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3130 jiggles (1 Viewer)

G

Godana

Member
I just purchased a 3130 head, and I'm very happy with the smoothness - even at high magnification, the motion is pretty smooth. However, the locking mechanism does not lock down the plate firmly. It's clamped enough so that there's no worry about losing the scope, but there's definitely a fair bit of "jiggling" going on. Disappointing. It jiggles whenever I touch my scope, say to adjust the focussing ring (FSIII ED82-A). I see there is a hex screw on the locking mechanism running through the axis of the cam that clamps onto the quick-release plate, but it already seems pretty tight, so I didn't want to force it.

Anyone run into this? Any suggestions for how to firm it up? Did I get a defective head?

Thanks in advance.
 
Godana,
I hope this is your problem: on my 3130, it's possible to lock the plate in forwards or backwards. However, when it is locked in backwards it jiggles.

1)The cam & lever must be on the side closest to you, when you mount the head to the tripod, before attaching the plate. Some people try to reverse this and put the control arm on their left hand side, but it is not designed to work this way.*

2) when you attach the plate to your scope, look on the bottom of the plate and be sure your objective lens is pointing in the direction of the arrow.

3)click the plate into the seat. Remember, the cam & lever are facing you. The objective lens and the alignment arrow on the bottom of the plate are facing the bird. The control arm is on your right.
With the head and plate mounted in the correct directions, the scope will lock on completely. no jiggle.
You should not have to adjust the hex screw in the cam.

*If you really want to put the control arm on the left side, you have to reverse the plate-to-scope attachment also.

I hope this is your problem. It is easily solved and common.
Marc
 
Bill Atwood said:
Welcome to the major downfall of the 3130.
Click to expand...
Bill,
I respectfully disagree. When mounted properly, the plate is designed not to move or jiggle.
The front and back of the plate look similar, but only one of them locks properly under the cam.
Using your current setup, try the simple experiment of mounting your scope backwards, so the objective faces you. It will likely lock with no jiggle. If not, something is defective or maladjusted on yours.

This whole thread is about the plate moving in it's seat. An unrelated common cause of jiggling is the scope not seating well on the plate and always working lose. With some scopes this happens. It's not exactly the fault of the 3130.

Cheers,
Marc
 
Jedku,
The title of this thread caught my eye as I have been having the same problem! I followed your suggestion and the fix was as simple as you suggested, turning my base plate around on the scope. Perfect.
Thanks,
 
Bill Atwood said:
Welcome to the major downfall of the 3130.
Click to expand...

must confess that I've not heard of this being an issue with the 3130 (128 in the UK) - it's one of the most popular birding heads over here, simply because it's so solid and reliable. I'd recommend doing as Marc suggests and checking that the qr plate is the correct way round.
 
problem solved!

jedku said:
Godana,
I hope this is your problem: on my 3130, it's possible to lock the plate in forwards or backwards. However, when it is locked in backwards it jiggles.

1)The cam & lever must be on the side closest to you, when you mount the head to the tripod, before attaching the plate. Some people try to reverse this and put the control arm on their left hand side, but it is not designed to work this way.*

2) when you attach the plate to your scope, look on the bottom of the plate and be sure your objective lens is pointing in the direction of the arrow.

3)click the plate into the seat. Remember, the cam & lever are facing you. The objective lens and the alignment arrow on the bottom of the plate are facing the bird. The control arm is on your right.
With the head and plate mounted in the correct directions, the scope will lock on completely. no jiggle.
You should not have to adjust the hex screw in the cam.

*If you really want to put the control arm on the left side, you have to reverse the plate-to-scope attachment also.

I hope this is your problem. It is easily solved and common.
Marc
Click to expand...


That did the trick! Thank you!
 
jedku said:
Bill,
I respectfully disagree. When mounted properly, the plate is designed not to move or jiggle.
The front and back of the plate look similar, but only one of them locks properly under the cam.
Using your current setup, try the simple experiment of mounting your scope backwards, so the objective faces you. It will likely lock with no jiggle. If not, something is defective or maladjusted on yours.

This whole thread is about the plate moving in it's seat. An unrelated common cause of jiggling is the scope not seating well on the plate and always working lose. With some scopes this happens. It's not exactly the fault of the 3130.

Cheers,
Marc
Click to expand...

