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Loose Quick release (1 Viewer)

Andy1963

New member
Does anybody have any easy solutions to the quick release plate working loose on scope base causing it to become unsafe ...anybody use Loctite Thread glue or anything similar.
 
Irrespective of the quick release system, the plate should have an anti-rotation pin (4,5 or 5 mm diameter). There will be a corresponding hole in the scope foot adjacent to the 1/4" or 3/8" female thread.

John
 
Andy
Isn't there a piece of rubber between the QR plate and the scope's foot? This would normally get squashed as you tighten the QR plate onto it and then suppress the tendency to rotate due to its grippiness. If the rubber is old though it might have lost its rubberyness so maybe it would be a good idea to replace it.

Lee
 
Andy
Isn't there a piece of rubber between the QR plate and the scope's foot?

Lee,
Where there's compliance there can be oscillation. That's why I junked Manfrotto QR years ago in favour of the Arca-Swiss system. There's a very old test of tripod heads by Jan Meijerink on the Twentse Vogelwerkgroep site (in Dutch). The Manfrotto 128RC (with QR) came off considerably worse than the 128LP (without).

John
 
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Does anybody have any easy solutions to the quick release plate working loose on scope base causing it to become unsafe ...anybody use Loctite Thread glue or anything similar.

Don't use Loctite! Or VHB tape! Bad things can happen, such as destroying the socket thread.

Using a rubber interface doesn't really solve the problem.

What you want, as mentioned above, is a plate with an anti-rotation pin (if your scope foot has a receptacle--but many do not), or anti-rotation lip (my favorite solution), or that accepts the foot of your scope as the plate. Plates with a lip are easily found for the Arca-Swiss standard. Pins are available for some Manfrotto plates; a very few have lips or equivalent. Gitzo has some with pins, but not all of those are solid enough to work properly. Sometimes it is possible to modify a plate yourself.

Which QR system are you using?

--AP
 
If what you're talking about is the screw working loose (with no locking pin), i have used one turn of PTFE tape (for water, not gas) round the thread of the screw, which seems to work.
 
What you want, as mentioned above, is a plate with an anti-rotation pin (if your scope foot has a receptacle--but many do not), or anti-rotation lip (my favorite solution), or that accepts the foot of your scope as the plate.

--AP

Hi Alexis,
Thank you very much for this excellent tip.
My Nikon 60 ED III has no pin receptacle, so the slippage of the QR plate was a constant irritation.
I'd not known that anti rotation plates were available. These hopefully will serve well.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...&linkId=ca7dba3bdaea11a71a7441e6f317caa2&th=1
 
Manfrotto also market an 'anti-twist' plate for spotting scopes (SKU 200USS) but it is prohibitively expensive for some reason, at GBP £50-55.00! Daylight robbery; I'm sure they would sell many thousands if they sold at a sensible price.

RB
 
Thanks for all the replies guys the manfroto quick release plate does have a locater pin as well as a threaded screw but after a time walking you can feel the scope start to work its way loose, not as loose that it can fall off but loose enough to wobble when on the head, I will try a couple of the suggestions or maybe just carry a set of pliers with me and keep on tightening it up :)
 
Andy,
Does the scope foot have a 3/8"-1/4" adapter? Make sure this is tight first; a thin coin should do and then hand tightening the QR plate should be sufficient.
Personally, I don't like the adapters and have always used 3/8" screws when a 3/8" thread was provided. This aspect though is IMHO badly engineered by most scope manufacturers with really inadequate thread depth. Berlebach even had to shorten the 3/8" screw on a custom plate for a Swaro ATM because the standard screw bottomed out in the blind thread before it could exert any clamping force.
Perhaps its all a hangover from camera standards. The short threads are not required to support the camera weight.

John
 
I use Slik 88 tripods, which use small studs.
These unscrew easily, but they are so handy and small, I just check tightness every time I use a scope.

But I am not carrying a scope around like birdwatchers do, so something more secure is needed.
 
Hi Alexis,
Thank you very much for this excellent tip.
My Nikon 60 ED III has no pin receptacle, so the slippage of the QR plate was a constant irritation.
I'd not known that anti rotation plates were available. These hopefully will serve well.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...&linkId=ca7dba3bdaea11a71a7441e6f317caa2&th=1

The plate that you show in the link may work fine but it isn't to my taste. Looks excessively wide, and I don't like the use of rubber (red material). Essentially _anything_ from RRS or Kirk Enterprises (I like the Kirk PZ-17 for the Nikon Fieldscope) will be anti-rotation, but those plates are not cheap even when they are simple designs. Maybe something of a knock-off would be good, such as something from Desmond or this one from SunwayFoto https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00Z5VCJ44

--AP
 
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The plate that you show in the link may work fine but it isn't to my taste. Looks excessively wide, and I don't like the use of rubber (red material). Essentially _anything_ from RRS or Kirk Enterprises (I like the Kirk PZ-17 for the Nikon Fieldscope) will be anti-rotation, but those plates are not cheap even when they are simple designs. Maybe something of a knock-off would be good, such as something from Desmond or this one from SunwayFoto https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00Z5VCJ44

--AP

Well, I was not thrilled by the appearance either, but it was what Amazon threw up as a search result.
I may give the Sunway a try, it seems a calmer design, although there was a gripe about the retention screw on another model not being stainless, but chromed.
 
