Yoke-Gimbal Connection Loose on Zephyr

[Tom MaCoy]

Setting up my Zephyr for some at home practice yesterday, I discovered an odd and unsettling sensation in the gimbal. It appears that something has worked loose in the connection between the yoke of the gimbal and collar around the post, to the point where I can freely slide the collar back and forth about a 1/16" between the two points of the yoke. There's no other play to speak of; it's a perfect horizontal slide. Everything else feels fine, but of course if I have the rig pointing along the same line as the two points in the yoke and start a tilt, it will suddenly slide forward or back by a fraction of an inch, and there goes my balance. I popped a few covers off to have a closer look, as shown in the picture, but I'm not really sure where to go from here, or even if I should go any farther, if this is something better left to factory service. Tried Dan Ikeda at Tiffen, no answer yet though. I'd welcome any advice, including "Put the allen keys down and back away slowly before you wreck your gimbal."

Thanks,

Tom

[Victor Lazaro]

Hey. I had a similar issue with my Zephyr. The issue is that, somehow, your gimbal screws went loose, or your fork got bent. There is a fix for it. Not an easy one, but you can try.

Under the dust caps on each side you will find two adjustment screws with two holes. they require a #6 spanner bit (here: http://smile.amazon.com/dp/B001UKLLVQ), then do what this document says.http://www.steadicam.com/images/content/U2_GimbalCentering.pdf

 

More info on this thread: http://www.steadicamforum.com/index.php?showtopic=17686&p=88389

[Tom MaCoy]

Hey Victor, thanks for the tip. I did notice those two odd screws under the dust cap but (perhaps luckily) I don't have the spanner bit that fits them. I just got off the phone with Tiffen and it sounds like over tightening them at all can damage the pan responsiveness of the unit; given I don't have any jobs booked in the next couple weeks, and I'm going to be out of state anyway on a non-steadi gig, I think I'll take the opportunity to get it back to the factory and have it done properly, have them check out the whole rig while it's there anyway.

Best,

Tom