Tripod Refurbishment/Repair

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Tripod Refurbishment/Repair

Postby biggerry on Mon Jul 11, 2011 3:37 pm

Well, the day has come where I finally decided I had better do something with my tripod which has had a pretty hard life in the last few years, particularly due to the harsh seascapes it has had to endure, often with only a brief fresh water rinse.

The legs steadily got stiffer and the levers became pretty inflexible, a quick adjustment on the nyloc nuts may have helped, however it would only be a short term fix. I do plan on getting a new tripod one day, however not much point doing that until the current does not serve me correctly or becomes unserviceable. 400 bucks for a new tripod is better spent elsewhere at the moment.

The tripod is a Manfrotto 190XPROB, not a bad old tripod for the coin and definitely one that has served me well and will continue to do so for many a year I reckon. The basic material used is Aluminum (note i refer to this as AL or al or ally) and plastic, the aluminum comes in a number of forms, the legs are tube, probably a 5000 series AL or maybe even 6000 series, the leg joint fittings are cast aluminum, the junction of the legs and the swivel clamp thingy-m-bob are also cast aluminum, the head attachment fitting is a cast/machined AL product and the there are a number of small steel items, the periphery items are typically plastic and the cap screws appear to be cadmium plated stainless.

So, the main issue with this tripod is the legs and particularly the leg join fittings, mainly the lower ones have develop quite an amount of corrosion, this is not rocket science, these things have been dipped in and out of salt water for quite some time and no matter how much cleaning with fresh water there is always going to be some small amount of that Na stuff that gets holed up in some little cranny, not usually too much of a problem when all the AL surfaces are sealed, however once a small break in the paintwork occurs and that contacts with the Na and its aluminum's equivalent of terminal cancer. Also having dissimiliar metals (steel and AL) in contact is not a great idea when the paintwork starts to go - galvanic corrosion.

OK, so these leg join fittings (referred to as clamps), they are simply a cast aluminum clamp which the legs past thru, they are clamped up to the upper leg using a standard phillips screw (fully threaded) and a loose nut, this provides the attachment to the upper leg and is fixed. The lower part of the clamp is passed thru the next leg section down and is secured using a non standard tee bolt with the last 10mm threaded, this is coupled with a dodgy steel washer and stainless steel nyloc nut. So, I am impressed with the fact they used a stainless steel t-bolt and nut but dissapointed with the washer, it is some form of steel and is probably a galvanised type however given the advanced rust (see picture) on it compared to the nut and t-bolt (which have no rust) it has poor rust properties.
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The loose nuts and phillips screws appear to be cadmium plated stainless, this makes sense if its low grade stainless steel and they plated it to try and minimise the galvanic corrosion between the dissimliar metals and also to play an aesthetic role as well. These have held up pretty well but are covered with teh white cancer dust that is aluminum corrosion.

Note: The latest version of these tripos do not have this dodgy washer, they appear to have replaced it with a washer head nut, probably a better idea, parts minimisation and its probably stainless. Refer to spare parts manual

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The clamp fittings/leg joins - the lower ones have the corners pretty banged up and this where the corrosion has really set in. These fittings, as mentioned are cast aluminum, not the greatest in terms corrosion resistant AL. These are powder coated by the factory, a cheap, quick and effective paint and one i especially dislike, however its quite tough and has good impact resistant, however this also means brittle and one classic downer with powder coating is that is you do get any form of corrosion it will just run under the paint and the next thing you know is all the paint just drops off. This basically what has happened with these fittings.

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So, the plan of attack - now note, why do all this? why not just powder coat them or something similar? these fittings will get chipped and knocked, there is no doubt about that, however having good corrosion protection whereby the corrosion is less likely to 'run' under the paint should give me a good couple of years before having to do this again, plus this is standard practice for most aircraft, including float planes that dip in and out of salt water on a daily basis.

1) Remove all paint from from the fittings, half of it can be flaked off...could use stripper but easier to just go straight to sandblasting below.

2) Sandblast / bead blast - removes all corrosion and provide a good surface finish for corrosion protection treatment. This is a 15 minute job.

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3) Alodine (1201) fittings (alodine is a chemical conversion for aluminum, common place on all aircraft). This when done directly after the sand blasting is quite effective and and is better than etching the material. This stuff can be bought locally and its around the 30 bucks per quart (ready made, referred to as 1201), you can also get the powder based stuff (referred to as 1200). I left them in over night and it took to the material really well much more than I wa sexpecting. This usually leaves the aluminum with a golden transparent coating, more of a dirty yellow in my case but this is due to the cast material, on normal 2000 series alcad or bare aluminium where it is more typically used it is a more golden colour.

