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Changing glued in bindings?

12K views 68 replies 24 participants last post by  HiImBrian 
#1 ·
Hey guys.

Last year I bought some new bindings and the shop offered to put them on. I guess they used locktight or something cause I cant get them out. I didnt realize until i'd stripped most of the screws. How do i go about getting the bindings off without ruining them, or the board theyre attached too?

Thanks
 
#2 · (Edited)
If they used Red Loctite you might be SOL !!!!!

I have no idea if you could use a penetrating oil or not. NO idea if it would wreck the materials inside the board as it soaks in. I'm sure someone will chime in on that method.

This is also why I loosen the bindings on all of our boards while they sit over the summer.

you may need to grind off the screw heads to remove the base plates then geta bolt extractor to get them out but that is worse-case-senario
 
#3 ·
Well, now that you've stripped the screws you might be in a real "sorry, tough luck" scenario. You should have noticed the screw heads stripping because the screwdriver was popping out of the screw, jumping rather than turning.

What you could do, IF you have enough left on the head of the screw, is to use an impact driver. You probably don't want to spend the $200 to buy one, but borrow one from any friend of yours who does construction. It looks like an electric drill, but what it does is completely different. It's a miniature version of the impact gun they use on cars to free rusted and torqued big bolts.

All you need to do is use the right size screwdriver bit on it, and it'll hammer them free. You'll be mind-blown at how easy it is.

But if the screw heads are too stripped, you might be out of luck.
 
#5 · (Edited)
You can still use an impact hammer with a straight blade screw driver attachment.

Take a dremmel tool with a cutting wheel and CAREFULLY, since you F'ed it up already, cut a groove into the top of the screw head. Then use the impact screw driver to help drive it out.



Make sense???
 
#10 ·
:thumbsup:I was going to suggest the same thing, I just had to do that about 2 weeks ago.

I really don't understand why someone, after stripping the first one, would continue to strip all the rest too?:dunno:

I had to do all 4 on one binding.:rolleyes:

TT
 
#7 ·
if they used red loctite you need to heat it to something like 400 or maybe 600 degrees to get it to let go...

obviously you can't take a blowtorch to a snowboard but you might be able to torch a screwdriver seated in the screw and get enough of the heat to transfer... or get a soldering gun and use that to heat it, one screw at a time..
 
#8 ·
another old school mechanics trick.
Don't just try to loosen. When working witha stuck bolt or nut we loosen then tighten, loosen, tighten until it starts to free up.
You might also try this trick.
 
#11 ·
Never done it to a snowboard but you may have to drill out the screws. If you've got a buddy with a drill press it's much easier than using a handheld drill.

If all else fails its the only way to take it apart without butchering the bindings and board.

Main thing is to get a good HSS bit just slightly thinner than the threads (use a screw that you've taken out or any standard binding screw as a guide)... If there are some threads left in the hole you can clean that out with a tap (i.e. from a tap and die set).

Now that I think about it if you don't already have these tools just take it to the board shop you bought it from! Which hacks did it, Mission or Source? :D
 
#12 ·
You might have to grind the heads off.

Then the binding will come off & you'll have maybe 1/4 inch of screw to work with.

I'd try some vise grips maybe @ that point.

Grinding the head off might also heat it up enough to break loose.

TT
 
#13 ·
Shredlife has the best solution. Heat is the standard method for red loctite removal. This is super easy with metal parts, but you need to work carefully. Do as Shred said and heat the shaft of your screwdriver and keep as much metal to metal contact as possible. Use a small hand held propane torch and keep trying to break it free as you apply heat and be carefully not to overheat and take too much time.

I would also keep a can of water handy to cool the insert as soon as you get the screw out. Also, allow the board to completely cool before going on to the next screw.

Applying heat will damage both the binding and the snowboard around the inserts. Don't use heat. That's great for bolts on a car - but even on a car you don't use a torch if the bolt you are loosening is near rubber lines or wires or anything else that will be damaged by heat. By the time the nut expands with heat to loosen a touch, those wires or lines will be trashed.

The impact gun will take care of it, no heat required.
There were some good suggestions here for cutting a slot if required to use a flathead if the screwheads are too far gone. You might cut a bit into the binding disc, but probably will be OK in that respect as well.

Good luck - minimize collateral damage - don't use a torch.
 
#14 · (Edited)
I was thinkin the same thing, why risk it?

