Crampons broke my binding?

Can you guys help me out? I got ski crampons in today and snapped off a little piece of plastic on the binding when I tried to put them on. Am I doing something wrong? They are Dynafit bindings and crampons so I expected them to play nice.

Here's a photo showing the crampon that went all the way into its slot and broke off the little square piece of gray plastic in the center in the process. The other crampon won't go past the little gray square piece and I'm not about to force it because it will probably break.

Does it matter that the little bit of plastic broke off? Should I break it on the other one so they match? Am I supposed to get out a screwdriver and take off part of the binding? Should I stick to resort skiing?

Thanks!

I'm not 100% sure about your binding because it's different from Dynafits I've owned. But I broke a piece off the plastic base-plate of a Dynafit binding several years ago when installing a ski crampon. Here's the deal:

To install the ski crampon you have to tip it up (forward) in order to slide the crampon into the slot in the base-plate. You must slide the crampon all the way in until it is centered on the binding before you tip it back down flat on the ski. If you try to flatten it onto the ski before the crampon is centered, you can brake the base-plate. The base-plate and crampon have a tab and notch arrangement that keeps the crampon centered, and it is fragile if it's not properly positioned.

In my case, I obtained a new base-plate, reinstalled it under the toe piece, and haven't had a recurrence.

Looking at your pictures, it looks like the piece that broke off is the tab that keeps the crampon centered on the ski. (Note the mating slot (groove) in the crampon's cross-bar.) Without that tab, your crampon may shift from side to side in use (not sure). During insertion, it could be that you need to flex the little plastic tab to slide the crampon in. You might be able to do it with a fingernail.

It also looks like the crampon might be wider than it should be for the ski, which can cause some torque issues - even though Dynafit crampons have a stronger bar connection now than a few years ago. B&D Ski Gear www.bndskigear.com/ makes Dynafit compatible crampons for a range of ski sizes, and a narrower crampon might reduce the potential for it to slide and twist, especially in the absence of the plastic centering tab on the binding base plate. (I have three different Dynafit bindings and they have all required special attention of some kind with the crampons.)

Lowell has it right. What you need is a new plastic toe sub plate . Where to get it is your question. The button you broke off is the detent to center the crampon.
All binding models including the current take the same crampons. The Very early toe sub plates did not have the steel reinforcements.
I used to get parts at Salewa but most likely would try Pro guide in North bend or Pro Ski in N seattle.

Another source is Ski Mo
skimo.co/dynafit-binding-parts

As a last resort I could imagine a improvised detent being built.

The detent in my older ST model sub plate is very subtle and responds to just pushing the crampon in and out. Ive never had to push the little plastic piece.

Thanks everyone! I tried the crampons today on saint helens. They didn't seem to slip in the broken binding, but I may get a new plate at some point.