Yes, it hits the lever and when I open the lever, then it hits the side of the stage.
Here are the pics:

Pictures! Cool!


Loosen the locking knobs on the spar (by the Arc-adjustment knob), then you should be able to move the lower spar down a little to give it clearance to fold under the stage.

- Mikko

When I loosen them I still need to use the same amount (not talking about finger pressing) force to put it in. Is that the way it's suppose to be?

There should be a *little* bit of force needed to "click" the spar into place under the stage (you can see the indentation where it's supposed to lock into). But you shouldn't have to force it.

There is a bit of play in the system, especially when those knobs are open, to allow you to lock it into place.

- Mikko

Well with knobs taken off, here is how much it's off.

wow. Yeah, it appears that there's something wrong there.

Start by putting the nobs back on so you don't loose them ;)

Did you buy the unit locally?

- Mikko

Oooh no, now comes the bad part...
Bought it from BH on the 9th of August, shipped to my relative in LA and he brought it today to Croatia (Europe).

hmm..

Give Tiffen a call directly (http://www.steadicam.com/steadiCusService.html) and they will either be able to find a fix for you over the phone, or will most likly ship you out a replacement unit quickly (they are normally very fast!).

- Mikko

There is NOTHING WRONG with your Steadicam...
 

There is NOTHING WRONG with your Steadicam. I have two and they do the same thing. You simply need to push the lower spar below the stage-plate and it will detent in any of the 3 small recessed cut-out sections in the plastic underneath.

Trust me, I toured the factory, I seen enough of them and they all work the same way, just like the one you have. Hope this helps so you can now spend time practicing flying the cam! lol

PS: Just got my Tiffen arm/vest last week and OMG! What an amazing and well designed system! Worth every penny I spent. I'm taking their 2-Day Training class possibly this weekend.

Well, looks like it's not supposed to be that way.
I emailed the Tiffen support (phone is too expensive from Croatia) with the pictures and they told me to send the unit back.
The problem is that I need the unit from the 15th for weddings that I already said the Merlin will be at, and sending the unit back to US for repairs is going to be too long.

The unit like this is constantly in need for re-trimming if I push it enough to fold. That's really bad for weddings.

I'll see if they can offer me any alternative.

Can you wait 10 days and then send it right after your shoot?

- Mikko

I need it every 7 days till December. But from the 15th I specificly told the Steadicam would be on their wedding. :( (thought a month of training would be enough- I was supposed to get it 14.08.)

Perhaps Tiffen could send you a replacement unit first and then you send yours back? Maybe using a credit card as a security desposit during the exchange?

- Mikko

You mean it's supposed to click into place and stay there by itself?

Not on my unit! The arm just flops down so I've been using a piece of velcro tape to hold it in the folded position.

Now that I look carefully at the bottom of the stage I can see that the tool that was supposed to cut the latching indentation apparentlly made 3 passes and that whole area is chewed up so there is no longer a detent!

Glad I read this - I'll call Tiffen Friday (Client meetings all day tomorrow!)

And all this time I've been muttering to myself about why there wasn't some kind of detent to hold the arm in the folded position!

Marko -

Don't bother trying to get it "fixed" - mine is like that too. I have the recent SE model, serial # 100601xx, and I suspect there have been changes since it first came out. The manual states the the arc size varies from a max of almost 13" to a min of 7", but mine is 13 3/4" to 8 1/16". I don't use the latch when folded because it puts way too much stress on the hinge.