An impact driver would work like butter, I just did it about 9 days ago.
But I didn't need to use my impact driver, once a slot was made it turned.


So it looks like shedhead, doesn't have the best solution:cheeky4:

Chalk one up for Slyder & Tim Tim.:cool:

TT
 
#20 ·
Your statement couldn't be more incorrect- you goddamn regard. Lol. Wow.

An impact driver exists specifically to remove stuck, rusted, over-torqued bolts (or screws) without breaking them... in scenarios where using tools like breaker bars would snap bolts.

An impact driver applies a vibration-like impact force that is both more effective and gentler on the bolt.

And red loctite is really no big deal. Even if they used more than a dab of it.

But you are calling other people retards? You need to start knowing what you are talking about before exposing yourself as ignorant - in writing for all the world to see.
 
#16 ·
What brand of binder is stuck to the board? Does it have a plastic disc that can be easily replaced with a simple email to customer service? If so then you can always cut apart the disc to allow full access to the stuck bolts. Then a simple pair of vise grips, with an extension for a little leverage, will solve the problem.

This way you avoid using a torch or an impact driver on the board, not so good for your board. If in fact the shop used loc-tite on your board NEVER LET THEM TOUCH YOUR BOARD AGAIN.
 
#17 ·
Just my 2 cents. The red loctite hypothesis is just an assumption.

All we know is that the OP stripped his screws. They could just be in their tight with blue loctite. Surely there are very few board shops stupid enough to use red loctite. Anyone knows for lots of different reasons bindings need to come off the board.

I would take it to a shop, preferably the shop that screwed them in so tight and get them to deal with it. At least get them to clarify if they did indeed do such a moronic thing as to use red loctite. Once we know what the situation is for sure, it will be easier to solve and might just be a simple job (if no red loctite is involved).
 
#18 ·
Hey guys this is also assuming that he used the right screw driver and didn't round them off because the wrong size screw driver head.

I"m constantly removing my bindings when I wax my board, another assumption since OP'er didn't say. I wonder if he ever loosened or removed his bindings the whole season. I'm guessing not since they are in there so good.

I also can't see a shop using red loctite but we all know not all shops are great.

To wolfs idea I would just point out that the OP'er had better make sure the torch tip is at minimal parallel to keep as much extra heat away from the board as possible. Maybe lay some wet towels around the top of the board to prevent heat wash and possible overheating of the board.

It may also be worth the $5-$15 to just take it to a shop, any shop and say I F'ed this up can you get these out. I'm sure they have seen this before.

We all had good ideas, depends really on the OP'ers skill level of using different tools. Everyone is trying to get him out of a jam he created.
Good luck and hope the outcome is positive.
 
#19 ·
I've done the heat thing to free stuck nuts and bolts many times.

One technique that I've used when I'm concerned about damaging the surrounding area is to use a soldering pencil. Plug it in, heat it up and prop it up on a piece of wood so that the tip is resting on the screw but the rest of the pencil is safely away. Let it sit for 15 minutes, take it away and melt an ice cube on the screw.

It may take a while for the screw to absorb enough heat, but I've never damaged the surrounding area
 
#44 ·
This is exactly what I'd do..... :laugh:

Okay. Im gonna skip over the all the bickering here. The guys at the Source weren't dumb enought to use red loctite, just the blue stuff. I just heated up the screwdriver with the torch, put it in the head for a little then turned. Screws came out. Thanks for all the advice and now ive got bindings on my new board.
I'm glad you got them out. :thumbsup:

Sounds like everyone is ready for the snow.... and a couple of you are ready for daycare, or need some pussy. Good Lord :confused:
 
#22 · (Edited)
So you have worked in a ski and board shop and have done this?

Obviously, you don't take the torch to the board or bolt directly. You heat the shaft of the driver and the heat transfers down the shaft to the screw. The screw itself heats up to the 350-400 very quickly and if you work reasonably quickly, the loctite become pliable befor much heat is transferred to the insert.

I have removed stuck binding screws like this many times and never damaged a board or a binding. You are more likely to really do more damage with the force of an impact driver. The amount of force typically needed to break apart the hardened red loctite will snap the heads right off of the insert screws long before the loctite gives. I little heat as described will have way more effect than simply using more brute force.
Don't backtrack and get this kid's equipment screwed up because you want to look like an expert on an internet forum. Replying "I've done this hundreds of times" doesn't make it less BS. It's dangerous.
I've probably been snowboarding longer than you've been alive, I've worked on all means of snowboards (and skis, before snowboards existed, in the 80s) over the years, and I'd never bring a torch near a board... closest thing would be a p-tex candle to fill a gouge. And even then, I wouldn't be lighting it with a torch, would I? (Since you claim to work at a shop, you know that -RIGHT?)