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4) Epoxy primer - BMS10-11 another aircraft grade item, this stuff when applied to a alodined surface has great adhesion and they is not much out there which is better than this, its also pretty cost effective, 15 bucks a can, this stuff is typically a yellow/green colour. Compare this to epoxy primer you buy from bunnings and it is not really that expensive.

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Now, note, check the two images below, the first is the upper fitting/clamp which had very little corrosion, the second is the lower fitting, you can see the result of the pitting and craters caused by the corrosion.

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5) top coat as required, epoxy paints are better in my opinion, just gotta find a colour that suits :)

6) Replace all standard hardware with new stuff, bare minimum 316L stainless steel, typically referred to as marine grade stainless. This is particularly important for the dodgy washers which have copped a fair whack in the rust department.

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Right, so what kinda hardware is it?

All metric stuff which makes sense since its made in italy.

The black cadmium plated pan head phillips head screws are M5, length 14mm perDIN 7985/ISO 7045

The nuts are 5mm loose hex nuts per DIN934

The nuts are 5mm nyloc nuts per DIN985

The washers are M5 unknown spec.

where can you get this stuff? boltsnutsscrewsonline.com of course :) postage is a bit of a bitch - you can probably get the same stuff from your average marine shop.

I replaced the loose nuts with stainless steel dome nuts, looks better :)

7) Treat the inside of the tube legs with Cor-ban 35 (BMS3-35)
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Re: Tripod Refurbishment/Repair

Postby Murray Foote on Mon Jul 11, 2011 5:00 pm

Very impressive.
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Re: Tripod Refurbishment/Repair

Postby radar on Mon Jul 11, 2011 7:05 pm

Very impressive Gerry, thanks for sharing.
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Re: Tripod Refurbishment/Repair

Postby aim54x on Mon Jul 11, 2011 10:25 pm

Gerry, I think I will have to pay you to give my 055 a new lease on life when it comes to the state that your 190 was at!

Thanks for sharing!
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Re: Tripod Refurbishment/Repair

Postby surenj on Tue Jul 12, 2011 12:39 pm

Wow I hope you have blogged this and maybe posted this info on the manfrotto forums (if they exist)!!

Roughly how much was the damage for this treatment? Time and also in monetary terms? [Did you use the sandblaster at work? :wink: ]

I was thinking, would submerging the tripod in freshwater for an hour or so help with dissolving the salt after each seascape?? :idea:
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Re: Tripod Refurbishment/Repair

Postby biggerry on Tue Jul 12, 2011 6:24 pm

surenj wrote:Roughly how much was the damage for this treatment? Time and also in monetary terms? [Did you use the sandblaster at work? ]


for me, i paid for hardware which is mostly postage, that cost me 20 bucks but i got quite a few extra items just to make use of the postage.

yep, i went across the road to one of the maintenance orgs and borrowed their bead blaster and spray booth and some of their alodine..and paint :up:

if I was doing more stuff I would just buy some alodine and epoxy primer, its not that expensive but probably a bit of an outlay if you do not use it for anything else.

Time wise, two nights after work, total time probably no more than 1.5 hours not including leaving the fittings in the alodine overnight.

Cameron, i reckon ya got a few years in your one, but when the time comes, by all means, I owe you a few flavours so i'll do it the same as I did for mine.

radar wrote:Very impressive Gerry, thanks for sharing.

Murray Foote wrote:Very impressive.


ta, if ya gonna do it...might as well do it properly i reckon, hopefully it helps someone else.
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Re: Tripod Refurbishment/Repair

Postby chrisk on Tue Jul 12, 2011 10:41 pm

wow. this really is taking DIY to another level. the ballhead is the bigger worry for me. my original manfrotto is terribly sticky and rusted and im too petrified of taking the RSS near salt water.
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Re: Tripod Refurbishment/Repair

Postby surenj on Tue Jul 12, 2011 11:00 pm

Rooz wrote:im too petrified of taking the RSS near salt water.

Check the Blog of Brent Pearson under equipment... :mrgreen:
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Re: Tripod Refurbishment/Repair

Postby aim54x on Tue Jul 12, 2011 11:46 pm

biggerry wrote:Cameron, i reckon ya got a few years in your one, but when the time comes, by all means, I owe you a few flavours so i'll do it the same as I did for mine.


hahhaha, yes mine is in much better shape than yours and I dont expose it to salt water anywhere near as much as you do. But then again, isnt prevention better than cure? :twisted: I'm am sure that we will take the appropriate measures when they are need, or I go out and buy another tripod before they are needed.

