CF Tripod maintenance.

[Rangefinder 35]

I just concluded a week of backpacking with a camera in Olympic National Park, shooting desolate beaches. Needless to say I got a lot of sand into my carbon fiber Gitzo. Now is the time for a payback. I'm going to disassemble the culprit, clean it, lubricate the threads, and put it back together. My question is: can I use Parker Lube, which is O-ring lubricant instead of, let's say Phil Wood's Lubricant? Anybody with esoteric knowledge of the matter, please.

 

[Pioneer]

What does Gitzo recommend. I would say, use that product or its equivalent.

Their email is manfrottoservice@criscam.com

 

[De_Corday]

back in my bike building days the carbon fiber stuff was explicitly *not* lubricant... you would coat a carbon seat post in order to keep it from slipping... Shop lore was that grease would break down the carbon over the long term. Can you take one leg apart and see what was there to begin with?

 

[michaelwj]

back in my bike building days the carbon fiber stuff was explicitly *not* lubricant... you would coat a carbon seat post in order to keep it from slipping... Shop lore was that grease would break down the carbon over the long term. Can you take one leg apart and see what was there to begin with?

My bike experience was the same. No grease with carbon.

If it were me, I'd just clean and dry the carbon, and gently lube the metal bits with a very light coat of grease. Ideally, the carbon should not be rubbing on other carbon and it's not going to rust, so no grease.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Wouldn't graphite powder work as a lubricant?

This is a theoretical suggestion based on solid ignorance, but I can't see why it wouldn't work.

Cheers,

R.

 

[Alfonso B]

In sailboat racing it's a common trick to lube carbon mast sail grooves with Teflon (PTFE) spray. No harm done on spars or sails.

 

[icebear]

RTFM or basically what Pioneer recommended:
If you are not sure, ask the manufacturer directly.
It would be a costly experience to use the wrong stuff to CL a Gitzo carbon tripod, just my $0.02.

PS: I forgot, of course thumbs up for doing proper maintance.