Tripod Stuck Legs, water etc etc...

[camtherocker]

Hey people.

I'm having a little issues with the my Velbon Sherpa 600R. I'm not sure if it's my carelessness or crap quality...

SO basically, I've had my tripod in water, in cold places, and after a while of not letting the legs out, just sitting in the bag, I think they may have gotten cold. "When it's cold the metal sticks." (quote from Gladiator...haha)

So does anyone have any tips? Since I think that water might not go away even with the legs out.

Does anyonerecommend a good lube??

Thanks.

[Splatsworth]

A Hairdryer and WD40?

[gregj1763]

Hope it's not the quality of the tripod, I have one as well.
From what I can read on the net, silicone spray seems to be the favoured lubricant.

[Colin Southern]

I'm afraid that "Velbon" and "quality" aren't normally used in the same sentence

I use a Gitzo 1548 - and it's been in water more times than I can remember. I just strip it down once a year or so and give it a bit of a going over. Still as good as new.

[Mike Buckley]

You might be interested in this post that provides a link to an article about tripod maintenance: Care and feeding your tripod

[DanK]

If I am right, your tripod is aluminum and has clip locks rather than twist locks, so they probably are not constructed inside like the carbon fiber twist-lock tripod in the article.

I think my inclination would be the same as Trev's. If you apply heat, the outside section should expand before the inside one does, so there should be a short interval when it is easier to pull the smaller section out. WD 40 would help, but then you would have to clean that off well and put on a more appropriate lubricant once you have it apart.

What seems weird is that this should happen to all of the legs and sections. It's easy to see how grit could cause one or two to seize up, but all of them binding sounds ominous. It suggests that the alloy may have corroded, making a rough surface.

[Colin Southern]

What seems weird is that this should happen to all of the legs and sections. It's easy to see how grit could cause one or two to seize up, but all of them binding sounds ominous. It suggests that the alloy may have corroded, making a rough surface.

My guess is that it was salt water, and they've essentially "welded" themselves together.

[Vrgl]

Here's my two cents worth: Try spraying generously with liquid wrench ( name brand)- allow to set for 24 hours, then tap firmly but gently around the joint with a rubber mallet. It should come apart. Then clean really well with more liquid wrench. Then clean off the liquid wrench- once it's totally dry,then apply a silicone spray and re-assemble. Make sure the liquid wrench does NOT touch any none metal parts and definitely keep it away from any camera equipment- it will melt plastic. Make sure your hands are totally clean when done-again this stuff works great will mess non metal parts up--hope you can salvage your tripod.

[inkista]

http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2012...of-your-tripod

[AB26]

Hi,
Why not dump it and buy another cheapy. Can't cost to much if Velbon and quality should not be mentioned in the same sentence.
A faulty tripod is going to kill your camera.

Andre

[camtherocker]

Hi to everyone and thanks for your answers. and Sorry for the late reply. I kinda forgot I posted this. :\ Even though I've been enduring the stuck legs.
So I've just disassembled the tripod, and found sand caught up in areas, one of the notches that extends the tripod leg, two were stiff, one was lose (screw).

SO I have some photos here and some more questions regarding the Velbon Sherpa 600R.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cameron...7631458951112/ - All Photos

1st Image: Where the Tripod Legs Attach. Should these screws be tight? One Screw was quite lose, two screws were tight.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cameronhornerphotography/7952874010/in/set-72157631458951112

3rd Image: Bolt, Nut & Washer Close Up.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cameron...57631458951112

4th Image: Top of the Tripod Leg. Is this possible to take off? Or is it glued on?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cameron...57631458951112

5th Image: Tripod Leg Joints. Are these possible to take off? In the following 4 images, 2 are of the clips & 2 are of a needle. Can this needle be removed?
Clip Top: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cameron...57631458951112
Clip Bottom: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cameron...57631458951112
Needle Top: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cameron...57631458951112
Needle Bottom: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cameron...57631458951112

I have used these two lubricants on the Tripod legs. But the liquid quickly dried out, in which the legs got stuck again. If the clips are removed, in which I just have metal bars, I'll be able to properly lube them up more.
Lube 1 (Graphite Powder as someone said on this forum): http://www.flickr.com/photos/cameron...57631458951112
Lube 2 (Marine Stuff): http://www.flickr.com/photos/cameron...57631458951112

Thank you all once again.

