Considering how much it cost me, you’d think I might take better care of my tripod, you’d be wrong. Without question my tripod is the most abused piece of gear I own.
That is except for the few times a year my tripod gets the love it deserves for serving me so faithfully all these years. Several times a year, more if I’ve been shooting in or near sea water a lot, I take each leg completely apart, clean and (sparingly!) lube each leg lock.
Click HERE for instructions on how to disassemble, and more importantly reassemble, your tripod with twist-locking leg locks.
With a little TLC your tripod will love you back for a good long time.
Jeff Sinon Photography 
A timely post. Last week I was out in the cold weather photographing some of the bridges of New York City. I realize that I was struggling wth my tripod each time I had to retract/extend a leg. It’s dirty. Time for a “before spring comes” cleaning. Thanks for the redminer, Jeff.
You just reminded me of a good point I forgot to mention. Because I rinse all of the pieces in water to make sure any sand and salt gets washed away, it’s important to make sure all of the parts are completely dry, especially this time of year. It’s no fun when you cant extend one of the leg sections, or operate a leg lock, because they’re frozen.
I tried cleaning my tripod last night but it seems Manfrotto designed their tripod with some strange screws.
Does it have twist lock or flip lock legs? I’ve had experience with several brands of twist locks, and they all came apart pretty much the same way. I’ve never taken any of the lever style locks apart, but I assume it’s a little more involved.
Flip lock legs. The screws require a star screw driver. I don’t have a star screw driver. Sigh.
Update on the tripod cleaning. On Monday I ordered a set of star screwdrivers from Amazon.com. They arrived on Wednesday and I was able to disassemble and clean my tripod. There were sand and crusty sediment from my trip to Salt Lake from a few years ago so soaked the screws etc. in some water and vinegar and then another bath in seltzer. It’s all good now.
That’s great! Now you can write a How-To on disassembling a tripod with flip locks 🙂