Tripod Leg Stuck

[Beauty Through a Lens]

I just got a brand new tripod and one of the legs keeps getting stuck. What's causing this and how can I resolve it?

I haven't even taken it out of the house yet.

[xpatUSA]

I just got a brand new tripod and one of the legs keeps getting stuck. What's causing this and how can I resolve it?

I haven't even taken it out of the house yet.

That rings a bell. Is it that the leg won't open outward or that it won't extend?

I bought a Giottos "silk road" model and a leg wouldn't open outward. I had to relieve the bit that clicks into the grooves with a file.

Let me know what your exact issue is and maybe I can tell you more with a picture or two, if it would help.

[russellsnr]

If you just bought it take it back and change or refund.
Russ

[IzzieK]

WD-40 would have worked... Oh well...better a working one than one that you'll have to fiddle with for the rest of its life...

[Manfred M]

I just got a brand new tripod and one of the legs keeps getting stuck. What's causing this and how can I resolve it?

I haven't even taken it out of the house yet.

You have given us insufficient information to try to help you. I'm going to repeat the same type of questions Ted has already asked.

1. Make and model number would be useful so that either a member that has a similar model might be able to suggest what has happened or at least let us look it up on the internet to see how the unit has been put together. Each tripod manufacturer has unique ways as to how their units function.

This may not help us a lot. There are unfortunately a lot of manufacturers out there that simply don't provide any information about their products that would help in this regards; and

2. The way that you have describe the problem is unclear. Stuck legs could be anything from opening the from a closed position to splay them out to the various sections not sliding smoothly. Your problem could be anything from a part being over-tightened during assembly, a part shifting while it made its way to you, a defective part, shipping damage or a host of other things.

If you are not mechanically you might want to consult with someone who is to see if they can help diagnose. If its an issue of a part being over-tightened, then the fix would be to loosen something up. My tripods all shipped with some basic tools to do this; the places that they fit might be a place to start. One of my tripods had the opposite problem and something had loosened up during shipping and tightening up one of the Allan screws was all I had to do.

Worst case is going to be returning it to where you bought it, and if it is not a bricks and mortar store, this could be a bit of a hassle.

[Beauty Through a Lens]

That rings a bell. Is it that the leg won't open outward or that it won't extend?

I bought a Giottos "silk road" model and a leg wouldn't open outward. I had to relieve the bit that clicks into the grooves with a file.

Let me know what your exact issue is and maybe I can tell you more with a picture or two, if it would help.

When I extend the leg it gets stuck either right away or about 1-3 inches on it's way down.
When the leg is fully extended and it jams up so it takes a lot of force to get back in; it get stuck again half way up.

When I get it unstuck it doesn't slide smoothly

Brand: Manfrotto
Model: 055CXPRO3

going down

Going up
sometimes it gets stuck around here going up

[xpatUSA]

Stating the obvious:



A little furniture polish might help but I doubt it.

Good luck!

[AlwaysOnAuto]

Sounds like there's a loose burr inside the leg that gets caught up in the area of relative motion of the leg pieces.
Does it exhibit the same symptoms if you operate it upside down?

[Beauty Through a Lens]

Stating the obvious:



A little furniture polish might help but I doubt it.

Good luck!

The lever is open you just can't tell in that photograph and should I really be unscrewing things?

[Beauty Through a Lens]

Does it exhibit the same symptoms if you operate it upside down?

Yes it does.

[xpatUSA]

The lever is open you just can't tell in that photograph and should I really be unscrewing things?

Oh ye of little faith. The screw is not just there for holding the assembly together. It exists in that location to also adjust how much clamping force is applied to the leg when the clamp is closed.

I had the opposite problem on my tripod. A leg would start retracting with the slightest downward pressure on the tripod head. Tightening that very same screw a bit fixed it.

[Stagecoach]

Adrian,

These are extremely easy to strip down, I have done my 055 a few times after it's been in the sea.

On the offending leg, remove the clamping unit by undoing the screw Ted has referred to (this screw attaches the clamp unit to the second leg) after opening the clamp lever and you can then remove the lower leg and clamp. Remove the rubber foot and you can slide the clamp unit off the lower leg.

Then slide the bottom leg (without clamp in place) in and out of the 2nd one and it should move freely, if not check it for trueness or any signs of rubbing marks.

When re-assembling (if all found ok) do not over-tighten the screw that holds the clamp to the second leg.

The Manfrotto websites have parts drawings in the specs in PDF format that detail parts/assembly if you are unsure.
http://mediacdn.shopatron.com/media/...pdf?1328225985

My bet is that the screw that Ted mentions is overtightened but BEWARE if you leave this too loose your leg and clamp can fall off.

