sand in brand new tripod.....HELP!

[Ms Monny]

Well, I took the new Manfrotto tripod down to the beach tonight for a bit of a play. Yep, you guessed it, a bigger than normal wave came over me and the tripod.....more than once. I thought it would be fine, as I knew I could clean it as soon as I got home.

I got home and the dread of realising the SAND in the tripod legs isn't making them move! :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

I put the legs under running water, tried to manouvre the legs out and back in etc. I now have it fully extended and drying inside. The clips on the legs won't clip in as there is sand in there as well.

H.E.L.P. :(

Is there anything else I should be doing to get the sand out and clean it......or should I just let it now dry and then hopefully all will be fine.

Bloody sand has even scratched my tripods legs!!! Grrrrrr

Geez, I know how to christen new things, hey???

[Congo]

Sorry to hear this Monika im not sure what you can do that you already haven't done, the only suggestion from me is if your able to take the telescopic legs off and give them a good rinse.

[Cage]

Monika, Hi, what a bummer.

I have a Manfrotto tripod and if you have the right screwdriver you can dismantle the legs, and therefore clean them thoroughly.

The screwdriver has a different head to the normal flat or Phillips head types, but if you are going to play in the surf regularly it could be a good investment.

Just take your tripod to your local friendly hardware store and they will sell you the right one.

Cheers

[Ms Monny]

thanks Congo. I will have to wait till I am at the other house tomorrow as I don't have any screw drivers here. The legs wont budge and I don't have a bath to lay it in (water) to wash it out. Arrgghh. Not happy. :(

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Kevin, I might just do that. I just noticed they were odd screws. Talk about crashing down from a high (excited to get tripod and play with it).

[ricktas]

fill the bath with water, throw it in and start opening and closing the releases while agitating it in the water.

edit: just read the above about not having a bath, got a tub, even a big plastic one that the kids toys are in?

[Wandapics]

Yay I did the same thing :( Now when I use my Tripod in sand I leave the legs extended until I get home & hose them off & let dry before I try & close it up. Of course having a wagon that the extended tripod fits in helps.

[Ms Monny]

Rick, I don't have anything the length of the tripod (its as tall as me! :o ). All those types of things are back at the other house (my husband and I have temporarily separated). Might have to wait till tomorrow when I can get to the other house and put it in the bath or the like.

Barbara, I have a wagon, so I should have done that!! Lesson learned! Actually, now I remember the tripods legs werent extended fully. It was quite low to the ground ..... thank god the water didn't get to the camera!!! :o

One thing I don't get is that there are sooooo many pics of beautiful sea shots that obviously have the tripod in the water. Are there special bags to put on the legs or something??

[ricktas]

Rick, I don't have anything the length of the tripod (its as tall as me! :o ). All those types of things are back at the other house (my husband and I have temporarily separated). Might have to wait till tomorrow when I can get to the other house and put it in the bath or the like.

Barbara, I have a wagon, so I should have done that!! Lesson learned! Actually, now I remember the tripods legs werent extended fully. It was quite low to the ground ..... thank god the water didn't get to the camera!!! :o

One thing I don't get is that there are sooooo many pics of beautiful sea shots that obviously have the tripod in the water. Are there special bags to put on the legs or something??

I have two tripods. My 'dry' one and the one filled with sand. I just chuck it in the bath regularly. But you could use garbage bags and rubber bands if you wanted to

[ROA44]

Hi Monica,

The type of screw driver bit you require is called a Torx Tamper proof Bit or screw driver Type T25.
If you go to Wikipedia and type in Torx and scroll down the page you will see a list from T1 - T100 directly under that is a picture of the bit you need like a six pointed star, ( wikipedia.org/wiki/torx ) should be able to get it probably in a kit. Hardware stores should have something as well. Hope this helps. You will also need the handle to go with it.

[Ms Monny]

I have two tripods. My 'dry' one and the one filled with sand. I just chuck it in the bath regularly. But you could use garbage bags and rubber bands if you wanted to

Yes, as I was cursing and screwing my face up trying to get the sand out, I thought I should use my old tripod for being in the sea....except it is so wobbly it would probably fall over with the first slight wave!!!

Might try the garbage bag idea......anything will help. I have been caught three times this week with the sea....and I was only shooting on 2 occassions! Either that or just DON'T GET NEAR IT!

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Hi Monica,

The type of screw driver bit you require is called a Torx Tamper proof Bit or screw driver Type T25.
If you go to Wikipedia and type in Torx and scroll down the page you will see a list from T1 - T100 directly under that is a picture of the bit you need like a six pointed star, ( wikipedia.org/wiki/torx ) should be able to get it probably in a kit. Hardware stores should have something as well. Hope this helps. You will also need the handle to go with it.


Thanks ROA44! I will google it and print it out so I have an idea of what to show the guys in the hardware store. Looks like my washing and cleaning the house will be put on hold tomorrow morning.....I have a more important job to do!

[ROA44]

Oh how I know that feeling, Didn't get a start on cleaning out the garage today, wont happen tomorrow either but did get the office looking more like it should, now to get a start on a clean reload on the comp. ready for loading LR so I can start posting.

I was only thinking as I was going out to pick up some shopping as to how to deal with that situation the only other I thought of was PVC tubing capped at one end, but carrying it all becomes a bit cumbersome.

