? Or did you keep the old spring with the newer housing? Did both bindings have the same din scale?

[TheEleven]

Sorry if mentioned already. But did you rebuild both heels in the same fashion? And does both of em display the same behaviour, i.e. not staying down, or is just one of them erratic? 

Yes, both rebuilt the same way. Only one does this. Both DIN's set the same, middle of the range.

So does the spring match the housing you’re using? Or did you keep the old spring with the newer housing? Did both bindings have the same din scale?

Yes, both are 155 heels/springs/housing.

Just went and messed with them for a minute. As you disengage the heel that works fine, you get that "over the hump" feeling and it becomes easier to press down - standard pivot feeling. The one that is popping up keeps that same "tough" resistance the whole way through the motion. Going to take it apart after work and see what I can find.

[TheEleven]

Ok, opened up the heel in question, no issues with assembly. Then removed it from the arms (this is without the spring in) to see how it compares to another old heel that operates fine. Found that the heel w issues would only rotate with quite a bit of force while the good heel would rotate freely. Tried to force a bunch of grease down into the rotating bits and moved it back and forth a bunch of times. Finally got it to free up. Sweet. Reassembled the heel, go to test it, same thing. Although now, since it moves much easier, when I press it down, it immediately lifts off the ski about a 1/2". Sits there for a minute or so then snaps up on it's own.

Tried what someone mentioned above, and put something under the bar when pushing the heel down to get the resting smaller/more rotation. That worked, and has been fine all night. Not sure what else to try. Maybe skiing them will magically fix it.

Current state

[gwat]

Tried to force a bunch of grease down into the rotating bits and moved it back and forth a bunch of times. Finally got it to free up.

For really gunked up heels I start with a good bath in WD40, then lube the internal bushing with some lightweight oil (3-in1 or lightweight silicone lube) then grease everything up and reassemble.
I have vague memories of once having issues mixing and matching plastics. Is your new plastic a hair longer/fatter than the old one under the DIN screw? That part of the plastic could be contacting the ski and preventing the heel from fully opening.

[ZomblibulaX]

Yeah that’s a weird one. Something is either binding up in the main pivot, or bent/broken so that it doesn’t hold in place. There’s not that many parts to a dildo, I wouldn’t think it would be that hard to diagnose. Dunno.

[El Chupacabra]

There’s not that many parts to a dildo, I wouldn’t think it would be that hard to diagnose.

Sig worthy