Sicky Manfrotto Ball Head

[Dubaiian]

Hi TPF Members.

Recently my ball head has become a bit sticky (could be caused by all of our Middle East dust). Anyone know if I can lubricate it with anything which won harm it? It's 2-3 years old so out of warranty.

Any help appreciated.

 

[Overread19 7]

If dust has gotten into the ball joint I would suggest contacting Manfrotto for info on disassembly and cleaning. Chances are you can take most of the head apart to clean and then put back together and apply new lubrication. Chances are regular lubricants will work, however they might suggest some alternative options.

If they don't advise/give you the info search around on google - often you can find disassembly and assembly instructions for many things - esp very simple and functional things ilke tripods /

 

[SCraig]

I would recommend Teflon lubrication. Dupont, who makes Teflon, markets it in a spray that goes on wet but dries to a dry Teflon coating. Anything that remains wet is just going to attract more dust. A lot of people use that dry spray on motorcycle chains and it works very well. It doesn't pick up dirt but lubricates the chain very well.

 

[Dubaiian]

Thanks Overread and SCraig. Think I will try the Manfrotto research first and if that fails, try to find some Teflon lubrication. Very good point on wet lubrication attracting more dust, thanks guys.

 

[Garbz]

Manfrotto ball heads I've used don't need lubrication. Go online to get the disassembly instructions. Remove the ball from it's seat and give everything a good wipe down. If it is still sticky add a dry lubricating powder like graphite very sparingly.

People lubricating ball heads are the first step to the end of a nice dampened ballhead and you end up with something that's either tight or completely loose, or worse still unable to tighten at all.