Additionally, these units come with a tool for adjusting the leg clamp pinch and they need to be adjusted carefully so that they do not require too much force to close the plastic clamp levers.

[Stagecoach]

Oh ye of little faith. The screw is not just there for holding the assembly together. It exists in that location to also adjust how much clamping force is applied to the leg when the clamp is closed..

Ted, if it's the same as mine it's sole purpose is holding the clamp upper half to the tube above. Tension for holding/locking the moving leg is adjusted by a screw/nut arrangement on the lever cam.

[xpatUSA]

Ted, if it's the same as mine it's sole purpose is holding the clamp upper half to the tube above. Tension for holding/locking the moving leg is adjusted by a screw/nut arrangement on the lever cam.

Yes, after reading your posts, I have realized that my Giottos "Silk Road" model, cheaply made in a far-off land, is not the same as the OP's. Mine uses a single screw which both retains and adjusts; sorry for any confusion caused.

[Manfred M]

Adrian - the cam type of locks that Manfrotto uses on this tripod do need to be adjusted from time to time. This is why those adjustment screws are accessible. A couple of tripods I owned in the very distant past (a Slik and Velbon) had this type of flip lock. While the locking mechanism is quite fast, when compared to the twist locks that I prefer, wear or temperature extremes meant that clamping force would change over time or in specific shooting instances and I had to adjust the locking tension. Every time I went out on a cold winter day, I would have to tighten the locking mechanism, otherwise the legs would slip and not support the weight on the tripod. If I did not use the tripod after this type of adjustment and the next time I used it, the legs would be extremely stiff. The coefficient of thermal expansion between the aluminum in the legs and the plastic in the cam locks was the culprit here. In extreme cold temperatures the aluminum would shrink more than the plastic and in high temperatures it would expand, causing these issues.

Just back off the tension in the adjustment screw in the leg that sticks (turn counterclockwise a tiny bit) until if feels like the other legs and your problem should go away. If this does not fix your problem, then I would start looking for a manufacturing defect, which could be nothing more than a bit of flashing on the plastic part that was not properly cleaned up, inside the cam lock (this is unfortunately an all too common thing in injection moulded parts).

[Black Pearl]

You've just purchased something and it exhibits a fault....you:

a. You post a question online asking if there is a way to fix it.

b. You take it right back and tell the shop that the thing you've just purchased from them, spending your hard earned cash, is faulty and can they sort it out.

Frankly I know which I'd do.

[rpcrowe]

You've just purchased something and it exhibits a fault....you:

a. You post a question online asking if there is a way to fix it.

b. You take it right back and tell the shop that the thing you've just purchased from them, spending your hard earned cash, is faulty and can they sort it out.

Frankly I know which I'd do.

Although you most often pay more when purchasing in a brick and mortar store, one of the advantages is being able to bring the item back for advice, correction or replacement.

However, many stores hire employees at the lowest pay scale possible and are not particularly concerned with their competence. Minimum wage does not attract experts.

Until recently, I had a Calumet brick and mortar store ten minutes from my home. This was quite handy and I ensured that I did enough purchasing there to be known by the staff. Most of them were quite knowledgeable and helpful. However, towards the end, Calumet began hiring young clerks who were not as competent. They closed their doors and ceased operation sometime after that...

[Manfred M]

Although you most often pay more when purchasing in a brick and mortar store, one of the advantages is being able to bring the item back for advice, correction or replacement.

However, many stores hire employees at the lowest pay scale possible and are not particularly concerned with their competence. Minimum wage does not attract experts.

The last time I went to purchase a lens at a well known brick & mortar store, I asked the supposedly knowledgeable clerk about a couple of different lens models I was considering. The clerk told me to look them up on the internet.

Different store, I had an issue with my wife's tripod (handling error - unscrewed a leg and lost some of the clamping mechanism). The best thing the could offer me was to send it to their head office for repair; this was going to cost a fair bit of money and turnaround was 6 - 8 weeks. I phoned the importer, took a picture of the missing parts and a couple of days later they were in the mail. All if cost me was the price of shipping; they did didn't even charge for the parts.

I'm afraid, I'm more aligned with Richard than with Robin; the brick & mortar stores are a shadow of their former selves and the store clerks (some are more knowledgeable than others), rarely come up to my level of knowledge. To me that is both scary and also the reason that they are going out of business.

In Canada, we have an additional issue, the high mark-up on certain items. I can (and did) source the same part (new transceiver module for my Sekonic light meter) for about half the cost (including exchange rate) from the USA as sourcing it from a Canadian online supplier. I probably had it in my hands a day or two faster too. Had I ordered it from a Canadian bricks & mortar store, the cost would have been about the same as online, but I would have had to wait for around 2 weeks to get it.