[rpcrowe]

My Giottos tripod twist locks are touted by the manufacturer to be moisture/sand resistant. However, if I am going to shoot in areas that are salt water intensive (beaches, marshes, etc.). I simply wrap the bottom portions of my tripod legs (usually up past the first joint with Saran Wrap and secure that with rubber bands. Leaving the area, I unwrap my legs and dispose of the wrapping an an appropriate receptacle.

When I shot motion pictures for the Navy, we used canvas booties to cover the bottom sections of our wooden tripods when we shot in sand. They would protect the legs against sand and partially against moisture but would not protect against immersion. These were not commercially available but usually there was a boatswain's shop available on naval bases who would fabricate the booties for us.

If I were doing a lot of shooting in salt water marsh and beach areas, I would have some booties fabricated out of lightweight wetsuit neoprene that would reach ove as far as I thought I ight immerse the legs of the tripod. These would be tubes with one end sealed shut. I would secure the top of the tube to the tripod leg with gaffers tape since that tape will not leave any residue...

There are commercially made plastic tripod booties called, "Drypods" but, IMO, there may be too expensive for what you get.
http://rjwiley.smugmug.com/keyword/d...040715&k=7Zegd

BTW: Giottos additionally provides snow shoes as an accessory. These prevent the tripod legs from sinking deeply into sand, snow or mud. They are quite handy. I don't know if they could be adapted to other brand tripod legs.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...Shoe_with.html

Along the same line, Giottos has a multi-purpose shoe which should be great for using a tripod on slippery marble or other surfaces. http://www.adorama.com/GTMFS.html

I have not used these for my Giottos but a set of this type of shoes were always in my grip box when I shot with the very heavy wooden motion picture tripods supporting heavier motion picture cameras. These Giottos shoes would be good for slippery surfces and "might" be O.K. for sand, snow or mud, but, I am not sure how well they would work for the latter.

[lorenzobix]

hello everybody
this summer i put my manfrotto 055xproB in the sea and in a river. the water arrive almost at the top of the tripo: 20-30cm from the camera body. In the river the pression of the water was so high i had to keep the tripod standing with my hands.
the bigger problem was the sand, non the water. every time i've returned home i washed it with a lot of water because of the salt of the sea. i turned it upsidedown several times to let the majority of the water came out. i did this, of course, also at the beach. i kept the tripod upsidedown for the entire night. The tripod works good and i never had problems with any of it's possible movements.
as i said the sand and little rocks are a bigger problem than water, salted or not. in the clips used to open the legs there were several rocs and sand that made very bad sounds, so much and for so long that i thought it was impossible to clean it well. the solution (but sometimes it keeps making noise) i found is to open-close for a lot of times since the pieces go away. some of them, i fear, are inside the legs, and this is a big problem because i'm gonna need to make it open to clean well.

[Manfred M]

hello everybody
this summer i put my manfrotto 055xproB in the sea and in a river. the water arrive almost at the top of the tripo: 20-30cm from the camera body. In the river the pression of the water was so high i had to keep the tripod standing with my hands.
the bigger problem was the sand, non the water. every time i've returned home i washed it with a lot of water because of the salt of the sea. i turned it upsidedown several times to let the majority of the water came out. i did this, of course, also at the beach. i kept the tripod upsidedown for the entire night. The tripod works good and i never had problems with any of it's possible movements.
as i said the sand and little rocks are a bigger problem than water, salted or not. in the clips used to open the legs there were several rocs and sand that made very bad sounds, so much and for so long that i thought it was impossible to clean it well. the solution (but sometimes it keeps making noise) i found is to open-close for a lot of times since the pieces go away. some of them, i fear, are inside the legs, and this is a big problem because i'm gonna need to make it open to clean well.

The main issue with salt water is corrosion. The fact that your tripod has aluminum or carbon fibre parts (like the legs), doesn't mean that there are other internal components that are made of steel or other materials that more likely to corrode in salt water. Also, remember that even aluminum and corrosion resisitant steel (a.k.a. stainless steel) can and do corrode after exposure to salt water and in certain circumstances (stainless steel), in fresh water. The only solution is a good rise and soaking in fresh water to remove the salt, and disassembly and drying the various parts. A lubricant will be warranted on moving parts; I prefer graphite and silicone based ones, with a light (silicone)grease in parts that I don't want binding later on.

Yes, sand and other debris can get into bushings and prevent the smooth operation of the parts.