Servicing old fluid heads

N

Ned Kelly

Active member
Had 2 old Miller Fluid Heads from the 60/70’s, and sticks given to me about a year ago, and I thought at first the best I could come up with would be a solid adjustable base for a slider setup. Anyway first thing I did was mount my camera on the smaller head and realise how good it still is (although they need servicing) when using a long lens. The smaller of the 2 heads is my go to all the time now.

I would love to have this head serviced but all enquiries have failed me, and even Miller Australia (where I live) say they can’t help me out. I guess I’m looking for one of those old OB / ENG / Grip/ or Engineer type guru, who could pull them apart and re-lube or fix. Maybe they might tell me to forget it. Personally I think one might just need a re-lube. So I'm wondering whether anyone else has gone down this path, and how they went.
 
Can Miller at least get you a repair manual or diagram to take them apart? The big problem is getting the parts, certain pieces are wear items and these are probably long since updated and no longer available. That means getting creative which means you may need a machine shop. Typical wear items are drag friction and lock friction parts, but not knowing how these are constructed it is just a guess. The grease should be pretty standard and available, and is completely messy. Nothing magic about taking them apart and worth learning.
 
It's too bad you don't live in the USA where there are a few really good shops. I have heard from a number of folks saying that Miller no longer supports their eariler products.
 
I have it from one of the local dealers that even getting parts for Miller can be difficult, maybe it only applies to their video tripods which is what these guys sell (mostly). They push a lot of Libec and Vinten and a bit of Sachtler. Kind of a big spectrum from Libec to Vinten. What they told me was from a few years ago when we needed to upgrade/change our tripods on the students systems and were shopping for something I could actually get parts to fix. We had really nice Manfrotto ART series carbon fiber systems but a single leg assembly was over $300 and even the smallest parts were taking 4+ months to receive directly from Italy. We ended up replacing them with Libec S7 (I think that is the correct model) for under $400 each. Parts have been good.

Anyway it came up because they had a lot of customers that were having to replace tripods because they couldn't get parts for the Miller stuff.

My advice is to take the worst of the heads, and put some tools to it. Get ready to be covered in grease and be prepared to not be able to get the parts. It's probably all pretty basic stuff inside them. If friction materials are gone, you may be able to glue a material back to the metal. A lot of the older stuff used leather and cork for friction materials, many used a wax lube on the leather/cork (old Vinten cam heads). And all this said, I try to ship any fluid heads out for service because no matter whether it is fluid or cam, you make a terrible mess working on them and the fluid heads are much more messy. And yes too bad you don't live in the USA, there are a few really good places to get tripod systems serviced over here.
 
I realize it might not help the OP much, but could you list some of the reliable US-based shops you would trust to restore an old fluid head? Mine are still relatively new and in good shape (knock on wood), but it would be valuable for future reference or if I run across a used garage sale or eBay buy. Thanks.

- Greg
 
Thanks for the responses.
I was a little surprised Miller couldn’t offer a bit more support or advice, but they were good enough to get back to me promptly after I contacted them.
Yep a pity I’m not based in the USA as I’m sure there would be a few more options open to me. So I think I will bite the bullet and pull the bigger head apart, and progressively take pictures along the way. If I have success getting it back together I’ll tackle the other one
 
Try this guy in Atlanta, GA: http://novacam2000.com/oconnor.html He responded to me about an Oconnor 1030B I needed repaired. I ended up going VITEC, the new parent company of Oconnor and they refurbished my head at a very reasonable rate. Anyway, if http://novacam2000.com/oconnor.html has the skills to repair your head, I would imagine he would give you a fair deal as the second hand market for heads is not good with all the cheap, "good enough" heads out there he'd likely be looking for work. Just a thought.
 
Mate thanks for that link, I just sent Larry an email asking advice on what lube I should use, so I'll let you know what his response it. Cheers Ned.
 
@gkantziper. I received a prompt reply from Larry Gebhardt at NovaCam. He has only ever had one Miller head from 40 years ago, and that used standard (wheel like) grease that would be a good starting point for me. He also suggested Googling Dow Corning Silicone grease, so I’ll see what eventuates from that. His website was very interesting to have a look at and he comes across as a real pro.
Ned.
 
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