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The top leg of my Gitzo 4540LS carbon fibre tripod is sticking g in the top inch of the tube connected to the spider. I have tried to clean using dowels but to no avail. My thought is that maybe some corrosion has built up in the top tube or maybe a drop has caused the metal housing to distort (seems unlikely as the metal is hefty). Was considering as a last resort to use a flap sander on an extension rod to give the top part of the tube a light sanding. What are your thoughts? Anything I should consider first? Many thanks.

Sreid wrote:The top leg of my Gitzo 4540LS carbon fibre tripod is sticking g in the top inch of the tube connected to the spider. I have tried to clean using dowels but to no avail. My thought is that maybe some corrosion has built up in the top tube or maybe a drop has caused the metal housing to distort (seems unlikely as the metal is hefty). Was considering as a last resort to use a flap sander on an extension rod to give the top part of the tube a light sanding. What are your thoughts? Anything I should consider first? Many thanks.

Hello and welcome to NSN.  I have enabled your account so there won't be any delays in posting in the future.  I have forwarded you question to our resident Gitzo expert (and owner of the site) but he is currently teaching a workshop so I'm not sure exactly when he will see this.

E.J. Peiker wrote:

Sreid wrote:The top leg of my Gitzo 4540LS carbon fibre tripod is sticking g in the top inch of the tube connected to the spider. I have tried to clean using dowels but to no avail. My thought is that maybe some corrosion has built up in the top tube or maybe a drop has caused the metal housing to distort (seems unlikely as the metal is hefty). Was considering as a last resort to use a flap sander on an extension rod to give the top part of the tube a light sanding. What are your thoughts? Anything I should consider first? Many thanks.

Hello and welcome to NSN.  I have enabled your account so there won't be any delays in posting in the future.  I have forwarded you question to our resident Gitzo expert (and owner of the site) but he is currently teaching a workshop so I'm not sure exactly when he will see this.

I have been using the site for many years but never needed to post. Thanks for enabling my account. 

I've not encountered this before but it sounds like you might be right about corrosion or dirt. It would be nice if the leg were removable but obviously that's not an option. I'd try and get a look down there with a camera or something. It is just one leg or all of them?

Is it possible that one of the white bushings from any one of the leg sections could be slipped up into the tube above the tube? Maybe you could look up into the tube with a flashlight and see if you can see anything up there. Also, if the spider was overtightened, the tube could have gotten crushed through the leverage of tightening the bolt on the spider. If you decide to sand down any tubes, I would probably only sand the inner tube at the top where the bushing goes and very judiciously, at that. It is not as critical as the outer tube, since it remains inside the larger tube for support. A shotgun cleaning swab with rubbing compound would be my recommendation for a gentle cleaning.

Joe

I have had a look down the offending tube and all seems aok. The issue only occurs on one leg regardless of swapping legs around. It appears the inner leg sticks at the point when the carbon fibre tube meets the top metal sleeve. I am leaning towards maybe the top of the leg, the metal sleeve may be slightly deformed and possibly this out of shape is causing an issue. It does however appear to be fine.

I doubt that the metal part is deformed as it is a cast piece and any deformity would generally result in a crack or breakage. Does your tripod have the white or the black upper guide bushing?

Thanks Greg. A relief to know the metal would not be deformed. If you mean the two rectangular plastic fitting on the top of each leg, they are white.

When second tube is about to get stuck, can you rotate it ?
I have the same problem but I can always either force it down or rotate it and then pull it.
In my case i think it's that little ridge in top tube got worn so new tube will be needed.

If you have same situation (meaning there's a slight rotational play ) you can try to replace white bushings but most likely new tube will be needed.

Andrew_5488 wrote:When second tube is about to get stuck, can you rotate it ?
I have the same problem but I can always either force it down or rotate it and then pull it.
In my case i think it's that little ridge in top tube got worn so new tube will be needed.

If you have same situation (meaning there's a slight rotational play ) you can try to replace white bushings but most likely new tube will be needed.

Thanks Andrew. This seems to be the problem as it will rotate just before it binds. How do you replace the top tube?

Hi, I have the exact same problem with my old GT3540XLS.
There appears to be corrosion or dirt on the top of the tripod.
Since I can't remove these legs, the only way I can use my tripod now is to never fully close the top legs, and stop an inch or two from the top of the tripod.