During one shoot I had to stand my Slik 614 CF tripod in the sea water for about 30 minutes. As a result, lots of salt water and sand entered the inside of the CF tubes and the twist joints. I took the whole thing apart, rinsed and dried all the parts.
The threads of the twist lock joints had some sticky lubricant on them, and the sand got stuck to the threads. The only way to clean it was wiping the threads dry of the lubrication.
What lubricant can I use on the plastic twist joints? Lithium grease? Silicon grease? I emailed the support desk of the Slik's US distributor, but, so far, no reply.
As you've surmised, not any lubricant will do. The lubricant needs to have a few specific qualities:
- Won't attack any plastics used in the assembly
- Won't bleed out, even in higher temperatures
- Won't get so stiff that the mechanism won't work properly in cold weather
- Not water soluble
The above considerations point toward a high-viscosity synthetic lubricant. A true grease is going to work poorly, because greases are emulsions, and they tend to bleed, and break down under certain conditions.
As you've surmised, not any lubricant will do. The lubricant needs to have a few specific qualities:
- Won't attack any plastics used in the assembly
- Won't bleed out, even in higher temperatures
- Won't get so stiff that the mechanism won't work properly in cold weather
- Not water soluble
The above considerations point toward a high-viscosity synthetic lubricant. A true grease is going to work poorly, because greases are emulsions, and they tend to bleed, and break down under certain conditions.
Erm... I am not well versed in these matters. Do you suppose the silicon lubricant that is often used by the plumbers to lubricate rubber gaskets of the proper kind? If not, could you give an example of a "high-viscosity synthetic lubricant"?
Temporarily, yes. It will bleed, badly when warm, and it attacks some plastics.
The best solution, of course, is likely to be "whatever the manufacturer used." If you can't get info out of them, then try a "helical grease" like this. This particular product is specifically for plastic-to-plastic pplications, and has a fluorocrabon (like teflon) additive.
get a can of teflon spray lubricant from home depot. It's about $6 but works great on anything.
The big advantage to teflon is it's a dry lubricant so dust, dirt and other garbage won't stick to it and gunk it up. Works great for garage doors, bike chains... any where you need lube and you don't want dust to gunk up.
get a can of teflon spray lubricant from home depot. It's about $6 but works great on anything.
The big advantage to teflon is it's a dry lubricant so dust, dirt and other garbage won't stick to it and gunk it up. Works great for garage doors, bike chains... any where you need lube and you don't want dust to gunk up.
graphite lubricant works well to as a dry lube.
LoudDog is right. Dry lubricants are preferred in this situation because they will not attract foreign comtaminants such as dirt, grit, etc. You can also try graphite powder...this will also work well (just be sure to remove the excess so it doesn't get all over your hands when raising and lowering the tripod). If the threaded joints get wet again, simply dry them off and re-apply the dry lubricant. As an engineer, I deal with this problem every day. Greases and oils are good, but not for everything...
