Ballheads and Dirt

[Roger Schmidt]

What's the potential for dirt messing up a ballhead? Having never owned a ballhead and shopping for one now, I'm wondering if it's an issue. Can I clean them should it become fouled or is this another service item?

Thank you,

Rog

[John Guastella]

Roger, my experience with cleaning a ballhead has not been good. I have a Manfrotto 488RC2 which got some dirt in it after normal use. I've tried to clean it several times, but it still doesn't function nearly as smoothly as it did when new.

I'll be interested in some of the other responses you receive -- perhaps there is a trick to cleaning it that I don't know about (although I've done several Google searches on the topic and haven't found any magical solutions).

John

[Roger Schmidt]

Roger, my experience with cleaning a ballhead has not been good. I have a Manfrotto 488RC2 which got some dirt in it after normal use. I've tried to clean it several times, but it still doesn't function nearly as smoothly as it did when new.

I'll be interested in some of the other responses you receive -- perhaps there is a trick to cleaning it that I don't know about (although I've done several Google searches on the topic and haven't found any magical solutions).

John Thanks John. I read somewhere that if dirt does foul the ballhead that it needs to be sent to mfgr for repair/clieaning. That' s a hassle. I just found a ballhead since posting that you can clean yourself when it gets dirty. I've got the link at home and will share here for feedback, if any.

Rog

[Roger Schmidt]

Has anyone had owned or heard feedback on Actratech Ballheads?
http://acratech.net/pages.php?pageid=26

Rog

[Nancy Phillips]

Really Right Stuff has a video on care of your ball head: put a plastic bag over it when not in use, and potentially drape a plastic bag around the ball stem when in use. I do the former, haven't bothered with the latter, but on the other hand I don't have much dust and sand where I live.