Manfrotto ballhead question
gowiththeflow
Registered Users Posts: 49 Big grins
I had a little problem trying to put my new Kirk QR plate on my 488RC2 ballhead last week. I thought all would go as planned, since I had taken the RC2 plate off the ballhead just fine in the past, and it seemed to be a standard 3/8-16 thread on the ballhead stem.
I got the Kirk plate screwed on most of the way by hand, but the bottom 1/8" or so was hard to turn. When I tried to unscrew it by hand, it unscrewed the stem from the ball, instead of the QR plate from the stem. :huh So I carefully put the QR plate in my vise and slowly tried turning the stem out with the universal wrench (aka Vise-grips, since the stem has no wrench flats or hex for an allen wrench), and the threads from the stem stripped out and remained in the QR plate! Luckily, I had a 3/8-16 tap to chase the plate threads, and it seems Kirk uses a stronger grade of aluminum than Manfrotto, or I'd be up the creek.
So far I've figured out:
-The Kirk plate is standard 3/8-16 threaded (duh), because I successfully chased the threads with the tap.
-The RC2 plate is also 3/8-16 threaded, I took it to the hardware store and a 3/8 bolt threaded in just fine, all the way.
So the only thing I can think of is Manfrotto uses a tapered thread on the stem, rather than threadlock or set screws to keep the plate from turning. Does anyone know if this is the case? If that was the cause, can I just run a regular 3/8-16 die over the tapered threads to cut them down to normal threads so this doesn't happen again?
I'm probably going to have to at least replace the ball, since their parts diagrams don't show the stem as a separately available part. I know I could replace the RC2 ball with the plain 488 ball with the platform, but I'd prefer the lower profile of the RC2 stem and no platform, rather than using the platform and 1/4-3/8 reducer bushing. My other thought was to remove the rest of the threads from my now-broken stem, and drill and tap it for a bolt like some other heads use, but the Kirk plate doesn't have the countersink for that, and I'd rather not mess it up any more by taking a countersink bit to it.
Does anyone know how to make this work, besides buying a different ballhead? I know other brands are better (and 2x the price or more), but I like the value of Manfrotto's ballheads, and they match my tripod legs.
I got the Kirk plate screwed on most of the way by hand, but the bottom 1/8" or so was hard to turn. When I tried to unscrew it by hand, it unscrewed the stem from the ball, instead of the QR plate from the stem. :huh So I carefully put the QR plate in my vise and slowly tried turning the stem out with the universal wrench (aka Vise-grips, since the stem has no wrench flats or hex for an allen wrench), and the threads from the stem stripped out and remained in the QR plate! Luckily, I had a 3/8-16 tap to chase the plate threads, and it seems Kirk uses a stronger grade of aluminum than Manfrotto, or I'd be up the creek.
So far I've figured out:
-The Kirk plate is standard 3/8-16 threaded (duh), because I successfully chased the threads with the tap.
-The RC2 plate is also 3/8-16 threaded, I took it to the hardware store and a 3/8 bolt threaded in just fine, all the way.
So the only thing I can think of is Manfrotto uses a tapered thread on the stem, rather than threadlock or set screws to keep the plate from turning. Does anyone know if this is the case? If that was the cause, can I just run a regular 3/8-16 die over the tapered threads to cut them down to normal threads so this doesn't happen again?
I'm probably going to have to at least replace the ball, since their parts diagrams don't show the stem as a separately available part. I know I could replace the RC2 ball with the plain 488 ball with the platform, but I'd prefer the lower profile of the RC2 stem and no platform, rather than using the platform and 1/4-3/8 reducer bushing. My other thought was to remove the rest of the threads from my now-broken stem, and drill and tap it for a bolt like some other heads use, but the Kirk plate doesn't have the countersink for that, and I'd rather not mess it up any more by taking a countersink bit to it.
Does anyone know how to make this work, besides buying a different ballhead? I know other brands are better (and 2x the price or more), but I like the value of Manfrotto's ballheads, and they match my tripod legs.
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Comments
In any event it sounds like there is a stud in the ball which unthreaded when you tried to remove the Kirk QW plate? And when you removed the stud from the Kirk plate the threads from the stud(stem) stripped?
I would just go get another stud, a good hardware store should have an assortment (or you can always get one here McMaster Carr), install it with some blue loctite, and secure the stud into the ball, assure the threads in the plate are ok and assemble...
If the Kirk plate is going to be there a long time... use blue loctite on it as well..
I'd love to take a pic, but I managed to get the Kirk plate to hold onto the last (bottom) thread on the stud without a problem, and I have a feeling if I mess with it again, I might not be so lucky.
I wish it were as simple as replacing the stem with a hardware store part. It's a machined piece of aluminum (at least I'm pretty sure it's AL), with a taper that fits into a socket in the ball with ~1/4" threads, then the body of it, a small platform, and the 3/8" QR plate threads.
I'll probably call Manfrotto tomorrow and see about ordering just the part I need, and put some red loctite on before screwing it into the ball this time. On the up side, the one site I found in GB that shows the ball and stem for sale, has it for under $20. Much better than wrecking my brand new $80+ QR plate!
Edit: Here's a borrowed image from amazon of the ballhead. Not as good as a shot of the stripped stem, I know, but it will have to do.
Probably a specialty part... I though you were talking about the connection between the plate and stem, not the stem and ball...