This article will provide suggestions for use of fluorocarbons, as well as how to apply them. This information is provided by our sponsor, SOLDA glide wax from TorbjornSport. The waxes mentioned in this article are all SOLDA products and are available from www.TorbjornSport.com .
In colder snow with medium to high humidity
SOLDA HPO5 in powder or spray is a unique and extremely popular fluorocarbon glide wax that outperforms everything else in colder snow with medium to high humidity. It’s better than traditional fluorocarbons in most every medium humidity or medium moisture content condition. It’s also the best choice when you have a mix of new and old snow and a mix of cold and warm snow, including man-made snow.
Use regular SOLDA Warm Fluor powder or spray when the snow is (very) moist, wet and or dirty. PowerJet 1 will in most cases be as good. PoweJet is the easiest to apply. Â
Some skiers are also very successfully applying a layer of corked in PowerJet on top of heated in powder or applying Fluor or HPO5 spray on top of heated in PowerJet for long races.Â
Some are also using heated in PowerJet as base for HPO5 or Warm Fluor powder.
Application of HPO5 and Warm Fluor Spray
Spray an even layer on the ski base and let the fluid dry. It will in most cases dry four times as fast in a warm room (approximately 5 minutes) compared to outside (approximately 15-20 minutes).
Cork the spray into the ski base with a natural cork after it has dried. Cork for 1-2 minutes per ski. Now polish with a felt brush. Natural cork and felt roto brushes can be used. Brush with horsehair brush or make 1-2 passes with a nylon brush followed by the horsehair brush.
Application of HPO5 and Warm Fluor Powder
Iron temperature 130 C or 248 F
Start with a clean ski base; base layer waxes should be scraped and thoroughly brushed before HPO5 or Warm Fluor or is applied. Sprinkle on an even layer over the entire ski base (excluding kick zones for classic skis).
Use the warm iron to gently press the powder down onto the ski, giving the base a white chalky appearance. Move the iron from tip to tail in one slow motion without stopping, either by doing one pass over the entire base or by doing two separate passes on each side of the grove. The HPO5 powder is harder a should be worked into the base by moving the iron back and forth a few times. Use some pressure.
Ski base material can melt at this temperature; be very careful to not burn the ski. A sign of the correct application for fluorocarbon powders is a faint trail of sparkles on the ski base directly behind the iron, although it is not always necessary to see these sparkles. If Fluor or HPO5 powder is sprinkled on unevenly, use a clean plexi scraper to lightly smooth out the thickest part of the layer (the ski does not need to cool first).
Lightly loosen up the wax with very short brush motions using a nylon brush and make one final pass with the iron, moving slightly faster than before.
Let the ski cool and then brush the wax off the ski with a hand held horsehair or SOLDA roto horsehair brush. Use light pressure when using the roto brush.
Alternative methods:
Iron temperature 110 C or 230 F
This alternative method requiring less heat is very popular and reduces the risk of base damage. Set the iron at 110 C (230 F) and gently press the powder down on the ski. Make one pass with the iron from tip to tail. The fluorocarbon will turn white when heated, but will not necessarily sparkle. Now hand or roto cork the powder into the ski base. Use natural cork brush. Use 1-2 minutes per ski with the hand cork or 1-2 passes from tip to tail with the roto cork at slow or medium rpm. Polish with a felt brush. Finish by brushing as described above.
Want more help deciding on the perfect wax? Let TorbjornSport's Wax Maestro tell you which wax to use! You give the Maestro the snow conditions, he tells you the perfect wax. Simple!
For more information or to order SOLDA Glide waxes go to:
www.TorbjornSport.comÂ
