With a loose lock knob, the ballhead is still stiff. What the heck?
The BH-55 is our go-to ballhead for the strongest, most stable support from Really Right Stuff. With three knob controls, the powerhouse gives complete customize-able control over how the head pans and pivots. Looking at the back of the ballhead (opposite of the logo) there is the large main lock knob on the left and two stacked small knobs on the rob. The lower small knob controls the rotation of the ballhead on the 360° base, while the recessed upper knob controls drag tension for the balls movement. Here is a quick fix if your main lock knob is loose and yet the ballhead seems stuck or “frozen”:
- 1
Start by tightening the main lock knob to be fairly snug.
Tighten the main lock knob.
- 2
Spin the upper drag-set knob so that the numbers are decreasing, until it stops
Decrease the drag-knob tension.
- 3
Go back to the main lock knob and loosen the tension.
Loosen the main lock knob.
- 4
Voila! Your seemingly stuck ball head should now be free.
Freedom!
What if my main lock knob is “frozen”? I can’t turn mine at all.
Hi Camp,
If you can’t turn the Main Lock Knob (MLK) by hand, but the ball is free moving, it needs to go clockwise to free up. Try wrapping a thin kitchen towel, rubber jar opener, or even a large rubber band around the knob to get a good grip, and turn in a righty-tighty (clockwise) direction.
If the MLK is stuck and the ball itself is frozen, it needs to loosen in a counter-clockwise direction (“lefty-loosy”).
If you need further assistance with that, shoot us an email at info@reallyrightstuff.com.
-Jim
My head is frozen and I turned the main lock to tighten as you described in the video, but my tension knob is already at zero and will not turn. Any suggestions?
Remember that “0″ is not necessarily the lowest tension point – the numeric scale on the drag knob is only for reference and does not indicate a particular level of tension. Once you’ve tightened the main lock knob as tight as possible (don’t be afraid to really turn it tightly) the pressure on the drat set knob is relieved, and you should turn that counterclockwise until it stops (pay no attention to the numbers). Once you’ve done that, release the main lock knob and the ball should be free.
My BH55 works fine overall in that the ball moves properly , the main lock is fine and the rotation adjustment knob is fine but the drag tension knob won’t budge at all. Any suggestions? I can use the head as a whole but would like to have this function back. Fortunately the drag tension is stuck at a good setting for me.
If the drag knob is stuck but the ball is free to move, that means it’s stuck at the loose end of the travel and needs to turn clockwise to free up. We recommend using a rubber band or thin cloth to get a better grip on the knob (no metal tools!). It also helps in some cases to tighten the main lock knob first to relieve any tension from the drag knob.