Threadlock? ED50 Tripod advice? (1 Viewer)

I'm sure this has been covered before but with lots of new models available I thought I'd bring it up again.

I've been using a truly cool vintage tripod with my ED50: Whitehall Travelite TR-1 made who knows when (50's-60's??). It weighs all of 1060gm (37oz), and goes up to about 60" or so. Packs down to about 17 inches I think. I attached a photo. 4 section legs, 2 section post. All aluminum of course and plenty stable for 27x on the Nikon. Photo below (mine looks much better--I just googled that image). Best part of the story? Got it for 10 cents at a thrift store!

Trouble is the tilt is too stiff. The grease, at this point, is more like glue and try as I might, I can't dissassemble the thing to clean it. They used some kind of industrial strength threadlock during assembly.

Preamble aside, I have two questions:

1) Any idea how to disassemble the thing? I read that heat will momentarily melt threadlock, but it didn't work for me. Maybe I just need more heat?

2) Failing that, what compact carbon tripods work well with the ED50 and are in the same ballpark as the Travelite in terms of size/weight? I rarely get to see tripods in person but I'm heading to NYC in December and with luck will have time to check out B&H. I looked at a Sirui T-025X carbon but that struck me as too flimsy.

I won't spend Gitzo bucks on this, but I'm willing to go maybe $350. Has anyone seen the Oben CT-3510? It seems to get great reviews.

Most thread locking compounds need to be heated to between 400 and 500 degrees Fahrenheit in order to be removed.

It is also possible that the steel hardware and the aluminum parts have suffered from galvanic corrosion and are seized together.

If there are no plastic parts involved, I would try some penetrating oil on the troublesome joints to see if that helped loosen them. Something like Liquid Wrench or 3-IN-ONE Oil. You could also try that on the hardware to see if that would help with removal.

Mike

I doubt that products from the 1960's used thread lock on screws. The problem is most likely corrosion between the screws and base metal. Heating with a hot air gun at max output may help,,,, we also use a hammer with light taps on the screwdriver while engaged with the screw to loosen frozen parts.

If your budget is $350 for a new tripod,,, you have many nice choices. When you visit B&H just tell the sale person your budget and weight/height specs. they are very helpful.

Regards,
FK

Good to know about the thread lock, or probable lack of it. So most likely corrosion is the culprit. I've tried every lubricant I could think of and nothing works. I can't even get any lubricant to penetrate the joint itself. Just too tight.

I'll try the hammer tap trick and more heat. I held a lighter under the screw head for a while but no go.

It would be nice if I could fix this because I doubt a carbon tripod of similar size/weight would be much of an improvement. The Travelite works pretty darn well except for the tilt, which is herky jerky for sure.

Thanks for the feedback,
Mark

For the same problem of seizure through galvanic corrosion on bicycles a product called plusgas is the most often recommended solution... https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=p...usgas&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=shop

Plusgas does indeed work on seized seatposts, spray and leave overnight, repeat a few times and then apply force to remove

I don't see Plusgas for sale here in the states, but I did run across something folks swear by on some auto forums: CRC Freeze Off. I think I'll try it out. There's also something called PB Blaster that sounds similar to Plusgas, so I'll give that a go too.

A used Gitzo 5 section Traveler would be a pretty good option as well. I'll keep my eyes open for one. Few and far between I suspect.

Continued thanks. I'll report back if I achieve success,

Mark

I am not familiar with your tripod but if there are no plastic (or possibly rubber) parts then Diesel is pretty good for shifting stuck items - give it a good 24 hour soak and most things will shift.

Many photo products in the 60's and before used straightforward lacquer to lock threads. Nailvarnish remover was always a useful standby when I used to repair vintage cameras.

As the tilt mechanism appears to be held on by a single set-screw without a lock nut on the other side it may well have been held in place by a locking substance or an interference fit. As the metals are steel (or plated something else) and aluminium it is very likely that dissimilar metal corrosion has taken place as many car restorers find to their cost. If you did get it apart you may get the opposite problem of keeping it together subsequently and may need to relock the thread.

