Oiling a tripod?

[Ding Carpio]

I dunked my tripod legs in muck a few days ago at the Hardin. Washed it but when I used it yesterday, the legs had a hard time extending. I even had to disassemble one of the screw-type leglocks.

Does anyone know how to re-lubricate this? Grease? Motor Oil? WD40? Extra-Virgin Olive Oil?

My tripod's a Benro carbon fiber with screw type leglocks.

[tina mallari]

Naku Ding, my tripod (exactly like your tripod) has the same problem. Submerged it in water, only the lower part, and now one of the legs is problematic - I have a difficult time extending or shortening one of the uppermost leg parts. I went to the benro website to see how to clean and maintain the tripod, followed instructions and learned to dismantle the whole tripod - the legs at least. Found out that one of the inner white "plastic" ring broke in half so had to remove it. Doesn't say anything about oiling any part of the tripod at their website though.

I am still able to use it so I'm still happy with it

Good luck with your tripod Ding. Next time, I will stick with Manfrotto ;D ;D

[Ralf Nabong]

Try drying the legs very well. The same thing happened to my Benro tripod when I used it in VE.

[Ding Carpio]

Tina: One of the plastic rings broke on mine too. Actually, I didn't know i was broken till you mentioned it. Thought it was really a notched circle.

Bong: Thanks. WIll dry it out completely. When I dismantled one of the legs, though I noticed it had some lubrication. BTW, went to UP this morning in search of your cuckoo but in vain. PropJerry thinks it's an immature Plaintive Cuckoo as it does not have a ring around the eye.

[Ralf Nabong]

Ding, the bird showed itself only for a few fleeting moments. It was a birder named Chuck that noticed it. Everybody tried to ID it, but I was fortunate enough to have my camera locked it's focus. I took one burst shot and it was gone. It flew towards the tree line and the houses.

[Ivan Sarenas]

I have shot in evil environments, such as seawater, and must say that wd40 seems to work for cleaning the screws and bolts that get in contact with saltwater. Rinse with freshwater first and then lube with wd40.
There is a big caveat though - never use wd40 on your tripod head! I used it on mine that I had submerged underwater and the result is that it stripped the silicon grease that makes a ballhead move smoothly. I tried applying silicon grease for Nikonos O-rings and the results were worse. Someone told me that plain grease from a gas station should work but I've decided to just move on to a better head.