Wobbly light stand stud fix?

mattbellphoto · Mar 24, 2015

I bought a couple Avenger 'Baby' light stands (the cheaper, more portable aluminum stands. NOT C-stands). I got a good deal on them, because both of their mounting studs are wobbly.

Anyone know a good way to fix this?

I though I could simply pinch the metal tight with a large vice grip, but it didn't work. And I've seen people gaffer/duck-tape them all to hell, but that didn't work too well either.

I don't think the stud would fall off easily, but it's unnerving mounting heavy lights and watching them wobble like a bobble-head. Otherwise, the legs are solid.

fotch · Mar 24, 2015

You might try some Loctite or epoxy.

Rick A · Mar 24, 2015

What fotch said.

mattbellphoto · Mar 24, 2015

Yeah. That might work.

I've used plastic epoxy before with success. But I haven't tried bonding two metal parts.

And seeing as I have no welding or heavy solder experience or equipment, epoxy is probably a good option.

I imagine an autoparts store would have what I'd need.

Rick A · Mar 24, 2015

I've had great success bonding metal parts with JB Weld.

resummerfield · Mar 24, 2015

Epoxy sounds like a good idea, but I would supplement epoxy with a strong metal-to-metal connection.

Looking at my Avenger stands, the spud to tube connection is secured with a pin. If thats the case with your stands, you may need to re-drill the hole to accept a larger pin. Or drill another hole at a 90-degree angle to the original or a similar pin.

If a pin was never installed, consider drilling and installing one.

mattbellphoto · Mar 24, 2015

Yeah, mine are held on with a pin or rivet or whatever. That's what's wobbly: the 'pin' holds the stud to the tube, but the tube isn't tight around the stud. So, it wobbles and the 'pin' is the pivot-point.

M Carter · Mar 24, 2015

Here's a "you might get lucky" option... since this is sort of a press fit with a rivet, see if a pex band will slide on there.

Pex is a flexible plumbing product, with plastic tube and fittings which are joined with copper bands that you compress with a circular tool. You could probably just walk into a big box or tool rental place and compress the band.

Other than that... drill out the rivet, pull the pin, roughen the surface of the pin and the inner wall of the tube with coarse sandpaper, JB Weld (stronger than epoxy with steel - epoxy is brittle and would likely loosen over time), force the pin back in (the JB is thick stuff and will probably make it hard to get the pin back in, which is good) and have a machine shop properly install a new pin or taper pin - they'll ID what needs to go in there, it may just be a really butch rivet. Or just take them to a small machine shop and ask for a quote.

I have a Matthews beefy baby with a pin that wobbles like yours, but I don't fear it totally failing. That's a pricey stand though, if you can't fix this to where it feels safe to you, reserve those stands for flags, cards, tiny fixtures, small reflectors.

You can buy a Matthews "steel kit stand" at B&H for $80 or so, and for the dollars they're great, almost rated like a beefy baby for weight and they're all steel. I wouldn't spend too much time fixing a cheaper aluminum stand, specially since there's so much lightweight stuff on set that needs support from a lighter stand.

BTW, c-stands are pretty overrated (unless you never transport them and don't need the more expensive turtle base to make packing easier). A Beefy baby holds more weight, is harder to tip, and costs within a few bucks of a turtle-base C, and are easier to pack and transport.

RalphLambrecht · Mar 24, 2015

how about having it gas welded?

mattbellphoto · Mar 24, 2015

I'd rather go the DIY route. And I don't have any metal working know-how.

BUT, I know a guy that does automotive restoration, building hotrods/ratrods. I could ask him to help me with it the next time I see him. He knows his stuff, and has a pretty well equipped shop, likely with the right kind of welder. But I wonder if there's extra difficulty welding steel to aluminum. There's not a lot of room to build up a weld where it wouldn't cover too much of the metal stud or burn through the thin aluminum tube.

Dan Quan · Mar 24, 2015

The one time I had an aluminum stand repaired I learned welding aluminum is much more involved than steel. If it were me I'd push the pin out and apply Dead Link Removed and reapply the pin if possible, but after curing it'll likely be fine without. Done well this will support as much as the stand will hold and it's a relatively quick DIY so you can move on to the next item on your list.

John Koehrer · Mar 24, 2015

I'd go with Rick A & Dan Quan's JB Weld.

It has more body & is less prone to running than common epoxy. Another option is liquid steel.

Rick A · Mar 24, 2015

I suggest you clean the parts with acetone prior to epoxy repair, it'll work better, and clean up afterwards with it as well.

CropDusterMan · Mar 24, 2015

I've fixed dozens of these crap Avenger stands before getting rid of them all. Get a 1/2 inch copper pipe cutter...it's the kind you cut by doing laps of the tube, tightening
a little each turn. Pop the rivet (or roll pin) out of the top which holds the fitting in the tube. Cut the tube below the original. Drill a new hole to the next larger roll pin size.
Re-install new roll pin...you can also use a construction adhesive such as Liquid Nails (comes in a tube like cauling) when installing the fitting in the tube too for extra security.

Then, list on Craigslist and go out and buy an American (that's the brand) BBTR. (baby-beefy triple riser)...often, grip places sell off old gear.

Here's a tripple riser version...worth every penny.

Dead Link Removed

Mainecoonmaniac · Mar 24, 2015

Here's a ghetto fix. If the aluminum part is inserted into the stand, you can go to the hardware or auto parts store and get a hose clamp that a little bigger the the shaft and cinch it down. You can put some black electrical tape to cover the repair to make it less ghetto

ParkerSmithPhoto · Mar 24, 2015

mattbellphoto said:
Yeah, mine are held on with a pin or rivet or whatever. That's what's wobbly: the 'pin' holds the stud to the tube, but the tube isn't tight around the stud. So, it wobbles and the 'pin' is the pivot-point.

Drill out the pin, remove the stud and then epoxy it back into place. It should be rock solid.

To CropDuster's point, KEH.com sells used Manfrotto stands for next to nothing and the build quality is tremendous. I bought all of mine used and they've worked flawlessly.

jacaquarie · Mar 25, 2015

First you can weld steel to aluminum, having said that it is the exotic process and you are not going to be doing this at any normal shop. Also the aluminum will be soft from the weld in what is known as the heat affected zone. So do not go there. The cost of this process will be high. New stands are far less expensive.
The simple and in the real world the most effective fix is the pull pin, clean area and then the JB weld. You will be good till something else lets go.

Arthur

resummerfield · Mar 25, 2015

This isn’t a high dollar item, so let’s not go overboard on the repair. First, it can not be welded by commonly available methods. Even if it could—aluminum to aluminum—it would cost way too much.

Just remove the pin, pull and clean the spud, mix up some JB Weld, coat the spud and reinstall everything.

Then get rid of the aluminum stands and follow CropDusterMan’s suggestion and get higher quality steel stands. I've been down this same road, and I ended up getting rid of my aluminum stands. Steel stands weight slightly more, but if you drop one, or it falls over, they don’t bend and dent as bad.

MartinP · Mar 25, 2015

Is there room to drill through at 90 degrees to the existing 'rivet' hole and put a small bolt through ? Is the top of the alloy tube pressed/squeezed into a groove around the 5/8ths adapter - if so, perhaps that can be tightened up as a temporary fix using a nail punch or similar.

Wobbly light stand stud fix?

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