An alternative approach avoiding dissasembly has worked for me in similar situations if the bearing surface is metal to metal. If the stiffness is down to corrosion in the tilt mechanism and if you can fully remove the tilt arm by unscrewing it you may be able to introduce a mild abrasive into the bearing surfaces down the threaded hole to clean the bearing. My favourites include toothpaste, through abbrasive metal polishes up to ceramic hob cleaner. By working this into the bearing you may well free it up. Start at the toothpaste end as it is very fine and is the easiest to flush out. Apply a mixture of abrasive and thin penetrating oil or kerosene to get it to penetrate. Do not screw the pan arm back while there is abrasive still present, you will destroy the threads.

Afterwards flush out with very thin penetrating oil or kerosene.

Some tripods have a nylon collar inside the tilt mechanism acting as a lockable bearing, being distorted by the tightened tilt handle to lock movement. Introducing abrasive for such systems is not recommended, the collapse of this plastic due to wear can jam up such mechanisms and is not usually repairable. This approach will usually not work either if the locking mechanism was a seperate metal cam compressed by the arm onto the bearing, which would need dissassembly to fix, however you can fill the threaded hole up with very thin penetrating oil and leave it pointing vertically for a day or two, to let it seep into the bearing. This is generally the usual first step anyway and you may well have tried it. Gentle warming can speed up the penetration process, however, many such oils are highly flammable, using ether as a base so do not use a naked flame!

Unfortunately it is not a tripod I met during the time I spent renovating ancient kit so cannot be sure of their construction. They do seem relatively common on auction sites on both sides of the atlantic selling between $12 - $36, which may be a cheap option if you want to keep using one, of course they may all suffer the same problem...

Thanks for the continued suggestions. Iveljay, you raise points I would never have thought of I don't think!

You're right the tilt mechanism has a single screw with no lock nut. the threads sit flush with the inside surface so I can get penetrant to the them--so far it hasn't worked. I doubt there's a scrap of nylon/plastic anywhere in this tripod so I think I can try just about anything to get it freed up.

Diesel is an interesting suggestion. Over here, many mechanics swear by a mix of acetone and ATF fluid.

Now that the weekend is here, I've got a bit of time to try things out.

Mark

I assume you already tried WD40!?

In a tough case I didn't spray it on, I submersed a part in it over night. Did the trick ....

Looks like a nice little tripod..I like the balance rail style plate...
I have tried a couple of tripods for the ED50,..oz per oz ,carbon seems a bit more stable or resilient to torsion than aluminum,but the difference is not huge in the way 1.5 kg tripods handle vibrations..I havent used high end stuff though ,so cant comment in the way expensive gitzos or other $$$$ work..In the 100-200$ range,I use now a manfrotto 7322 carbon,with an integrated ball head,and I like it so far.There are other models in this series with pan and tilt heads,and even headless columns that fit this series ... I like ball heads better than pan and tilt for the ED50 ,because they allow for sideways orientation, a useful feature to use when space is restricted, like in a hide , behind a tree ,etc. I guess a three-way/video hybrid head would offer similar performance...Of course if you use the straight version this doesnt matter that much..

I've considered getting a fancier light-weight tripod for my ED50, but I haven't found anything with overall better performance than the Velbon Ultra Luxi with RRS b25 ballhead.

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?p=1511509

Most other mini tripods weigh more, are far less compact, don't go as high or low when deployed, and take forever to set up with their 9-12 leg locks. The Velbon goes up much faster so it can be stowed for hiking/biking/travel and deployed quickly just when needed.

In situations of more continuous/dedicated birding use, I recommend going with a larger, more conventional (~3.5 lb) carbon fiber tripod with proper pan fluid head.

--AP

After soaking it overnight try an impact driver,lightly tap the driver.

Cheers.

Steve.