EQ1 tipod leg bracket broken - worth fixing, and how?

[jonathan]

Last night one of the plastic leg brackets snapped when I was adjusting the height, as I was screwing the tightener in. The plastic has split right across, which makes the leg loose and unable to be tightened.

Has anyone managed to effectively repair this kind of damage? The plastic part is pot-riveted on to the upper alloy leg, cheap as you like really. If I glue it it may just come unstuck quite easily, so not sure if it can be fixed. Would it be better to just acquire a new tripod? It's only an EQ1 which I was about to sell on with the ST80 anyway, but now I can't really do that without a working tripod.

What to do?

[jonathan]

I have an idea... how about a jubilee clip?

[JamesF]

I feel sure a jubilee clip would work.

James

[themos]

That's exactly what happened to my old EQ1 tripod. I threw it away.

[jonathan]

Two jubilee clips sort of works, I may need to cut away a bit of the plastic around the screw mount to make it a flush fit, and buy some that are a more suitable size (one of mine is far too big).

[JamesF]

That's exactly what happened to my old EQ1 tripod. I threw it away.

I'd have been tempted to cut the legs down to something like 9" long and turn it into a table-top version.

James

[themos]

Well, I ended up buying the table top version from Astroboot.

[jonathan]

I have repaired my EQ1 tripod using a pair of slim metal tie-wrap kind of things and some epoxy resin glue.

I haven't taken it out yet but it appears to hold the weight of the OTA OK. I got them from a WIlco Motosave, I asked the guy at the service desk if he had anything like it and this is what he produced from around the back.

[cantab]

I have the same mount that broke in the same way. Those ties look reasonably solid, but whether I'd trust my OTA to them I don't know.

[Peter Drew]

I would do the same mod on the other two legs. It looks smart and could prevent it happening to the others.

[jonathan]

I would do the same mod on the other two legs. It looks smart and could prevent it happening to the others.

The thought had crossed my mind. If I apply some black paint to cover up the glue then it should look even better.

I have the same mount that broke in the same way. Those ties look reasonably solid, but whether I'd trust my OTA to them I don't know.

I reckon it's stronger now than when new. The plastic is just thin stuff, weak. It's 'only' an ST80 on the top, how far can it fall? Those legs tend not to suddenly collapse anyway, it's more of a slow gradual slip if anything.

[stem1989]

I used a jubilee clip on my EQ3-2 leg and it works brilliantly