Carbon damaged ? (1 Viewer)

Hello,

Just received a carbon Manfrotto 055 tripod and noticed the center column screw seemed to be very tight.

After removing the column I've noticed it has a depression from where it was being held (picture attached).

It doesn't appear to be split or cracked, but having no experience of carbon I'm not sure if this is something to worry about or is just normal ?

Thanks for any help.

Without doubt I would take the matter up with who you bought it from, particularly if it was a new item from stock. Whilst it may not fail, there is a fault with the centre column, either during production or assembly. Also, you may constantly be worrying about it.......get a new centre column or tripod sent out asap.

I don't think that is damage. It looks like it is the end of one of the outer layers of carbon (or is maybe a scrap of carbon ply that fell into the mold). If so, it has been like that since manufacture and is of no consequence, so long as it is thoroughly bonded. Usually, for cosmetic reasons, they run the plies the full length of the final cut tube.

--AP

Alexis Powell said:

It looks like it is the end of one of the outer layers of carbon (or is maybe a scrap of carbon ply that fell into the mold).

Click to expand...

I thought most CF tubes were filament-wound, though this might not apply to the unround Manfrotto profiles.
However, if the clamp was very tight, damage is not unlikely.
There are very strict tightening torque specifications for CF bicycle handlebars and seat posts, which of course are safety items.

John

Zooming in on your photo I would say that it is definitely damaged. If this was new then it should be returned immediately, if second hand then check the returns policy of where you bought it from eg E Bay. If this damage was not pointed out before the sale then I would not consider it acceptable. Whilst it may not be an issue now it is a weak point and that is not what you paid for.

Thanks for all the opinions, I sent the tripod back to Amazon this morning.

I did speak to Manfrotto who advised it wouldn't cause any performance or strength issues, but when buying something new I want it to be perfect.

Think I'll stick with my Alu 055 for now, as the carbon was only knocking off 700g from my 6kg set up.

Either way I'll still have a sore shoulder at the end of the day.

Tringa45 said:

I thought most CF tubes were filament-wound, though this might not apply to the unround Manfrotto profiles.
However, if the clamp was very tight, damage is not unlikely.
There are very strict tightening torque specifications for CF bicycle handlebars and seat posts, which of course are safety items.

John

Click to expand...

I won't pretend to be an expert on how the Manfrotto tubes are made, but it is my impression that the outermost part of this tube at the area of the apparent defect is a very superficial layer and is cosmetic. Looking at the left end of the defect line, I see the carbon fibers running up and to the right, kind of like a piece of tape or ribbon, at a different angle from the fibers to their left.

Manfrotto doesn't always do a good job of lubricating the center column tightening bolt, so I recommend doing to so to make its operation smoother, thus making it easy to feel how much pressure is being applied to the center tube. That said, given how hard I've cranked the center post clamp on my old CF Manfrotto tripod, I don't think it is possible to crack the tube with the clamp.

As an aside, I don't use CF handlebars or seatposts on my bicycles as I consider them an unnecessary risk.

--AP