Manfrotto ball head not gripping

I have a Manfrotto ball head that I bought several years ago. It has been to hell and back!. Recently the head

stopped gripping. When it first happened i spit on the head and it gripped. It was a good quick fix in the field.

Today I bought some denatured alcohol and tried to clean the ball with that. It is still having trouble gripping

the ball. Does anybody know what else I can do? Or is this the end of the road for this head? Please help, as I

am on a one month tour of the southwest and am in desperate need of a working tripod.

 

Thanks!!

<p>Overnight delivery from BHPhoto. Hit up a local camera store. Take the head apart and see what's worn out. Those are a few options.</p>

 

<p>Yep - take the ballhead apart - clean all the ball-contact surfaces w/the denatured alcohol. Whilst in there, as Bob mentioned above, you can see what's worn out. Reassemble and order parts as needed.</p>

<p>I had a very similar problem with a new Manfrotto head, with a twist: the Fine adjustment/"drag" knob still worked, and could actually lock the ball - but with a lot more turns than the designated Ball Lock lever. I read a bunch of forums, suggestions, etc , and came to my own remedy: I guessed that I might have unscrewed the locking knob far enough to allow the metal piece that engages the ball to drop below where the screw could engage it. So... I unscrewed the locking knob almost all the way, tipped the head upside down, and tapped it on the floor to knock the piece back into place. I then (with the head still upside down)screwed the locking knob back in, righted the head to normal working position, and it worked!!! Now I know better then to loosen the locking knob too far. This is clearly a design flaw on Manfrotto's part. There should be a spring holding that metal gripper lightly against the ball, preventing such a mysterious problem from happening. Fortunately, the solution was simple, once I figured it out. Hope this helps somebody else.</p>