Sorry Mark, I've never seen a 3130 that had a solid lock on on the plate. They may not exactly "jiggle", but they still allow too much movement. Not to mention that quite often the plate/scope attachment allows movement. As far as I'm concerned this is a major issue with Bogen heads. Spending over $1,500 for a great scope view only to have it ruined by a breeze on a Bogen head sucks.

Have you ever seen an Arca-Swiss clamp style mount? A thing of rock-solid beauty. Even a small one can hold a 14lb 600mm telephoto setup with absolutely NO movement. Unfortunately they don't have one on a light video head.
 
works for me

Bill Atwood said:
Sorry Mark, I've never seen a 3130 that had a solid lock on on the plate. They may not exactly "jiggle", but they still allow too much movement. Not to mention that quite often the plate/scope attachment allows movement. As far as I'm concerned this is a major issue with Bogen heads. Spending over $1,500 for a great scope view only to have it ruined by a breeze on a Bogen head sucks.

Have you ever seen an Arca-Swiss clamp style mount? A thing of rock-solid beauty. Even a small one can hold a 14lb 600mm telephoto setup with absolutely NO movement. Unfortunately they don't have one on a light video head.
Click to expand...

The only movement I now have is due to the scope itself (Nikon FS EDIII 82A). The angled version of this scope allows for the eyepiece to be rotated. There is a very slight movement at the joint that allows this movement - and for that to happen I have to physically grip the scope with my hand to cause it. There's no way breeze will do that. Other than that, I can see no movement, jiggling, or shifting of any kind between the scope base, the plate, or the head. So far, it seems pretty solid. However, I just got the thing, so let's see how it works after some time in the field.

Thanks every one for their feedback. Great forum!
 
Dave B Smith said:
Jedku,
turning my base plate around on the scope. Perfect.
Thanks,
Click to expand...

Same here when i got the 3130 last summer, fixed in 2 minutes. However, i think that the whole head is a bit too stiff, i was hoping for a more fluid movement. I am happy though, it's a good head.
 
Godana & Dave, I am glad this solved your problem. Dave, you put it very succinctly: "Turn the base plate around." I probably could have simply said that, had I been as lucid as you.

Bill, I don't know what to say. I really like my 3130 & 3001 BN legs. I have no trouble with them and they work well in the field. Very sturdy, yet portable. I have used them on very windy sea watches and been pleased. Quick to set up and take down. I have not tried the Arca _Swiss.

Otto, I am not enough of an equipment-hound to know why it is manufactured with such a stiff grease in its joints. Maybe it is matched for heavier scopes or lenses? Maybe it is necesary that it be stiff grease for the grease to not run out on the hottest days? I have a lightweight Kowa 65 scope, and I can just leave the screws loose and use the grease friction alone on cold days to support the scope. But not in hot Florida weather.

Greetings to you all from North Florida,
Marc
 
safety lever issue

jedku said:
Godana & Dave, I am glad this solved your problem. Dave, you put it very succinctly: "Turn the base plate around." I probably could have simply said that, had I been as lucid as you.
Click to expand...

Marc,
since you were so helpful in solving my "jiggle" issue, perhaps you can help me with another thing that I noticed today. My 3130 has a safety lever that causes a pin to protrude preventing the quick release lever from being moved to the release position. At least, that's how it's supposed to work. The problem is that the quick release lever can be moved quite a bit before hitting the safety pin. Not enough so that the "peg" under the plate pops up, but just enough that the plate can slip out. Not much of a "safety" device. I'm wondering if there is some adjustment that's needed. There is a silver hex screw that runs through the center of the cam that holds the plate in place - would loosening that allow re-positioning of the lever so that it hits the safety pin sooner?

If anyone has run into this, please let me know. In all that I read about the 3130, I never read that this was a problem. If no one on the forum knows about this, I'll talk to a local camera shop that carries the 3130 and see what they think.

Thanks in advance.
 
Godana,
The thumb lever is exactly opposite the flat face of the cam on mine. Is that how yours is?
It can be turned a bit before it is caught by the safety lever. But, my plate just loosens, it doesnt come out.I suppose your theory is right that you could loosen the central screw and reseat the lever a little further over. I don't know for sure. Engineered things have a tendency to be more complicated than I had first supposed. Don't know if its your experience too.
Good luck. Let us know what happens.
Marc
 
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