SW Az go-to tripod repair

[Wryneck]

I had a problem with the locks on the legs of my Skywatcher Az Go-to tripod. One of the brass captive threads came out of the plastic fitting. It was probably due to overtightening but had reached the stage where it was impossible to tighten it enough to hold the leg at the chosen height. I tried to glue the threads back in but this didn't work very well so I came up with a permanent solution which I thought might be useful to others. I am sure I am not the only person to have this happen to their tripod. I have used a pipe clip around the leg to stop the brass thread coming out but so you can continue to use the tripod in the usual way I have drilled a hole in the pipe clip so you can screw the existing thumb screw through it. The pipe clip must be around 1/2inch (13mm) wide and the hole is 8mm. You must drill the hole accurately in the middle so there is some material left either side of the hole.

See the photos and I hope this is useful to someone.

James

[Nibor]

Wryneck - thanks for this tip - I have the same mount - and you never know when you might need such a DIY repair - thanks for sharing it

[steppenwolf]

Cool modification! The design of this lock is rather poor as the tightening process pulls the brass insert out of its mounting rather than pulling it into its mounting so I am not in the least bit surprised that it has failed! A pity because the AZ GoTo mount is a little cracker. Thanks for posting such a simple but effective solution if it does all go wrong.