p.1 #1 · Repost - Oben GH-30 Problem, Help Appreciated
I incorrectly posted this in the Nature and Wiuldlife forum, so I am copying my posts to this forum in case someone can benefit from knowing my problem ands it's solution...
Apologies for the incorrect posting. The original thread was posted on December 30th, and fully resolved at the beginning of February.
So I have an Oben GH-30 that I have owned for a couple years. It has worked reasonably well, although in retrospect I do wish I had just bit the bullet and sprung for the Wimberley model as I highly doubt I would be writing a post like this at this point in my ownership of that product. A bad decision to save some money has come back to bite me.
My problem with the Oben GH-30 is it has started leaking lubricant (oil, grease, thick sticky stuff, not sure which) out of the rotation point that is closest to the tripod (azimuth ) where the head screws in to a tripod. It has been leaking for a while, and the lubricant gets all over things and is very messy and sticky to clean up. So far I have managed to keep it off of my R5 and any lenses, but it is only a matter of time before it contaminates something important. I keep wiping it off, but the amount coming out has not really diminished. Furthermore, I have to assume that the inherent friction is going to increase too, and this head has already been a bit stiff, making proper balancing with a long lens a challenge.
So, does anyone have any experience with a problem like this? Is this fixable? Has anyone dealt with Oben tech support, and perhaps have some contact information? I sent an email to their online website help a number of weeks ago, but never heard back.
Before I call this a total loss I thought I would reach out to see if anyone had any experiences to share that might pertain to my issue with this gimbal head.
p.1 #2 · Repost - Oben GH-30 Problem, Help Appreciated
Repost from post on December 30th, later in the day:
Update - I sent another email to Oben that was answered in minutes! They are going to let me send it back for repair or replacement - possibly even under warranty, even though it is over a year since the warranty expired. Pretty cool. I will post a resolution when I get it.
p.1 #3 · Repost - Oben GH-30 Problem, Help Appreciated
Repost - Resolution of problem Feb 3rd:
Hi,
I wanted to follow up to report on the excellent product support I received from Oben on this issue.
I sent the unit back and after they examined it they decided to send me a completely new unit! When I received it I can tell that it is MUCH smoother in operation than the original ever was, especially at the point at which I sent it back. Given that this was well out of the warranty period I feel like this is some exceptional customer service. It remains to be seen if this unit will hold up over time, but as of now I am a very satisfied customer.
p.1 #5 · Repost - Oben GH-30 Problem, Help Appreciated
another_mikey wrote:
I incorrectly posted this in the Nature and Wiuldlife forum, so I am copying my posts to this forum in case someone can benefit from knowing my problem ands it's solution...
Apologies for the incorrect posting. The original thread was posted on December 30th, and fully resolved at the beginning of February.
So I have an Oben GH-30 that I have owned for a couple years. It has worked reasonably well, although in retrospect I do wish I had just bit the bullet and sprung for the Wimberley model as I highly doubt I would be writing a post like this at this point in my ownership of that product. A bad decision to save some money has come back to bite me.
My problem with the Oben GH-30 is it has started leaking lubricant (oil, grease, thick sticky stuff, not sure which) out of the rotation point that is closest to the tripod (azimuth ) where the head screws in to a tripod. It has been leaking for a while, and the lubricant gets all over things and is very messy and sticky to clean up. So far I have managed to keep it off of my R5 and any lenses, but it is only a matter of time before it contaminates something important. I keep wiping it off, but the amount coming out has not really diminished. Furthermore, I have to assume that the inherent friction is going to increase too, and this head has already been a bit stiff, making proper balancing with a long lens a challenge.
So, does anyone have any experience with a problem like this? Is this fixable? Has anyone dealt with Oben tech support, and perhaps have some contact information? I sent an email to their online website help a number of weeks ago, but never heard back.
Before I call this a total loss I thought I would reach out to see if anyone had any experiences to share that might pertain to my issue with this gimbal head.
Yes, the Wimberly is good as are some other North American made gimbal heads.
I've never had lube leaking from any ball heads, gimbal heads, etc. Excess is sometimes an indication that the parts are not precisely machined to fit and they try to make it up with lubes.
