Help with an Ultra 1

[Léo Rodriguez]

Hello everyone, 

Does anyone familiar with the Ultra series have an idea about this issue i'm facing here  ? 

 

 

 

For the story, I just bought an Ultra 1 Steadicam, and it was working perfectly until this morning, the sled randomly started to tilt  around 45 degrees only when the camera was facing the stand, or facing me in front of the stand.

When the rig is perpendicular to the stand, it behaves just fine, facing left or right, it doesn't matter. 
I didn't do anything special with it, it was working fine during my tests with the seller, I tested it with very low drop times, various cameras, and no problem.

I brought it home and again, no issue during two days, i used it, had fun, and one day this happened...

I'm having  guesses but I wonder which one is the more likely to be true, so I'd like to be enlighten a little bit.

 

- First the tilt head is doing a clicking sound when toutching it, even if it is correctly locked btw. There is a 1mm play when I grab it an move it side to side. I don't know if it's a normal play when unloaded, I'll check tomorrow if the sound and play are still there when loaded, but it doesn't seems very right to me. I have tried to tighten 4 screws under the head, but they seems to be a fine tuning of the head flatness, is that right ? so i'll have to undo that

 

 

- Next, the handle, which seems to be in three parts is also clicking, but not like a bearing click, more like its not behaving well when loaded, and needs to be re tighten.  Since my problem is only occuring when the rig is facing the handle, or the other way around, maybe it could be that? I can see the space at the junction between the yoke and the handle is larger on the upper side when loaded. and i see a play when i move it around, even unloaded.

 

 

-And last, but not least, maybe the gimbal needs to be centered ? It seems strange to me, because it was absolutely fine the same morning, but I'm new to gimbals so...  Also this part doesn't make any strange sound, there is a very very small amount of play when I try to move it around, same as when I bought it.

 

 

I've seen videos on how to dismantle a modern gimebal but not an ultra 1.

Don't hesitate to ask me for details, i really want to solve this issue, but I don't want to make it worse 

If a repair manual exists i'd really like to have a pdf

I still hope this could be an easy fix, if not I'll bring it to a shop but I'd rather save some money this month !

 

Many thanks in advance

 

 

Léo Rodriguez

[Jon Farmer]

Hi Leo, I have the full service manual pdf and I can share it with you if you send me your email through a private message. 
 

Regarding your issue, it definitely looks like your gimbal probably needs to be centered, and the bearings may have been incorrectly tightened/aligned at some point. They need to be equally adjusted on each side very carefully, and if not done in small increments I believe it could cause damage  (anyone should feel free to correct me if I’m wrong).

 

The amount of play in the top stage is also concerning, but I think that would be more likely to affect your static balance in all orientations after you see the balance shift. Does the rig hang level when you pan back away from the post?

 

As you are in Europe, I would recommend reaching out to Mauricio Aloi. He is based in Italy and has a lot of experience with the Ultra, he can likely help you with repairs as well if they are necessary.

[Léo Rodriguez]

15 hours ago, Jon Farmer said:

Hi Leo, I have the full service manual pdf and I can share it with you if you send me your email through a private message. 
 

Regarding your issue, it definitely looks like your gimbal probably needs to be centered, and the bearings may have been incorrectly tightened/aligned at some point. They need to be equally adjusted on each side very carefully, and if not done in small increments I believe it could cause damage  (anyone should feel free to correct me if I’m wrong).

 

The amount of play in the top stage is also concerning, but I think that would be more likely to affect your static balance in all orientations after you see the balance shift. Does the rig hang level when you pan back away from the post?

 

As you are in Europe, I would recommend reaching out to Mauricio Aloi. He is based in Italy and has a lot of experience with the Ultra, he can likely help you with repairs as well if they are necessary.

Hi Jon,

 

Thanks a lot for your answer, the service manual would be so great. 

I'm gonna send you a dm right now ! 

 

I did exactly what you told me here. 

The sled is already on the route to Maurizio's workshop. He's Gonna take care of if, doing a general maintenance, and hopefully finding the issue I'm facing.

The crazy thing is that the gimebal was working so fine. But I guess it happens like that !

 

About the tilt head, I'm pretty sure it's not my problem, but I'd like to get it fixed anyway, as it is a bit concerning...

 

Anyway I'll keep you informed here, and I won't hesitate to reach you if I need to do a repair.

Thanks a lot 

Léo