HEQ 5 leg bolt! thread gone!

[simmo39]

Hi

Just put out my HEQ 5 mount out (only the third time bought in August ) Was trying to level it when I tightened one of the leg bolts the thread just striipped. I didnt put a lot of pressure on it. Is there anything I can do or how do I fix it or is it a total loss?

[ronin]

The lower casting does come off (usually).

You will have to release the 3 grubscrews - probably need to squirt WD40 on them first and take it careful they are sticky..

Behind where the threaded bit you have stripped is a metal oblong - the tighening screw pushes that againgst the inner tube to act as the clamp. Dont lose that bit.

Then if the casting is going to move you should be able to pull or rotate it off the main tube.

After that it is getting it repaired. As it is aluminium it is not a simple case of retap with a bigger thread, well I don't think it is.

There may be a repair insert, or it may be a bit more extensive. Likely best to get the casting off and ask at a small machine shop

Make sure you catch and keep all the bits.

I have 2 out of those 3 castings off of my HEQ5 it has however sat around for so long that I cannot recall why I was taking them off. Think one of the metal rectangles came loose and fell inside the leg so I decided to strip and clean the whole lot.

[Tiny Small]

You can retap it just fine. It's a soft metal and small bolt though so when you say 'not a lot of pressure', you want to be aiming for about 10 Nm (not very tight at all). That should be enough to hold it still. If the bolt is M10 or larger you could push that to maybe 15 or 20 Nm.

As an aside, the seat stem on my push iron is done up to 5 Nm and that supports my 80 kg frame.  20 Nm supports my 200 kg motorbike on the fork clamp and is only just beyond what my fingers are capable of with no aid, so when you tighten stuff up, don't swing off it.

[simmo39]

Thanks for the prompt replies, If i can get hold of a helicoil insert kit does anybody know off the top of there head what is the thread size of the locking bolts?

[PeterW]

The persons who owned my eq6 tripod tightened things too far... The legs are now slightly not round near the base which makes extending them a real PAIN! Don't over tighten.

Cheers

Peter

[simmo39]

Just an update on this, Sent an e mail to FLO just to see if they could help, Im getting a replacement leg! How good is that. Fantastic FLO to the rescue!

[ollypenrice]

Excellent service.

I was going to point out that you only need two legs to be adjustable, really, so one imperfect fix would be to drill and pin the stripped leg into one fixed position and level on the others.

Olly