Does anyone use or recommend either the red or blue 'Loctite' on the tripod threads for the head attachment? I ask becuase I recently purchased a great Kirk BH-3 Ball Head that the seller scratched up a little when removing from the tripod...I assumed the the previous owner may have over-tightened the head to make sure it didn't slip. So, would it be better to use a little 'Loctite' or is this even an issue to worry about?
Omar
May 30, 2012 at 02:55 PM
Lars Johnsson Offline • • • • • • • Upload & Sell: Off
I have never needed any Loctite or similar stuff. And I would not recommend it. Many good tripods also have screw from beneth to hold the head so it can't move
Do NOT use red loctite unless you want to use an oxyacetylene torch to loosen it. Red loctite should not be sold outside an industrial setting. There is a reason it is called permanent. If you use blue loctite, it will lock the ballhead to the stud. However, the stud is not locked to the tripod.
Some tripods have setscrews tightened from under the ballhead mounting plate. These are by no means universal.
Tightening with a strap wrench (to avoid marring the ballhead) will be far more than sufficient. I have never had any problem with a ballhead loosening, and I have used some really inexpensive tripods. The best way to avoid any possibility of the ballhead coming loose is to always turn the panning motion in a direction tending to tighten the ballhead on the tripod.
I should clarify...I personally have never had an issue with a ball head loosening on a tripod, but I was wondering what would have caused the ball head that I purchased to have been to tight/stuck on the tripod, that the force needed to remove it scratched it up? Maybe the previous owner DID use Loctite? BTW, here's the link to the original sales post showing the scratches and the seller's description of it being "stuck". The ball head itself operates perfectly and is great...I was just wondering what might have caused it to become so stuck.
I've used blue Loctite on most of my studs before spinning the ballhead on, as I'm not constantly screwing the heads on and off. Just a couple dabs is all you need. I've never had a problem with a head coming off and it has never been difficult to break the blue Loctite seal either. I'm a fan.
I've never used the setscrews that are in some tripod bases. They can warp the ballhead base and make panning less than smooth.
that can be a bad idea. most good tripod have either locking screws, high friction surfaces or both to allow reasonable holding capability and allow for easy removal. i have never use any thread locker nor needed it on any of my tripods.
the use of the set screw is not likely to warp any of the bases unless they are weak in design and build to begin with. it is also not needed to torque these sets screws on using excessive tightening.
My gitzo has a single set screw that i use ton my BH40
my RRS TQC14 and TVC33 do not require set screws as they have a high friction polymer surface that is quite effective holding the BH30 and BH55
my Feisol CM1471 MP required a bit of gaffer tape on its platform which gave a nice high friction surface for the MH-01 head.
I saw the pics. Looks like the pliers slipped. Probably tried using water pump pliers or Channellocks. Methinks the original owner set the screws on the tripod plate and forgot them. Look for marks on the underside of the ballhead. If there are any, you know he forgot to loosen them. He wouldn't be the first.
Or, Mister Murphy stuck his hand in this one. It wouldn't be the first thing that tightened itself over time.
If the marks bother you, cover them with a bit of magic marker.
sjms wrote:
that can be a bad idea. most good tripod have either locking screws, high friction surfaces or both to allow reasonable holding capability and allow for easy removal. i have never use any thread locker nor needed it on any of my tripods.
It can be a bad idea but it has been OK for me. I have found the locking screws to be a problem though, both on my Arca-Swiss Z1 and Linhof ballheads. The panning was nowhere near as smooth, and the setscrews were not tightened in at all.
Actually I realize that now I don't have any threadlocker on either of my heads. The Z1 is sitting on a RRS leveling base and the Q3T on a Benro traveler base.
so then i surmise then that thread locker really hasn't been ok (or needed at all) for you then. this qualification has been made using my phenominal powers of deductive reasoning.
BTW, here's the 