Lubricating Manfrotto Ball Head

Impspeed

Impspeed

Messages
2,129
Name
David
Edit My Images
Yes
I'm sure I've read it somewhere before but can anyone recommend the best product/method for lubricating the ball on Manfrotto heads. Mine is now bone dry and out last night shooting the sunset i was sticking lots.

I believe the ball in the head is a composite material and can't take 'just oil' plus I don't want something very viscous that will get everywhere...

Any suggestions?


DB
 
Generally decent ballheads are designed to run dry, but they do need cleaning out sometimes.

I made the mistake of lubricating my Markins M10 with silicone spray. It made it sticky and nasty in use and took several washings out with alcohol to fix.

The advice from most manufacturers is to spray a very light lubricant (eg WD40 or GT85 - both available from halfrauds) onto a cloth and wipe the ball with that. Generally I find that as you turn the ball while applying this it will dredge up crud from inside the head - keep turning the ball and removing what comes up and you should pretty quickly get it reasonably clean. Once you're done with that then dry the ball off with a dry bit of the cloth. Any sort of wet lube in a head will attract dirt and gunk.
 
The thing is to identify what the problem is - If it's dirt and lack of lubrication then go with the GT85/WD40 approach. If there's a greasy contaminant (like I had) then you need something that will dissolve/break down the grease, such as alcohol or washing up liquid.

I would advise against washing up liquid, as it contains salt as a rinse-aid - this may cause corrosion of parts in a ballhead.

I do not know how the manfrottos are, but it is also possible to wash out some ballheads - eg my Markins. I used hot water as part of the cleaning process, but you need to be absolutely sure it gets dry inside. Unless you know for sure that this is ok (ie from instructions from the manufacturer) it's probably not advisable.
 
Strictly speaking, WD40 isn't a lubricant, it's a water dispersant (hence the WD) and it was the 40th formula tried (hence the 40). GT85 is a lubricant though and is the better product to use for this purpose.

Has anyone contacted Manfrotto (or their UK agents/importers) to find out the recommended procedure?
 
dont know about the head. but i use wd40 to clean my tripod
saw it on a karl taylor dvd clip
spray on to a cloth and wipe down all the legs of the tripod, then i do it again and move the legs up and down to spread it in to the tubes.
it brings it up looking brand new.
 
You might want to try the old zip trick. Rub a soft pencil over it. The graphite is a lubricant, but not sticky or contaminating.

Graham
 
If you want to clean it thoroughly I would suggest using Citrus Degreaser available from bike shops
Can be diluted, but works a treat if used neat and will shift any grease
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top