oconnor model 50 fluid head's ball handle has no resistance

[nijurogoingon30]

I purchased an Oconnor model 50 tripod head recently, but upon recieving it I noticed the ball handle has a lot of play. It's not the standard ball either, its 75mm, and since it came with a Peter Lisand quick release mount I thought it might be that. I don't have a sticks yet to test it on but my previous fluid heads with a ball handle had resistance. Since it's a older tripod I'm unfamiliar with it, so should it be this loose or should I send it back?

Edit: So I just now noticed the pics below are not the same, the right one is mine. So new question added to the previous, should it have a hat in between tyhe handle and ball like the left one?

 

[nijurogoingon30]

Here are some pics of it.

 

[BillWojo]

I saw that on Ebay. It looks like it has a flat Mitchell base on it with some sort of 3 inch adapter ball setup. Try grabbing the 4" diameter disk on the bottom and turning that, should have plenty of resistance, that's the Mitchell mount. I think the adapter has just come loose. Take it apart and see whats going on. The Mitchell mount is held on by a ring of small socket head cap screws, no need to take that off. Let me know what you find.
Where are you going to find the matching rossetts for the panhandle? Peter Lisand is out of business.
Bill

 

[nijurogoingon30]

I found a website that sells the Oconnor model 50 base plate and panhandle upgrade. visualproducts.com sells it for $500. Kind of steep but I can't find another solution other than forever waiting for one to appear for sale. And do you mean the screws located on the same level as the lowest knob? I've never opened a head before and thus I am fearful of the fluid coming out. Thanks

 

[BillWojo]

By the lowest knob I think your talking about the lock for the ball adapter. That should unscrew. You should be able to take it apart all the way to the flat plate that is held on by a circle of 8 screws with out getting into the head.
I think but I'm not positive that the ball adapter is meant for a Gitzmo tripod. Looks like the cupped washer is missing to clamp it. The Hat as you call it looks like an adapter to go from a 3" ball socket to a 4" ball socket.
I have several model 30 heads, rebuilt one of them and changed the springs to better fit a light weight camera. Now it has a max payload of about 10 lbs. One of the first things that I learned was that the claw ball on the bottom may not be 4" but rather it's 120mm or 4.75" Seems like back in the day it was a popular size. A lot of the older O'Connor heads and tripods are 120mm as are a lot of the older Peter Lisand tripods. If your not to concerned about weight, those older tripods were really nicely built. I have a rare peter Lisand baby tripod I bought really cheap off Ebay, goes down to 16 inches. You need to really study and read all you can. Not a lot of info out there on these gems.
Bill Wojo