Ok I know Carbonfibre Aint a priority, can't afford it, aint goin to happen for a long time.

[Ms Monny]

Glad I am not the only one that can't stop thinking about this!! :(

Only thing with the pvc tubing....it would have to be water tight on the capped end. I guess there is some sort of water-resistant glue or something the like that I could use. Actually, this could work quite well. Yes, cumbersome, but it could be somehow strapped to the bag, and it would light. Youve got me thinking now......

[arthurking83]

Damned Manfrottos!!

This(and value for money) are reasons I stopped recommending them to people a long time ago.

Benro's tripods(especially the carbon versions) are much better .. and more importantly for this thread .. a lot easier to clean out too with the twist lock leg system, as opposed to the (annoying) flip lock manfrotto system.
The twist locking leg system requires no tools to strip down :th3:

apologies for the rant .. but hope you get it sorted soon too.

[ROA44]

Yep, use the high pressure white irrigation tubing the caps glue on. You would have to get tubing large enough to side the legs into and then you would have to seal the top with possibly tape to stop water filling the tubes. O well just rambling ideas.

[Ms Monny]

Damned Manfrottos!!

This(and value for money) are reasons I stopped recommending them to people a long time ago.

Benro's tripods(especially the carbon versions) are much better .. and more importantly for this thread .. a lot easier to clean out too with the twist lock leg system, as opposed to the (annoying) flip lock manfrotto system.
The twist locking leg system requires no tools to strip down :th3:

apologies for the rant .. but hope you get it sorted soon too.

:sad68: Oh, Arthur, if only I knew this beforehand. Hmmmm, maybe save for a Benro and use that as my 'water' tripod!

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Yep, use the high pressure white irrigation tubing the caps glue on. You would have to get tubing large enough to side the legs into and then you would have to seal the top with possibly tape to stop water filling the tubes. O well just rambling ideas.

Hmmm, I don't think a seal at the top will be needed, as they would be far enough out of the water. Plus, it is the darn sand that is the problem, not the odd bit of water.

[ROA44]

Sorry but water carries the sand even at that height.

[Ms Monny]

hmmm, yeah, I guess you are right.

God, I am so peeeeeved right now. Ive had it for not even 24 friggin hours and I have to pull it apart to clean it! I think I need to go to bed.....its upsetting me too much.

[arthurking83]

If you are going to go with the strip down route, I'd also recommend that you DON'T get a torx screwdriver as the tool of preference, but instead get either a torx bit set for use in a standard socket set, or just the simple L shaped torx key(like an allen key).
The bolts will almost certainly have a fair amount of force used to secure them well(plus the use of nylock nuts to stop loosening) .. and for most strongarm blokey blokes the force required to hold a screw driven torx head may be within their ability.
But for the rest of us weaklings ... the added leverage of the key tool(or a socket tool) makes life a lot easier.

FWIW:(and just some useless info really!) but my 055(which I still have but never use) has standard 'ol philips heads which are a lot harder to hold steady with the use of any leverage. Luckily I have a very good set of screwdrivers with good handles to allow me to use enough leverage to remove them... and more importantly tighten them nice and tight! So at some point in the past, it seems that Manfrotto may have changed the type of securing system they use.

[ROA44]

Just don't get any old cheapo driver I have found the better quality unfortunately do pay off.

[Ms Monny]

I've seen those L shaped torx keys. I think hubby might have some ..... or I can just take it to someone to get it 'serviced' (cleaned).

If its any consolation, I got a couple of shots I pretty happy with.

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Just don't get any old cheapo driver I have found the better quality unfortunately do pay off.

Yup, another reason to take it to a professional .... and never do this again without protection!

[Congo]

Hi Monika i have thought of maybe a solution there is this product called emergency repair tape, i think it is a silicon tape that self binds like a plastic waterproof cover without leaving any residue when taking it off. try googling it this might be some help went going into the wet stuff.

[Ms Monny]

Thanks Congo. I will check it out. I have woken up feeling less depressed about the whole situation. I am going to see if a friend has a large tub (they go camping alot) and even that L shaped Torx key and give it a go myself. How hard can it be??? Wish me luck. I will let you know how I go! :)

[arthurking83]

....... I am going to see if a friend has a large tub (they go camping alot) and even that L shaped Torx key and give it a go myself. How hard can it be??? Wish me luck. I will let you know how I go! :)

Should be very easy once you start .. it all makes sense on how to get it apart.

I don't know if you NEED the tub, I just had each leg separated over the laundry sink, not really using water much other than on a soft cloth to wipe each leg tube down. I can't remember tho if I had much residual sand inside each leg tube that needed to come out .. it was quite a few years ago since I had to do the manfrotto. I've also done the Gitzo a few times, which like I said(same as benro) is a lot easier to pull apart, and again, I don't remember there being any sand inside the leg tubes.

I reckon, if your laundry trough is deep enough you could just run some tap water through the inside of the leg if there is any stuck sand inside.

[Ms Monny]

Hmmm, yes, you are right. Taken apart it the legs are not that long. Well, I am going out to BUY that torx thing instead. I think I might need one anyway. God, how I love mornings....I feel so much more positive in the mornings than at night!

On a mission now..... :D