my arca swiss 85mm extension bracket( a small unit which supports the rail and to which one mounts onto a tripod head) had small strips of teflon running the length of the bracket to take up any slack and to allow the rail to smoothly slide into it, has lost its adhension and i have been substituting various types of tape which has been unsatisfactory. has any one run across this same problem and do you have suggestions for either obtaining the same type of teflon tape?? or other suggestions thank you

-- raymond a. bleesz (bleesz@vail.net), October 05, 1999

Answers

The strip is available from the Chicago office for free. I got one last week but it jammes when I insert the telescopic rail on the 30cm bracket. Does anyone know how to put the tape on the rail successfully?

-- Masayoshi Hayashi (mhayashi@phys.ufl.edu), October 05, 1999.

I have used automobile "pin-striping" tape with good success. It comes in a number of different widths and colors (including black) and is available at Auto Supply stores. It's much better than the original tape, which is too soft and is easily destroyed, as you probably already know. I sometimes have had to use a double thickness of the spriping tape to get the correct amount of "grab". Even using it double, one roll will do an 85mm extension bracket many, many times. (Blue looks especially nice)

-- Steve Pfaff (spfaff@hrl.com), October 05, 1999.

The tape really is not needed. The new Arca cameras do not have it. You can remove the tape and send the bracket to the repair facility in Chicago. They will raise the silver plunger to compensate for the missing tape(approx. 1mm). There is no charge for the conversion. Any questions call Diane at 773-248-2513.

-- Jeff (info@badgergraphic.com), October 05, 1999.

As just mentioned, the tape is not really needed. Mine munged up the first time I used the camera in the cold. Peel it off, and you can adjust the locks yourself with the right size (metric) allen wrench.

If I recall correctly, there was one hex nut to loosen from the side near where the levers flip out, and one from the bottom to actually adjust, then lock the side back down.

It's been a while since I did this, it took five minutes, and has not needed fiddling sine that time.

-- mike rosenlof (mike_rosenlof@yahoo.com), October 05, 1999.

(Remembered one more thing)

Before figuring out the adjustment, I shimmed the extension bracket bed with a sheet of drawing paper - probably about 30 pound with holes cutout for the little lock thingies. That worked too, but seemed to have a limited expectancy.

-- mike rosenlof (mike_rosenlof@yahoo.com), October 05, 1999.

Mike- Thanks for the tip. Even though the harder tape I was using was better, no tape is better still. Since you didnt remember exactly what you did, Ill put in what I did. The plunger that tightens the rails rides up and down on a screw that comes up through the bottom of the extension bracket (turns out this is not a cam at all-I was surprised), the levers that one uses to tighten and loosen the rails are tightened to the plungers with a 2mm Allen screw. If you loosen the 2mm screw and rotate the lever on the plunger, you can set exactly the range of the vertical travel of the plunger on the screw; thereby determining where it gets tight or loose. I was able to set the tension to just the amount I wanted. Thanks again.

-- Steve Pfaff (spfaff@hrl.com), October 07, 1999.

What a good solution! I'm going to try it on mine too. Thanks everyone.

-- Masayoshi Hayashi (mhayashi@phys.ufl.edu), October 11, 1999.