Gitzo leg problems

[petermarrek]

Some of the twisting leg collars on my Gitzo tripodhave locked up, making it impossible to extend some sections. The tripod has never been abused, put into sand (except the last 2 inches of legs) and been stored inside for all it's life (four years) It has done a lot of travel in a motorhome ' inherently a lot of vibration. Short of using pump pliers, is there a good way to unlock them? I'm travelling in Mexico right now so a service location is very hard to find. I'm sure this is a common problem. Peter

[francois]

Peter,
I would try to use a hair dryer set on low heat to see whether something moves or not. It's a difficult problem as putting too much force could unglue parts.
Have you tried to contact Gitzo for a solution?

[Alto]

Hi
I find the lubricating grease gitzo use gums up I have used WD 40 to un gum it then clean all the old grease off and re lube with new grease if you can't get the gitzo grease I find bike chain lube to be ok then its just regular maintenance  after that.

If the piece that  the collar screws onto comes lose from the leg just clean and apply a spot of epoxy to hold it (a small spot)

If you do have to get a wrench on it, the rubbers are all spare parts and not expensive to replace.

Be careful if you do use force the carbon is strong but only in one direction only use a wrench on the locking rings it is easy to squash the carbon tubes and crack them if force is applied directly to the carbon leg.


Jon