Archive 2020 · Oben GH-30 Problem, Help Appreciated

another_mikey
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Oben GH-30 Problem, Help Appreciated

Hi,

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.

Thanks Bunches,

ML

Dec 30, 2020 at 01:41 PM

another_mikey
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Oben GH-30 Problem, Help Appreciated

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.

ML

Dec 30, 2020 at 06:06 PM

Imagemaster
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Oben GH-30 Problem, Help Appreciated

another_mikey wrote:
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.

ML

Try posting it here: https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/board/54

JFYI, this forum is a presentation forum for posting Nature & Wildlife images and discussion about such posted images.

Dec 30, 2020 at 07:27 PM

another_mikey
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Oben GH-30 Problem, Help Appreciated

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.

ML

Feb 03, 2021 at 02:06 PM


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