How to fix broken Manfrotto Tripod head

Sounds as if you didn't check what weight the head was designed to hold. As against trying to fix it, below if you move a mouse over the pictures the specifications show up. best look at you model to see what it was designed to hold weight wise before replacing with same

https://www.manfrotto.co.uk/products/photo-tripods/tripod-with-heads

If it is the £54 one it is only designed to hold 1.5kg
 
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Presumably you are talking about the thumbscrew on the side of the head.
If the head is aluminium then either the thread on the screw is stripped or more likely the internal thread is stripped probably due to overtightening, its easily done.
The cheapest option is going to be ring Manfrotto and price up a new head, unless you know a tame engineer who will fix it for free .
Although in all honesty as its £35.00 from Amazon its probably not worth fixing
 
When you say it used to hold the camera ok before.......has anything changed?

Was it originally holding a smaller lighter camera & lens and fails to lock strongly enough to support a larger & heavier camera??? Ref: above posts about load capacity.

Lastly, have you lubricated it with oil? If so you have comprised it's ability to lock solidly !!!! Ballheads construction materials are AFAIK not assembled with oil........light grease maybe or low friction "self lubricating" surfaces but never oil.
 
Sbiriguda said:
Hello
I have a Manfrotto compact light aluminum like this one
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Manfrotto-Compact-Light-Aluminium-Tripod/dp/B00K0P022Q
The head of the tripod seems to be broken. When I tighten the screw on the head it gets tight, but not enough to carry the weight of the camera, as it used to before
How can I fix this? Is there a way to do that without replacing the whole head of the tripod?
Thanks
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From some of the Amazon reviews, a failure of the ballhead (amongst other reasons for failure) looks to be a known issue. :(
 
As far as I can remember this is one of the very few tripods made for them in the far east.

I would suggest it is too light, and too cheaply made and specified, to be more than adequate for the lightest cameras.
I rather doubt it is worth fitting a "better" head. I would put it down to experience and get something better specified.
 
Not sure you can remove the head on this tripod
 
Doesn't seem to have a large number of replaceable parts unfortunately (probably because the initial low price makes spending a lot on parts uneconomical - would be cheaper to buy a new one). I would start by trying to remove any oil on the head, and check to ensure the screw is tight, but if that fails, for £35 you are probably better buying a new one, as in tripod terms that is very cheap.

https://www.manfrottospares.com/mkcompactlt-bk-parts.html
 
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troutfisher said:
Presumably you are talking about the thumbscrew on the side of the head.
If the head is aluminium then either the thread on the screw is stripped or more likely the internal thread is stripped probably due to overtightening, its easily done.
The cheapest option is going to be ring Manfrotto and price up a new head, unless you know a tame engineer who will fix it for free .
Although in all honesty as its £35.00 from Amazon its probably not worth fixing
Click to expand...
*If* the problem is the screw, then it is replaceable. Manfrotto have an absolutely excellent spare parts finder, by far the best I've ever encountered, and this model is covered:
https://www.manfrottospares.com/mkcompactlt-bk-parts.html
 
StewartR said:
*If* the problem is the screw, then it is replaceable. Manfrotto have an absolutely excellent spare parts finder, by far the best I've ever encountered, and this model is covered:
https://www.manfrottospares.com/mkcompactlt-bk-parts.html
Click to expand...
In the list it shows a replacement centre column. This has a 1/4 screw top so can be used with other heads. The origional combined head and centre column is discontinued.
Though the price of this and a better head would be about the same or more than buying the new complete tripod.
 
Thank you very much, and sorry for my late answer was busy these days
vite.JPG

I bought the tripod second hand. I tried to make a field-strip of the tripod head and nothing seem to be wrong. The wing nut screw seems fine, no problem with the thread. The threaded hole seems fine as well, I can tighten the screw quite well even though not strong enough to keep the camera tight on it. The camera I use is a Canon powershot sx60 hs, it weigths 650 grams it should be 1.433 pounds (not familiar with this weight unit though)
Based on what you said, I suspect the problem is oil. The previous owner used it I think, the screw is oily. Will try to clean up and assemble it again to see if this will fix the problem
 
Methylated spirits is a excellent cheap de.greaser oil remover
 
Or
the black fox said:
Methylated spirits is a excellent cheap de.greaser oil remover
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or Isopropyl alcohol?

The problem I too have found with buying used heads is people oiling them when they get sticky, when they should be cleaning them with a de-greaser. That said, you can often get whole or partial refunds from the sellers when you complain about the head not locking as it should, and then all it normally needs is a proper de-grease!
 
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Sounds like its just worn out. To be honest its a super cheap tripod, just throw it and get another.
 
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