Well, I was not thrilled by the appearance either, but it was what Amazon threw up as a search result.
I may give the Sunway a try, it seems a calmer design, although there was a gripe about the retention screw on another model not being stainless, but chromed.

I stand corrected.
The Breakthrough Photography plates I'd mentioned are excellent, at least based on initial inspection.
The red rubber elements are nowhere near as loud as they appear in the Amazon image, rather more a subdued dark red shade.
The lip is at least removable and possibly adjustable, with two small screws to set the right height.
The holding screw appears robust, is stainless steel and has a central recess fitting for an Allen wrench in addition to the screwdriver groove.
The plate has a slot for a retaining strap as well.
Overall, I'm pleased with these plates. They will get a workout over the next few weeks during the migration season, so I'll try to post a follow on based on their performance in practice.
 
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Well, the Breakthrough plates performed very well in the field.
I constantly used both the 40mm as well as the 60mm plates on a two week trip around Greece, on a monopod as well as on a tripod.
The lip feature is very helpful, the scope no longer gradually twists itself off the plate. The plates still did loosen a couple of times, but the scope was held correctly oriented on the plate even then.
The plates loosen because I only fasten them finger tight to the scope, not wishing to over stress the plastic body of the little ED50 scope.
Overall, I'm very pleased with these plates. They are well made, work a treat and imho are an outstanding value.
 
I got a "Really Right Stuff L84 Multi-Use Fore-Aft Plate with 1/4"-20 Screw" for my Kowa 663. The plate is 3.6 inches/92mm long and has a lip at one end to square the mounting of the scope to the plate and stop rotation. At $55 (B&H) it aint cheap, but the length allows me to move it back on an Arca clamp when I use it just for scoping and move it forward to counter the weight of a camera for digiscoping. I like it.

Regarding rubber pads on the top of some plates; I found that the pads themselves were the culprits causing twisting.

Another suggestion is to replace knurled or bail-type 1/4-20 plate screws with ones that have a bail, a flat screwdriver slot, and a hex socket for an allen key. I like using a ball-end allen key because it is easier to control the torque you apply when you just use your finger tips to do the final tightening.
 
I got a "Really Right Stuff L84 Multi-Use Fore-Aft Plate with 1/4"-20 Screw" for my Kowa 663. The plate is 3.6 inches/92mm long and has a lip at one end to square the mounting of the scope to the plate and stop rotation. At $55 (B&H) it aint cheap, but the length allows me to move it back on an Arca clamp when I use it just for scoping and move it forward to counter the weight of a camera for digiscoping. I like it.

Regarding rubber pads on the top of some plates; I found that the pads themselves were the culprits causing twisting.

Another suggestion is to replace knurled or bail-type 1/4-20 plate screws with ones that have a bail, a flat screwdriver slot, and a hex socket for an allen key. I like using a ball-end allen key because it is easier to control the torque you apply when you just use your finger tips to do the final tightening.

RRS plates are clearly the premium product, probably the most effective choice if unwilling to sort through the mountain of alternatives.
Interesting insight about the rubber pads. It makes sense that they might cause some twisting.
The Breakthrough plate screws also have the hex socket, as well as the screwdriver slot and the bail. The limiting factor is my fear that the scope fitting is not robust, even though Nikon strengthened it with a metal insert after early issues were reported.
 
Interesting insight about the rubber pads. It makes sense that they might cause some twisting.

Like so many things in life ... It's not what you do, but how you do it. These were inexpensive plates that came with Arca-type clamps and with a different "rubber" formula, could have worked just fine.
 
...The limiting factor is my fear that the scope fitting is not robust, even though Nikon strengthened it with a metal insert after early issues were reported.

Glad for the report that the inexpensive plates are working well. As for tightening, I don't think you should be too concerned. We haven't heard (on Birdforum) of socket failures on the ED50 since the design was changed (helicoil was replaced with a solid insert). Also, I am of the opinion that constant loosening/tightening/rattling around loose is probably more stressful than a consistent solidly tight (but not over-torqued) connection. That's one reason why I don't like a rubber interface--it inspires overtightening to prevent wiggling and loosening.

--AP
 
Glad for the report that the inexpensive plates are working well. As for tightening, I don't think you should be too concerned. We haven't heard (on Birdforum) of socket failures on the ED50 since the design was changed (helicoil was replaced with a solid insert). Also, I am of the opinion that constant loosening/tightening/rattling around loose is probably more stressful than a consistent solidly tight (but not over-torqued) connection. That's one reason why I don't like a rubber interface--it inspires overtightening to prevent wiggling and loosening.

--AP

:t:
 
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