Broke My Manfrotto 055XPROB Legs

[Cameron Bailey]

A small part on my tripod legs broke during a shoot a couple of weeks ago. Manfrotto 055XPROB.

As you can see in the photo, it's a 3 pronged piece that sits inside the part with the mounting screw and allows for a snug connection to the tripod itself.

Anyone know what this part is called and where I can get one?

[Allan Black]

Give 'em a call ..

Service & Repair - Service | Manfrotto

Cheers.

[Trevor Dennis]

Manfrotto are really good with their exploded drawings showing part numbers. Just click on the Spare Parts tab and DL the PDF files.

055XPROB Pro Tripod (Black) 055XPROB - 055 Series | Manfrotto

My gear supplier (Photo & Video Christchurch) has never had problems getting hold of Manfrotto spares here in NZ.

[Cameron Bailey]

Thanks for the quick replies! Posting here was my insurance in case their support was slow. I had sent an email to Manfrotto's Canadian Service dealer before posting.

Here's an excerpt from the reply I got:

From the looks of your photograph, the broken pieces come from inside the centre column. Unfortunately, it cannot be repaired, meaning you will have to get a new centre column.

Not sure how much this is going to cost yet.

I guess I should add that I consider this breakage 100% my fault, and am in no way disappointed with Manfrotto. Screwed on my slider too hard while in -20C temperatures.

[Dave Allen]

Sounds like code for "We don't want to sell you just the broken part when we can gig you for far more".

[Warren Kawamoto]

I always wondered if something like this would work in fixing pot metal. I ordered a kit, because I have some projects I'm working on, will see how it goes.

welding aluminium part 1 - YouTube

[Dean Sensui]

Looks like the bolt head rides along the wedge and expands it against the side of the column.

Does it ever have to come apart? If not, you could put it back together with epoxy. You'll need to clean the inside of the column and all the parts with solvent to remove any trace of oil or grease. Rough-up the inside of the column with 50-grit sand paper as well as the other parts.

Use slow-set epoxy as it'll be tougher than rapid cure epoxy.

Wet the inside of the column and all the parts, then fit it together. If you can torque down the bolt, even better.

Let it set for a couple of days.

[Trevor Dennis]

I had a feeling it was going to come to a new centre column as far as Manfrotto were concerned, because the exploded diagrams don't show internal detail and individual parts for that component.

Is that collet arrangement made of aluminium? I'd have expected it be made of nasty die-cast zinc alloy that was unweldable when I retired from engineering eight years ago. You could possibly find a friend with a lathe to make you a new part out of aluminium, but surely a replacement centre column is not going to cost the earth?