Leg clamp tightening adjustment on a 055 tripod.Under weight the leg telescopes in on itself. Clamp doesnot grip tightly enough on the middle diameter leg tube.

Tighten the leg clamp (s)

You probably will not find one, as the tripods are imported and very low cost and they do not stock parts.

However you can buy a hose clamp like what you use on engine hoses put that around the broken leg and tighten it down.

Clear skies

Looking at your other posts, you don't seem to have a lot of luck with technology - perhaps change the focus of your interests, hmm ? For your scope / tripod problem, take it to a service centre.

They were not made to be serviced. They were made to be disposable essentially, but you might contact the folks at B&H to see if they may have a solution.

Otherwise depending how it broke, it might be able to be cemented, or reconfigured to accept a different type of clamp. I had a no name type of tripod that required some caredul filing to restore a lip on a clamp so it would lock after the original lip snapped off.

Hi toolroom347,

There are different clips on the tripod which allow you to adjust the settings for a firmer grip, you also need to extent the gap between the legs of the tripod for a firmer grip, this will help you to set the optimal settings for your tripod which will be fair enough to carry the weight of your camera.

Also a simple solution to stop this slip problem is to carry a small piece of cloth which has guide good grip or a rubber material and then place your camera on it , this will work excellent for a firmer grip.
This has definitely worked for me.

Hope this helps you as well...:)

If you notice, the legs locks are attached to bothe the upper part of the leg and the sloghtly smaller diameter lower. Take a socket (8mm I believe) and tighten the lower 2 nuts to the bottom of the leg lock.

Each leg lock has a leg locking lever and a screw that hold the clamp assembly tight to the leg. Unlock the leg lock lever, loosen the screw above it that holds the clamp tight to the leg. The legs should fit into each other sice each leg is slightly larger or smaller then then next one. Slide the clamps in the approprite places and tighten the screw enough to hold the clamp assembly tight, but do not over tighten it. Over tightening will damage the 679 tubes.

Although I'm not familiar with your particular make and model it sounds like a common problem which affects many other tripods. If the legs clamp with a lever action then if you closely examine each clamp as you activate the lever I expect that you'll find a small crack opens up in the clamp assembly.

It's a faulty design as the clamps simply aren't strong enough for the load and eventually crack due to fatigue. Some manufacturers supply replacement leg clamps but they also fail and fitting them usually costs more than the tripod is worth.

Next time, consider buying a tripod which has rotating collars to lock the legs with. They're not as quick to operate as lever action (a.k.a. "quick release") clamps, but they don't take much longer and last far longer. Rotating collar clamps are only suitable for tubular legs, and to be as rigid as extruded profile legs there's usually an increased weight penalty unless you spend far more on carbon fibre versions.

Personally, I tend to buy cheap but perfectly good non brand name lightweight tripods which I can get for £10 including a carry bag and handle and expect to have to replace them when broken: usually about once a year. It's a lot cheaper than spending over £300 on a good one and means I can afford to have a spare one in the car.

ALDI (in the UK and Europe) sell a £10 tripod which comes with a handle, carry bag, pan/tilt head,quick release leg clamps, geared centre column plus two quick release mounting plates and has a bag hook at the bottom of the centre column; it even has a no quibble three year guarantee. It's not a smooth or as well built as many, but can't be beaten at the price.

Assuming you still have the female part with the treads in tact, you can do what I did. I used a hose clamp, the kind used on radiators, but larger. First, take off the lock down knob, then put the hose clamp over the broken plastic housing and mark where the knob would screw through. Then remove the hose clamp, placing it on a sturdy surface and use a 5/16 drill bit to make a hole where the lock down know will pass through. Place the hose clamp over the plastic housing, insert the knob, tighten the hose clamp (but not so much that it restricts the tripod leg from moving) and you are done! I can send you pictures of the process and the final result. It saved me from buying a new tripod! I can be e-mailed at [email protected] if you have questions.
-Spencer

Hey there fotoflika, I have had a similiar problem in the past and found replacement parts unavailable. My solution was to drill a small hole through the leg section, and I used a similiar size allen key to stick in the hole, effectively locking the leg in place. You could drill several holes for different extension lengths. Crude I admit, but cheaper than buying a new tripod.