Do tripods weaken over time?

We were talking about how long we have been using our current tripods. We [font=Calibri","sans-serif]have been using our Gitzo carbon fiber tripods for over 10 years. Is there life span on the carbon fiber, they have been in sunlight, sand, salt water, mud and everything in between. Is there a time when it’s best to replace them? Does the carbon fiber get brittle over time?  Maybe a silly question, just wondering.

 [/font]

The half life of the carbon atom is 5,730 ±40 years. Looks like you still have a few years left on that tripod.

What bothers me is that I was with a guy at Ft DeSoto, out in the water and his tripod leg crumbled. He caught the camera and lens before it hit the water. It was a Gitzo. Actually newer than mine.

Carbon fiber will when stressed beyond it's strength limits snap suddenly unlike aluminum. However it's not like a break into 2 pieces, it splinters. Can be equally catastrophic, but has a greater chance of not being so unless it is an extreme failure. Brittle yes, but so strong that failure point is not going to be reached under any reasonable situation. But this is such an excellent equipment question Dave and no not silly at all that you asked!

But please elaborate on the guy whose carbon fiber tripod leg crumbled.......What exactly happened???

Paul

***I love Jens's response....

I'm guessing it had previously taken a blunt force beyond the capability of the CF to handle and was structurally damaged and then the CF shattered under load.

So, long lift-span. But if you want to break it, you can break it. Sounds like it's just like anything else

But then, I have a feeling that I could break with a hammer the legs of my gitzo tripod easier than I could those non-carbon-fibre legs of my manfrotto.

The tripod was nearly brand new. No blunt force. It broke where the leg fit into the casting part where the head mounts. I heard of a few that broke like that. It was a new model.
So are you guys saying that the carbon fiber will not degrade with time and use? So basically unless there is physical damage they will last forever?

That is likely a manufacturing defect where the leg wasn't properly glued into the metal hinge joint. I suppose a lot of salt water could degrade that over time. If you use it normally, not in salt water and maintain it properly you should get a lifetime of service out of it.

This tripod was only a couple weeks old. Was a manufacturing defect as it turned out.
I always wash my tripod in fresh water and disassemble, clean, and re grease it. I was just curious as to how long they will last.

Took mine to Fort DeSoto and went into the water. Came home and washed it out with Tap water using a hose.My girlfriend was with me with the other Gitzo, Washed hers out too. A year later opened tripod to see why the upper segment was locking the second segment on one leg, only to see some white super hard stuff growing(literally) at the top of the tripod leg where it attaches to the spider.It was present in all three legs. Paid $200 postage to send them for repair. Unrepairable they said. 2+ grand thru the window. I don't think washing them with water is a good idea. Probably better to buy an Induro or Surui tripod to go into the water. Took my Induro into the water several times over the years and no problems. Gitzo 1548 and 1325. Oh, trying to buy the leg segments cost $200 each X 6 = $1200.

Tony

NNL33543 wrote:Took mine to Fort DeSoto and went into the water. Came home and washed it out with Tap water using a hose.My girlfriend was with me with the other Gitzo, Washed hers out too. A year later opened tripod to see why the upper segment was locking the second segment on one leg, only to see some white super hard stuff growing(literally) at the top of the tripod leg where it attaches to the spider.It was present in all three legs. Paid $200 postage to send them for repair. Unrepairable they said. 2+ grand thru the window. I don't think washing them with water is a good idea. Probably better to buy an Induro or Surui tripod to go into the water. Took my Induro into the water several times over the years and no problems. Gitzo 1548 and 1325. Oh, trying to buy the leg segments cost $200 each X 6 = $1200.

Tony

Was it chlorinated water?
Or water from a well? 
Were the legs allowed to dry thoroughly before being reassembled? 

I have had the popular medium gitzos for the big glass through the years, and I live in San Diego and shoot in the salty ocean all the time. The corrosion and tripod destruction described by the guy and his girlfriend is virtually automatic unless one goes through extreme measures to prevent it. Gitzos take in salt water instantly once water goes over a leg joint, and then hold it forever unless completely disassembled, cleaned internally with gun bore cleaning devices and wadding, dried with hot air via a long hose connected to a hair dryeer to the bone, and then lubricated, the one super important point requiring lubing to prevent destruction is where the legs attach to the base plate. This is the Achille's Heel of the gitzos, where the legs hit the base at the top. The metal there is raw and unprotected, just waiting to corrode.

