make a fluid head smooth again? help

Z

zipper1022

Active member
So i got a davis and sanford v12 fluid head form a friend. problem is that he took out the sticky "fluid" from the horizontal (left right) panning part. So its got normal grease in it. Its still somewhat smooth, but its not as good as the vertical panning is. I gently took apart the vertical panning part and noticed this very thin and sticky stuff in there. Does anyone know what that is, or what i can use to replicate it? I want to take the grease he put in the lower part and replace it with that, so its good again.

In a nut shell. What is a good replacement for the "fluid" in a fluid head.

Thanks!
 
zipper1022 said:
In a nut shell. What is a good replacement for the "fluid" in a fluid head.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

http://www.bealecorner.com/fx1/OConnor30/index.htm

A client of mine got me Dow Corning 300. I think I have about a liter of the stuff. It works very well. I have the same Fluid head as is in the link above. One thing I will say, is that I don't think I did a very good job of cleaning the mating surfaces when I put it back together. The fluid Leaks a little. I need to take it back apart. However, I also used it on a few older Bogen/Manfrotto Heads because 99% that I know of, from the most expensive to the cheapest, are NOT actually fluid heads at all, but, greased friction heads. It worked wonders on those.

BTW, I also learned in the process of doing the OConnor, that Sachtler heads are not fluid heads either. They are totally mechanical in operation. Very interesting stuff.


P.S. It actually works super well for lubing some of the Non-Moving-Bearing sliders out there like the sliders made from Extruded Aluminum Parts you can get from 8020inc. If you get it on your hands, beware!!, everything will feel slicker than a greased pig. (not that I would know what that feels like)

You can actually buy the proper Fluids for these heads from most of the original manufacturers. However, it is not cheap. 100 bucks for a tiny bottle that leaves no room for accidents or screw ups. They tend to give you EXACTLY enough.
 
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