Ball head screwed up?

[jonnyd]

Hi there,

Recently I purchased a relatively cheap carbon fibre tripod from Photo Continental on clearance. Its been great so far and its very sturdy. I have had the camera sitting on it for the last while and the ball head seems to of seized up and it will not loosen.

Does anyone have any experience with ball heads seizing up that could help me? I dont want to just pull it apart in case I break something :( (brand is 'fotobestway'.. its just their generic ball head)

Thanks,
Jono

[Brigitte]

If it was mine I would take it of the tripod and spray it with WD40 or similar lubricant. Leave it several hours or overnight and try to loosen it. Hope this helps.

[davsv1]

I'd take it back to PC if it were me, they should not seize up. I assume you can loosen the locking screw?

[jonnyd]

I'd take it back to PC if it were me, they should not seize up. I assume you can loosen the locking screw?
Yep, the locking screw loosens fine, but the ball head remains firm.

If it was mine I would take it of the tripod and spray it with WD40 or similar lubricant. Leave it several hours or overnight and try to loosen it. Hope this helps.
Ive heard that WD40 isn't the best thing for them in some cases, so I might wait for some other suggestions before trying anything.

Thanks for the help so far guys.

[davsv1]

It sounds like the clamping mechanism is too weak and has not "sprung "back open, I would definitely take it back before I did anything to void my warranty

[arthurking83]

Before over reacting, it begs the question as to whether the ballhead has a secondary dampening mechanism to give finer control over the primary locking mechanism!!

(OK, did a seach .. so scratch the previous question)

What I think is the ballhead looks like a Manfrotto 486RC2 knock off/copy. Does it have the one locking mechanism lever to control both the ball and the panning?

if so, can you pull this locking lever out to adjust the relative position of it. That is, without trying to unlock the ball/panning, you can usually pull the lever outwards under pressure of a return spring and set the 'pointing position' of the lever to another position. That is, if the locking lever stops in the upwards direction, and is bothersome in some way, you can use this feature to reset where the locked position of the lever rests .. for example facing downwards.

if this is the case, then has the lever position return spring failed in some way and not allowing you to turn the actual screw that controls the ballhead properly.
Alternatively have the teeth that mesh between lever and screw broken?

[jonnyd]

Before over reacting, it begs the question as to whether the ballhead has a secondary dampening mechanism to give finer control over the primary locking mechanism!!

(OK, did a seach .. so scratch the previous question)

What I think is the ballhead looks like a Manfrotto 486RC2 knock off/copy. Does it have the one locking mechanism lever to control both the ball and the panning?

if so, can you pull this locking lever out to adjust the relative position of it. That is, without trying to unlock the ball/panning, you can usually pull the lever outwards under pressure of a return spring and set the 'pointing position' of the lever to another position. That is, if the locking lever stops in the upwards direction, and is bothersome in some way, you can use this feature to reset where the locked position of the lever rests .. for example facing downwards.

if this is the case, then has the lever position return spring failed in some way and not allowing you to turn the actual screw that controls the ballhead properly.
Alternatively have the teeth that mesh between lever and screw broken?
Nope, nothing wrong with that system is broken. It still can relocate the knob, and you can still loosen the screw to a visible amount. You are correct in assuming it is like the Manfrotto one though.

[arthurking83]

Aha! ..... obviously some broke internal mechanism then, and hopefully you can get yer money back on it.

So I assume that you can tighten the lever so that it's 'locked' .... and then fully loosen the lever so that the ball should be loose .. it's just that the ball is seized(yeah?)

So it appears as tho it's working .. but it's not.
Or is there something obviously wrong with the lever's action too?

[jonnyd]

Aha! ..... obviously some broke internal mechanism then, and hopefully you can get yer money back on it.

So I assume that you can tighten the lever so that it's 'locked' .... and then fully loosen the lever so that the ball should be loose .. it's just that the ball is seized(yeah?)

So it appears as tho it's working .. but it's not.
Or is there something obviously wrong with the lever's action too?
Your correct, there is nothing wrong with the lever though.

[jonnyd]

Took it back and they gave me a replacement.

[Mark L]

Did you get any decent photos worth posting on AP with the old ball head?:);)

[davsv1]

Took it back and they gave me a replacement.
Any explanation from them?

[jonnyd]

Any explanation from them?
Nope, they just swapped it without any hassles :)

Did you get any decent photos worth posting on AP with the old ball head?:);)
Yep, 1, where should I post it? :P

[Mark L]

Yep, 1, where should I post it? :P

Depends what it's a photo of.:confused013

If you can't decide, ask the same question when you post it here ...... http://www.ausphotography.net.au/forum/forumdisplay.php?68-NOT-FOR-CRITIQUE :)