Gitzos are Italian and just like Ferraris, they are insanely expensive, coveted, and prone to complete failure if not treated with total over the top maintenance, something most folks are not into.

Now, back to the original poster, his unit sounds like a factory defect.

Dick wrote;

Was it chlorinated water?
Or water from a well?
Were the legs allowed to dry thoroughly before being reassembled? -



It was chlorinated water, Was not completely disassembled. Was allowed to dry for 2 days.


Steve I hear you.
Tony

Steve Cirone wrote:Gitzos take in salt water instantly once water goes over a leg joint, and then hold it forever unless completely disassembled, cleaned internally with gun bore cleaning devices and wadding, dried with hot air via a long hose connected to a hair dryeer to the bone, and then lubricated, the one super important point requiring lubing to prevent destruction is where the legs attach to the base plate.

I have an old Manfrotto aluminum tripod that I use for shooting in tide pools where the legs get partially submerged in salt water. I, too, take it apart after that, but then I just stick the parts into the dishwasher. That's all it takes to keep it alive.

daveeli wrote:The tripod was nearly brand new. No blunt force. It broke where the leg fit into the casting part where the head mounts. I heard of a few that broke like that. It was a new model.  

Yes, Dave, that is a real problem.  I have had those issues with my Gitzo.  I think that the CF/metal junction is a weak link in the design.  I think that this breakdown is more likely to happen if you frequently use the tripod with the legs at their lowest position (practically horizontal).  

There are very fine threads with which the top of the CF leg screws in to the receptor part of the metal top.  These threads do not last very long if you are constantly using the tripod in the lowest position with a heavy load on it.  As soon as the threads deteriorate, the leg is not held securely in the receptor, and there is play.  Once there is a bit of play in that joint, then the top of the CF leg can deteriorate in a hurry.  This deterioration happens most when - yes, you guessed it - when the tripod legs are set to the lowest angle and a load is applied.

What I recommend doing, and what I have done myself, is to get a plastic bushing that fits very snugly into the top of the tripod leg.  Unscrew the leg from the metal receptor.  Make sure that the bushing you have is precisely the right diameter to fit very snugly inside the top of the leg.  Apply Gorilla Glue to the bushing and go ahead and push the glued bushing into the top of the tripod leg.  Be careful to use the glue sparingly, as excess glue could run down the inside of the leg, lodge, and dry at the next leg junction, which could effectively glue your legs together so that you would never be able to retract the top two leg sections again.  Don't let that happen!  Allow to dry.  Apply Gorilla Glue to the male threads at the top of the tripod leg (on the carbon fiber threads) and screw the leg back into the metal receptor.

What you now have is a tripod with plastic bushings hidden inside the top of each tripod leg.  What these bushings do is to keep the leg from being crushed by the metal top piece when the legs are set at a more-horizontal-than-vertical angle with a heavy load (such as a big old 600mm f4 or a 400 f2.8, etc).

If done correctly the bushing should never come loose regardless of how much the tripod is used after the procedure.  However, the threads themselves may work loose, despite the fact that you used Gorilla Glue on them.  When this happens I just unscrew the leg, briefly clean any excess old glue off of the CF threads, reapply more Gorilla Glue, and screw it back into the metal receptor.  

BY the way, the bushings I use are about 1 3/4 inches in length, although I think that anything over an inch and a quarter would give sufficient support to the top of the leg.  What I found to use as a bushing was a plastic pipe fitting.  I forget now if it was PVC or CPVC, or whether it was a coupling or the female part of a fitting (glue joint).  Anyway, I would just take the top section of your CF leg into the hardware store and go to the plastic pipe fitting bins and start - one by one - trying each of the different types of fittings until you find one that fits snugly and precisely.  It sounds more tedious than it is - took me all of two or three minutes to find the perfect "bushing". 

Performing this process on your Gitzo tripod can extend the life of the legs indefinitely.  With the bushings installed, your tripod will be many times stronger than it was when it was brand new.  I really cannot understand why Gitzo does not do something similar right at the factory, as it would turn the weakest link their design into the strongest link.