Rooz wrote:the ballhead is the bigger worry for me. my original manfrotto is terribly sticky and rusted and im too petrified of taking the RSS near salt water.


I didnt even think of this, I took my newish BH40 to the last shoot.....she'll be right!
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Re: Tripod Refurbishment/Repair

Postby biggerry on Thu Jul 14, 2011 2:24 pm

Rooz wrote:wow. this really is taking DIY to another level. the ballhead is the bigger worry for me. my original manfrotto is terribly sticky and rusted and im too petrified of taking the RSS near salt water.


unless your getting the head wet then there really should be no problem with this part - if your getting this wet, I would be more concerned about the camera :up:

I think if I got the head pretty wet consistently i would just disassemble it and make sure there was plenty of grease on the threads and make sure the ball mating surfaces are clean.

Plus, you can't be babying your gear too much, seize the moment, if you worry too much about your gear you will miss alot of shots I think - that said, common sense should prevail.

aim54x wrote:hahhaha, yes mine is in much better shape than yours and I dont expose it to salt water anywhere near as much as you do. But then again, isnt prevention better than cure? I'm am sure that we will take the appropriate measures when they are need, or I go out and buy another tripod before they are needed.


:up: :up:
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Re: Tripod Refurbishment/Repair

Postby biggerry on Wed Aug 03, 2011 10:23 pm

:rotfl2:

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Re: Tripod Refurbishment/Repair

Postby Mr Darcy on Thu Aug 04, 2011 12:20 pm

:shock:
I take it you are not planning any wildlife (or bull!!!) shots then
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Re: Tripod Refurbishment/Repair

Postby dviv on Thu Aug 04, 2011 1:57 pm

Love it!

Although now you need to buy one of those silly red DSLR's to match :shock:
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Re: Tripod Refurbishment/Repair

Postby surenj on Thu Aug 04, 2011 2:58 pm

Manfrotto CXwhatever 'Ferrari' Edition. :rotfl2:
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Re: Tripod Refurbishment/Repair

Postby biggerry on Tue Aug 09, 2011 9:55 pm

hmm i think the red paint was not such a crash hot idea, its not the best epoxy paint and is not quite as tough as i would like - best i go out and find some of that hot pink stuff....
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Re: Tripod Refurbishment/Repair

Postby Jenno on Tue Aug 09, 2011 10:25 pm

best i go out and find some of that hot pink stuff....


..don't be surprised then if you've got the whole beach to yourself at the next sunrise shoot. :wink:
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Re: Tripod Refurbishment/Repair

Postby biggerry on Tue Aug 09, 2011 10:47 pm

Jenno wrote:
best i go out and find some of that hot pink stuff....


..don't be surprised then if you've got the whole beach to yourself at the next sunrise shoot. :wink:


*drools*

the wallabies didn't mind the red the other morning...maybe i will go pink and yellow :rotfl2:
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Re: Tripod Refurbishment/Repair

Postby aim54x on Wed Aug 10, 2011 10:20 pm

biggerry wrote:
Jenno wrote:
best i go out and find some of that hot pink stuff....


..don't be surprised then if you've got the whole beach to yourself at the next sunrise shoot. :wink:


*drools*

the wallabies didn't mind the red the other morning...maybe i will go pink and yellow :rotfl2:


:biglaugh:

Can I vote for a whole line of tripods in different colours? A certain company has produced a range of carbon fibre tripods available in blue/pink/red/black.....cant find a pic though!
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Re: Tripod Refurbishment/Repair

Postby surenj on Sat Aug 13, 2011 8:38 pm

I think Fei* sol had a few colors including a hot-blue! :lol:
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Re: Tripod Refurbishment/Repair

Postby gstark on Sun Aug 14, 2011 9:56 am

aim54x wrote:
biggerry wrote:
Jenno wrote:
best i go out and find some of that hot pink stuff....


..don't be surprised then if you've got the whole beach to yourself at the next sunrise shoot. :wink:


*drools*

the wallabies didn't mind the red the other morning...maybe i will go pink and yellow :rotfl2:


:biglaugh:

Can I vote for a whole line of tripods in different colours? A certain company has produced a range of carbon fibre tripods available in blue/pink/red/black.....cant find a pic though!


They probably come with a free Pentax paperweight. :)
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