Heat expands metal. Just like a stuck bolt on a car. You'd heat the surrounding metal to expand it from the bolt to free the bolt. That's physics. That's how you use heat to free stuck bolts on cars, you heat the surrounding area. Heating the bolt will expand the bolt, making it harder to remove.
In this case, we can't anyway. We have a metal insert, a sleeve, that's simply bonded to our fiberglass/plastic/wood composite snowboard... And we couldn't get to the insert even if you had a micro-torch with heat shields, because there's a very melty plastic-and-foam binding in the way - the thing he's trying to loosen.
In a car, there's no collateral damage from heating a bolt - the surrounding area is solid metal. That's not the case here... not even close.

There's no reason to jeopardize this kid's binding. There's no reason to jeopardize the integrity of this kid's snowboard- particularly the insert that's bonded into the snowboard - with a torch.

No one - I mean NO ONE - who worked at a shop would ever - EVER - take a torch to customer equipment! The liability alone is obvious. If an employee took it upon themselves to "go rogue", bring in their own torch, and exercise this kind of stupidity on customer equipment, they'd be fired for liability alone. Imagine being a shop owner, walking in and seeing some kid holding a torch to your customer's gear?

Heat works to loosen stuck bolts on cars. If that's your mechanical expertise, leave it in the garage. Don't screw up this kid's equipment.

No one is advocating using brute force that I've seen here. The proper tool for this job is an impact gun.
 
#24 ·
The problem most likely isn't locktite.... It's the fact that these screws were installed in winter when it was cold. Now that it is warm where he is the metal is a nanometer or so bigger and stuck. Heat would make it tighter unless yo heated the metal insert in the board and cooled the screw. Heating the insert would fuck up the setting of it. Don't heat the screw or insert. If anything you should cool it down in a deep freeze or by setting it out on the porch over night when it's cold out. I live in the mountains so remember tha cold to me is under 10F.

This is why bolts come loose on the mountain too, aside from the lateral force. If the screws were tightened inside your 75 degree house then taken outside, they are now not set.... This allows the lateral force to pull and loosen the screws. I typically tighten my screws on my porch and never have to screw with them again..... They are stupid tight if I try to remove them in the spring/summer. Proper driver head helps to prevent stripping the heads when tight.
 
#26 · (Edited)
Exactly. :cool: That's a good thought on when the bolts were tightened.

If an impact driver isn't available through any of your friends or family, then rather than waiting until it's cold, you could drop by your local convenience store and buy a $5 bag of ice. Pour the rest into a cooler so it doesn't melt, in case you need to try numerous times.
Make a pile of ice inside your binding, so that it cools the bolt heads directly. And let it sit for a good long while.

In theory, that should cool the bolts, while the board more or less stays at room temperature (or outside temperature - I don't think you want ice melting indoors), which just might do the trick.

And that won't damage anything.

EDIT: in the event anyone thinks heat is a good idea on a snowboard, read up: Removing stuck fasteners
And in the event that you DO borrow an impact driver:
A pneumatic or electric impact [driver]can loosen most any fastener
Just make sure you don't use it to re-install your bindings - that vibrational force can over-tighten just as easily as it can loosen things that were over-tightened.
 
#27 ·
You could also just wack the end of the screw driver. You don't need an impact driver for such a simple item. You won't break the tool or the board and if you do screw drivers are cheap, much cheaper than buying an impact driver.

This thread seems to have taken a turn for the worse.....Egos are on fire here
 
#29 ·
My impact driver is great for taking stuck nuts off bolts. Not quite as good for taking bolts out of threaded holes as it can snap the bolt head off.

For taking screws out of things? It's 50/50 on rounding out a Robertson or Phillips head, depends on the "mesh" between the bit and the screw. If you're stripping out the head by hand, an impact driver is probably just going to do that faster.

All this is assuming that Red Loctite is the problem. I'd suspect that they're just torqued up a bit much and there's a little rust. Give them a good shot of PB Blaster every day for a couple of days and try again.
 
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