Repair small Leitz ball head

[skip_williams]

<p>I have one of the old, small black/chrome E.Leitz ball heads like the one below. I purchased it new in the mid-late 1970's, so it's around 35 years old.<br>

It's gotten so stiff that it's very hard to get it to tighten up. <br>

Does anyone know how to open them up for maintenance? And when I get it apart, what do I do?<br>

Thanks in advance,<br>

Skip Williams<br />skipwilliams<br />at<br />pobox<br />dot com<br>

http://www.cccamera.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Leitz-Small-Ball-Head-Black.jpg</p>

[aplumpton]

<p>As there is nothing inside that can be contaminated by oil (like optics or electronics) why not try a thin lubricating oil like WD40 (used sparingly) to see if it will help. It might seep into the part of the ball not visible and loosen any rust or dirt that might be causing the stiffness. </p>

[Dave16]

<p>As above. Give it a good clean-out with WD40, work the ball and screw to ensure any gunk is removed. Allow to dry out (the WD will evaporate), then put a spot of thin oil on the screw thread and the ball. Wipe off the residue - you only want a smear. <br>

That should see you right for another 35 years.</p>

[skip_williams]

<p>I'm pretty sure that there is crap inside that's preventing the screw from engaging the ball properly. I'd really like to clean the thing out rather than spraying more gunk inside.<br>

So nobody knows how to get it open?<br>

Skip</p>

[aplumpton]

<p>Hi Skip, WD-40 is a penetrating solution. I don't know what other gunk is already inside, but what David and I mention is a solution meant to attempt to remove it.<br>

But I cannot answer your question directly. Hopefully someone here has already crossed that bridge and can answer it. </p>

[Dave16]

<p>Thanks Arthur.<br>

To explain further - spraying WD40 under pressure will dislodge most/all of the crap in there. Not only that, the excess will drip out. Anything left will evaporate over a couple of days. You won't be left with any "gunk".</p>

 

[valdo_a]

For rust try Coke!

[MTC Photography]

<p>WD-20 once get into the ball head, it renders the ball head too slippery of any use</p>

[skip_williams]

<p>Well I still haven't figured out how to maintain this thing and nobody yet has told me how to take it apart. <br>

I suspect that you have to unscrew the steel base from the housing, but there's no easy way to grab hold of it.<br>

I'm also hesitant to spray WD40 into it, because if it makes it too slippery, there's no way to clean the lubricant out. <br>

I emailed repair@LeicaUSA and the email came back as undeliverable.<br>

Maybe I'll try emailing Leica AG </p>

[Dave16]

<p>Skip,<br>

WD40 will not render anything too slippery permanently. Try it on a squeaky tap or faucet. It's great for a day or two - then it evaporates and - back to square one.<br>

If you can't find how to take your tripod head apart, and I hope you can, then you have nothing to lose by giving it a good squirt with WD40 since it already doesn't work. If you do eventually go down this route be sure to follow the WD40 (once its evaporated/run out) with a little light machine oil.</p>

 

[MTC Photography]

<p>Why bother ? It is quite cheap to buy a new one.</p>

[skip_williams]

<p>Well I heard from Leica USA today. That was after I got a delivery failure to the Leica USA repair address and then sent a message to Leica AG with the same query.<br>

A guy answered me that, as I suspected, the base unscrews. He said the mechanism is a simple wedge design. Now the challenge is how to get it unscrewed. There's only about a 1mm lip exposed to grab onto to, which probably isn't enough. <br>

I asked him for suggestions, but I'd ask the group too.<br>

Skip<br>

<img src="http://www.skipwilliams.com/upload/QB220135e.jpg" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.skipwilliams.com/upload/QB220136e.jpg" alt="" /><br>

http://www.skipwilliams.com/upload/QB220135e.jpg<br>

http://www.skipwilliams.com/upload/QB220136e.jpg</p>

[Robert_Lai]

<p>One possible way is to use a 1/4" x 20 bolt (or is that base a 3/8" x 16 hole?). On it, put a nut to act as a lock nut. Thread the bolt all the way in, finger tight. Then use a wrench and tighten down the lock nut against the base of the tripod head. Now you can use a socket wrench on the top of the bolt to loosen the works up. You may need to put the tripod head in between padded vise jaws to prevent it from rotating while you try to loosen it up.</p>