OB4 problems

[kainan]

I have recentley got myself an OB4, I have a problem with the rubber under the boot plate. It keeps coming off. The glue they use is not very good and it moves around and comes off. Not a very good idea having it glued down. We have 5 OB4 bindings in our club and ALL of them have this problem....

What have others been doing about this problem, Is there any reason why a rubber section could not be glued to the base plate instead.

[fox197]

I really hope that you have personally contacted OB4 to talk about the issue. Only 2 posts and one of them is publicly complaining about a product is not a good look

[gregy]

@mmosley899 @Than_Bogan

[Than_Bogan]

I haven't had a chance to try it yet, but I am told that Contact Cement, if applied according to the directions, will eliminate this problem.

 

Also I plan to lightly sand the rubber to improve the glue's effectiveness.

 

Hopefully I'll be doing that this week and can report.

 

Btw, the newer rubber pieces are denser, which I think is GREAT for feel. But they seem to require a different adhesive.

[Than_Bogan]

@fox197 Perhaps he earns a pass by noting 5 systems in use at his lake. Sounds like a group that really likes the product but needs further guidance on one issue.

[MattP]

@kainan

I have had my rubber start to peel back in one small area. This was after I spent a full day out on the public lake and left my boot attached to my ski. The rubber got hot and stuck a little to the plate and separated from the glue. I took it home let it dry out and used some super glue in compression and it worked great. So I would suggest to keep your boots out of the sun and off the releases when not in use as well. Try some contact cement. As @fox197 said I hope you have also contacted Mike & Eric about the issue. I know they are aware of it and are working to make sure they get the right adhesive to get the rubber and alum. to mate and hold properly.

[mmosley899]

@kainan sorry for the problems, so far the 'experts' have been wrong about the correct adhesive to use. I have started using contact adhesive to deal with those problems. The kind you use on Formica counter tops. The rubber is there to protect the bottom of the boot plate and is required to be in place for correct release operation. @MattP is correct about making sure they do not stay wet, and out of sun when not in use.

[Greg Lukin]

Mine is doing it too - going to try a few options. got a few weeks to try and fix it now after a pre release twinged my groin (my fault as I had the tension set to loose)...

[fox197]

@Than_Bogan sorry mate I was only trying to defend your product. It just looks ordinary scrolling through the posts and seeing a title that says OB4 issues. And I understand that the poster may get a pass for having 5 sets but it was never mentioned that they were happy with the product. Your call but I would go about it a lot differently. I'm sure you will sort the issue out for him.

Side note. I'm looking at purchasing a dual ob4 to suit some exos. Will contact you and mike soon.

[Than_Bogan]

Just to be clear, I have no direct involvement with OB4. Just a happy early adopter.

 

And as such more than happy to help!

[BlueSki]

Mike told me to watch for it and it happened to my son's plate, which is newer, before it happened to mine, which is from Memorial Day 2014. I just glued one of mine recently. I used Gorilla Glue for both. So far, over a month on my son's and two weeks on mine and they are holding strong.

[eleeski]

Formica contact adhesive has not worked well for me. Water changed the adhesive and it failed. There are many different adhesives so I probably used something different than @mmosley899 .

 

The contact adhesive I use successfully is wetsuit glue. While I have had some bonds fail, the adhesive wetsuit glue has appeared fine (the paint peeled up or the foam delaminated). It's ridiculously hard to remove if I need to (fresh or old).

 

Disclaimer: I'm not fixing an OB4. But I use wetsuit glue a lot.

 

Eric

[kainan]

I will clarify that I am happy with system only having problems with rubber. I notice that the boot plate rubber has a lot of holes due to boot fixing not leaving much surface area for rubber to stick on to which I believe is part of the problem, there are too many holes in rubber and it moves around. That is why I mention if I can glue a new piece of wider solid rubber to base plate instead? . Mike has been contacted about this problem but as above there is no definative fix as yet, thats why I put issue here to find out what others are doing.

 

[JJVDMZN]

I used Contact adhesive, it worked for me.

Keep in mind that you are not supposed to walk with the boots, that can also loosen the rubber. I also take the boots off the plates between sets and after skiing store them separate as well.

 

P.S. I would regard it part of maitenance

 

[jdk99]

Count me in as having this problem as well. I've tried rubber cement, vinyl adhesive, super glue...and the stupid things keep coming off. Will try contact cement.

 

HOWEVER, I absolutely love these bindings and wouldnt ski on anything else. I bury my tip frequently on my offside and have released every time. My injured ankle from last year no longer hurts at all and I've skied harder this year than ever before with not a single issue with the ankle.

 

Great product ... just have to find a solution to the rubber coming off. Anyone tried tacking it on with something other than adhesive? Small buried screws or something like that?